Oversight of audio ministry

[hisfirewithin]

Okay, here's my question for Worship Leaders...

How much say do you have over the audio ministry at your church? Do you draw a hard line between yourself and the sound tech, and completely allow them to do whatever they need to? Or do you completely tell them what to buy, and how you want things mixed?

[yod1948]

Originally Posted by hisfirewithin

Okay, here's my question for Worship Leaders...

How much say do you have over the audio ministry at your church? Do you draw a hard line between yourself and the sound tech, and completely allow them to do whatever they need to? Or do you completely tell them what to buy, and how you want things mixed?

that would depend on who has the most knowledge of audio engineering, I suppose.

The best answer would be Ephesians 5:21

[dtpuga]

I am the TD and primary audio guy at SSCC. I work very closely with our worship leader discussing equipment, usage, and the overall mix. We've never really had a problem coming to agreement on execution of things. Generally he shares his vision for an event/song and what he wants to be leading it. I take that and put whatever gear and techniques in place around it to make it all happen.

A worship leader, who is generally, if not always, on stage HAS to be able to trust whoever is running sound for him. What the two of them hear and experience in their "spots" is drastically different. The guy running sound has the perspective of the congregation though.

Just my thoughts. I am sure Fred will chime in here to present the other half of our operation.

[milepost13]

Originally Posted by hisfirewithin

Okay, here's my question for Worship Leaders...

How much say do you have over the audio ministry at your church? Do you draw a hard line between yourself and the sound tech, and completely allow them to do whatever they need to? Or do you completely tell them what to buy, and how you want things mixed?

I think that same question can be asked of every ministry a person might oversee. The goal is to find the right people and equip them in a way that allows them to own the ministry, while at the same time creating a strong relationship that gives you (as their pastor/team leader/etc.) the ability to step in and say "here's what I need...here's what I think we need to do differently".

I have to be able to trust my sound techs to do their ministry well, and they have to be able to trust me to provide solid leadership.

Nate

[stephen_can_man]

This was a big issue at our church. At first, our tech director (td) was outwardly agreeing with my comments about excellence but, he would not act upon anything that I requested. We had two people who ran sound regularly, and, both people were not gifted at it. I requested that he reassign them somewhere else and for him to run sound until we were able to train capable volunteers. This was not received well and our Senior Pastor did not give me the authority to make an executive decision.

So, I worked around the situation. I trained two people, two of my musicians, and worked them into the sound rotation. I made sure at least twice a month they were able to run the sound, and the quality was night and day. Then, when we got cameras at the church, the new ministry needed volunteers. After pressuring our td for months ahead of time, he finally reassigned the two who were not a good fit and now only my musicians run sound. Since then I have trained another one of my musicians and we have 3 capable sound people, all three of which are more concerned about what I have to say, mainly because they want playing time.

I knew ahead of time that I wanted a working relationship with our td, but, since he was resistant to my direction I had to have another plan. Because the sound is so important to worship, I chose to rely on the loyalty of my volunteers over a payed staff member, mainly because of their committment to the vision of the worship team. In the end, the difference in philosophy between myself and the td forced my hand. Our td valued the feelings of his two team members over the vision of excellence, so, I had to act.

The unfortunate thing is, one of the volunteers was reassigned to another ministry outside of the td's control, and, that volunteer is thriving. The other volunteer (still under our td) still has struggles because our td can't seem to get his mind around the fact that some people just don't have what it takes in the technical area, and consequently, they pull down the others around them.

[free_by_grace]

A lot of FOH people come to their position with an opinion about how they think their responsibility needs to be handled. One wants more bass than most of the crowd. Another just wants loud. Another doesn't provide enough volume to get a clean balance...

Often musicians also have strong opinions about their sound, their mix and their volume. It's easy for there to be an "us vs you" mentality between the musicians and the FOH team... but this does not need to be the case.

It is good for each participant to have an opinion about how they want things to sound. The real trick is to build trust and a comfortable feedback mechanism that allows each member to feel both heard and respected. Yes, there is such a thing as "too loud" and "too quiet". But a good FOH technician will not be afraid to listen to a musician if the trust is there between them. He/she will be glad to walk around to make sure things sound good not just at the mixin board but around the room. He/she should be able to give at least a little one way or the other if a musician needs more or less of something (sometimes it's just reducing the other voices/instruments in that person's mix).

For the musician's part they should be able to have that same trust that the FOH team knows what they are doing and respects their wishes. The musician is then better able to trust the mix, even if it doesn't sound exactly perfect in their ears.

Disagreements can even be handled well... even if they are heated discussions. If each member feels respected for their opinion whether or not it is what is used as the final decision. If we all come to the table with the approach that what we want is for God to be glorified in how we sound and how we show unity as a "worship staff" then we should not allow those struggles to put a rift between people but rather push us to pursue more effective and unifying communication across the team.

[LKMusician]

Henry Rollins once said, "I have 5 members in my band. Vocal - Guitar - Bass - Drums - Sound Engineer. If one of the first four has an off night, the 5th can cover up a little. If the 5th has an off night, we all have an off night."

Worship leaders, your soundman/tech leader should be your best friend. They should feel like a member of the praise band. (I don't know if this is what you are asking about - but it is where I am feeling lead) You have to welcome them in and embrace them as an integral member of the praise band. After reading the comments by the other members, you can see that relationship makes all the difference. You each have to be willing to learn from the other and agree on what is right - for the sake of the kingdom.

Now, I am a worship leader, but I am also an engineer. I run live sound and studio sessions, so I have been on both sides of the stick regularly. So, it is important that you feel like you are doing your best to serve the other at all times. Remember, you are a servant of the Living God first and foremost.

Leaders - make sure your sound man feels valued and appreciated. That will help with many conflicts. Now, we all know there has to be a leader. In my opinion, in the situations I have seen work the best, the worship leader needs to have final say (unless you have a producer and that changes everything). The leader has been asked to cast a vision, and he has to make that vision happen. However, the worship leader does not need to drive the bus. Once the leader and the FOH have established a trust (VERY IMPORTANT), then the leader can let the FOH run (an amazing situation to be in - it can change your entire church). There must be a moment when you as a worship leader let go, because if you don't you will be distracted from the throne of God.

In every conflict, respond with humility and gentleness. Proverbs 15:1 says, "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh answer stirs up anger." Great words to remember at any time. When you lead passionately and gently, yet sure of the leading of the Lord, people want to support that.

Sound men, make sure your worship leader feels like you are there to supplement their ministry. Your leader knows the power you wield. You can make a great day of worship turn quickly if you don't know what is going on. This goes for visual guys too - but not to the extent the FOH (Front of House). The more your worship leader trusts you, the more freedom you have to be who you are. He will lean on you and heap praise upon you, if he feels you will catch his team when they fall. You are the gate keeper.

I say all of that to say this. The better relationship you have, the more influence you will have and vice versa. Create a great relationship between the 2 of you, and give all glory to God.

[twc_admin]

Great responses - Travis pretty much summed it up for us - it's a mutual respect, trust, and communication. Plus, we DO have a Producer, who ultimately gets to help make those calls.

On more than one occasion, I've not been sure how certain things sounded, and would rehearse them two ways, asking the sound techs/producer in the back to tell us which sounded best to them ... so yeah ... they are your best friends.

[yod1948]

Originally Posted by LKMusician

Henry Rollins once said, ".....

Really? Henry Rollins? What about Danzig?





sorry...couldn't resist pointing out the irony of quoting Henry Rollins in a worship leaders forum. I bet he'd get a kick out of that.

[LKMusician]

While I agree it is a bit... off... to quote Henry Rollins in a worship leader forum, wisdom can be found in many places - and that bit of wisdom will be a piece I'll carry with me as long as I play in bands - or lead worship for that matter.

I don't remember Glenn Danzig saying anything wise - but if I find anything, I'll let you know

K -