In the course of working with church audio engineers for many years, I like to ask, “What’s the one thing, aside from equipment upgrades, you want from leadership that you’re not currently getting? The answer is almost always, “more time”.
Since the implementation of Virtual-Soundcheck technology, personal monitoring systems, and stationary stage orientation, there’s a definitive trend of churches dedicating less and less time to useful soundchecks, and some have eliminated them altogether.
Back in my touring days we endured lengthy sound checks. Sitting in an auditorium while the audio engineer seemingly wanted to torture us as he dialed in every detail. Our often-recited backstage joke was, “Hey, sounds like a drum to me, lets move on”. The current technology, especially in permanent installations, has largely eliminated the need for extensive “start from scratch” style sound checks. But the widespread practice of diving right into a rehearsal or run-through with little or no sound check is hurting the audio presentation.
How long should a soundcheck take?
I don’t want to be dogmatic on this issue. There are some worship environments that probably don’t require much more than a quick line check before starting, just to make sure everything is working. This is applicable to a worship team that has the exact same equipment and personnel every service; same drum set, same guitars/amps/pedal boards, same musicians, same singers, and the same engineer. The presumption here is that at some point, or over time, the engineer has dialed-in each individual instrument and voice. I’ve worked in churches of all sizes over the years and this scenario is rare.
More typical is a worship team consisting of some members that serve often, but not every week. If I’m mixing a worship set with the same drummer playing the same kit 3 weeks in a row, I shouldn’t have to spend much time to soundcheck drums. So, in many cases, you already have a good jumping-off point, simply by starting where you ended from the previous Sunday. Newly added instrumentation or simply a different musician from the prior week will require more attention.
Speaking of instrumentation
Most churches provide the drum kit, but allow each individual drummer to bring in their own “brass”, i.e. cymbals & high-hats, and in some cases their own snare. So is this a scenario that would require some dedicated soundcheck time? Absolutely. Whether the drummer provides their own brass or not, you need to soundcheck and dial-in the new drummer. Any experienced sound engineer will tell you; every drummer sounds different even on the same kit.
This same philosophy is applicable to guitarists and bassists. Electric, acoustic, and bass guitar tones and output levels will vary dramatically between individuals. In my experience, this is where less experienced sound techs struggle the most. And even seasoned pros need a little extra time to accommodate these tricky variables. I addressed taking time to set adequate input levels in a previous feature. Church supplied keyboards almost always produce the most consistent sound and level. While this week’s guitar tone and levels may be wildly different than last week’s.
You may not have time to sort out every EQ or dynamics setting on all the instruments as you move from soundcheck to rehearsal, but setting input levels on each channel coming into the console is the most important fundamental part of a soundcheck. Work with your team leadership to accommodate this before people start attempting to set their personal mixes, because any changes will affect what they are hearing. The input level effects everything downstream, particularly IEMs, Virtual Soundcheck (VSC) and the Broadcast mix.
What about presets?
Most digital consoles have the ability to store and recall channel settings as presets. This is a great tool for teams of multiple instrumentalists with a rotating schedule. But like many helpful digital tools, this one should be used cautiously. Let’s say, on a particular Sunday, Larry‘s guitar sounded fantastic, so you save all those channel settings as a preset into the library of the console. The next time Larry is on the schedule, you simply recall “Larry’s Guitar” preset. There are a few potential pitfalls with this method to be aware of. It may sound perfect again or it may not. Maybe Larry hasn’t changed his strings since his last date, maybe this setting doesn’t suit this week’s song selection. Worse yet, perhaps Larry has changed some settings on his pedal board. Presets may be worth a try in your situation. But often, by the time I recall the settings, readjust levels, EQs and other processing to account for the current variables, the library preset wasn’t worth the effort. My biggest concern when using channel libraries, whether custom created or factory presets, is that less experienced engineers will recall a channel and assume that it needs no additional tweaks. As I often say, “Don’t forget to listen”. A preset may be a helpful starting point, but simply starting where you left off last week may be just as effective.
Virtual-Soundcheck is a game changer but not a substitute
VSC, a multi-track recording of a soundcheck or rehearsal that can be played back through the digital console/PA so an audio engineer can perform additional work on the mix, without having the musicians on stage singing and playing. I think VSC has revolutionized the audio industry, and I use it multiple times a week for FOH and broadcast.
At the church I work with regularly, we removed one mid-week rehearsal after Christmas this year. It was the first time I’d done a Sunday morning without a rehearsal and VSC session in a very long time. It was a bit disconcerting as I realized how much I have come to depend on it.
I think the term Virtual-Rehearsal is more accurate for my use. While VSC is not a substitution for a detailed soundcheck, it does provide the luxury of time to develop a well orchestrated mix in preparation for Sunday. The term, garbage-in garbage-out, applies to VSC as much as any hardware/software technology. It won’t be useful if you don’t take the time to set consistent input levels, and making sure the musicians and singers are not sandbagging.
The 30-minute challenge
Whether you have VSC or not, if you’ve gotten into the bad habit of throwing and going, I suggest you take a step back and slow down. Add 30 minutes before the downbeat of the rehearsal for the band and engineer to set levels on each channel and start getting sounds for the day. Bring the singers in 15 minutes prior to the downbeat to get the vocal levels set. Once you’re finished with the 30 minutes of soundcheck; Choose a high-energy song from the day’s setlist, in many cases this could be your opener. Remind everyone not to sandbag and play it completely through. Then stop, so everyone can adjust their IEMs. Don’t go to the next song yet. Once everyone is in a good place with IEMs etc. Play the same song again, and unless there are any issues continue through your set. If you do a mid-week rehearsal and record it to VSC this will give the engineer plenty of content to work with. If you are doing all this on Sunday morning, once your rehearsal or run-through is complete, go back and play the opener again.
I’m very sensitive to our desire as leaders not to waste our volunteers’ time. But if we’re intentional with an extra 15 to 30 minutes we can honor everyone’s contribution as we strive towards excellence in worship.
Take the 30-minute challenge, or tailor a variation of it, and let me know how adding a soundcheck into the process improves your team’s experience. As always if you have questions or comments, email me at rcochran@worshipfacility.com. And remember to listen!