Help!!

[eyema_believer]

I've recently been hired at a church as their worship leader. This is my 3rd different church as worship leader/pastor. Before I came, the board/committee that hired me, the worship guy I replaced (due to health issues, he's still at the church) the lead pastor and I all had an agreement: everyone wanted an updated sound... While all those people are super-supportive in the changes I'm making, and 99% of the congregation is SO grateful that I'm doing what I'm doing, there are of course those in the congregation that are resistant. We've added a drummer, and I've stipulated changes like mo bass, and rock guitars etc. I'm 43, so I've been around the block a few hundred times, but have a hard time knowing what to say when I hear the complaints and then someone asks me "why can't you just turn it down?"

I listen carefully, and then I'll ask where the person sits to see if they are in a hot spot. If that's the case, I'll ask if they would be willing to try a different place etc... but it always seems to come back to that "why can't you just turn it down?" thing.

What do you all think??

[worshiptheKing]

Tell them "if its too loud you're too old!" No , no just kidding. Tough situation, not as bad as the "Can you do a hymn every week?" crowd though.

[milepost13]

Any response other then attempting to figure out what the core issue is is only going to be a band aid and temporary fix that will just buy you a few weeks of peace. Changing seats is just band aid, and although it's not a bad solution, it's not one that is going to correctly fix the core issue. You've got to be able to listen to complaints and try to understand if people's ears are hurting, or if they simply don't understand why the volume has been turned up.

If ears are hurting (and I've only met one person over the years who I truly believed when she said her ears were hurting), the only two fixes are cotton balls or find another church...sorry. If people don't understand (which I can tell you right now is probably 99.9% of the people who bring this complaint to you), then you have a responsibility to help them understand. If you don't feel capable of doing that, ask them to speak with the pastor...if he is the guy who brought you in and instructed you to make changes, he should be prepared to explain the why to people, and you shouldn't feel guilty about sending people his way.

[Mike on Bass]

I have had to explain to people (usually singers on stage) before that it's a live band, with live people. It's not like singing along to a CD or Karaoke Night at the Bingo club. It will be louder than an organ and piano.

In my experience, many times people complain about volume when it isn't a volume issue, it's a frequency sensitivity issue. Certain people's ears are more sensitive to certain frequencies, especially if other frequencies they have lost the ability to hear.

My wife is like that- she has hereditary middle-frequency hearing loss. Part of that is most subharmonic bass frequencies give her a migraine. She can't be in a room with subs, regardless of volume.

In another example, I attended a noise/vibration/harshness seminar as part of the engineering group I was in at the time where the presenters did a test of certain frequencies at 60dB. Most were a comfortable noise, but a few were harsh and a couple were downright unbearable. The point was that a certain design might meet customer (vehicle) cab noise requirements by SPL level, but still generate noise complaints. This applies to us because the only real measure of praise team volume we use is an SPL meter. So SPL is not an end-all-be-all when it comes to comfortable volume.

Most of us don't notice certain frequencies because they blend with others. But as a person's hearing changes, some frequencies stand out and generate an "it's too loud" complaint. That being said, there might not be anything you can do to help, especially if that frequency is in the range of a certain instrument like bass drum or cymbal or guitar.

Hope that helps...

[efrisch]

In my experience, many times people complain about volume when it isn't a volume issue, it's a frequency sensitivity issue. Certain people's ears are more sensitive to certain frequencies, especially if other frequencies they have lost the ability to hear.

I think this is usually part of this issue. I also think it can come from a place of discomfort or unfamiliarity - a lot of the time, it isn't really "it's too loud", but rather "the guitar is too loud" or "there's too much bass" or "I didn't like that song". People aren't really aware of WHAT exactly made them uncomfortable about what they heard, so it gets vocalized as "it's too loud". I know that was an issue for us. As the quality of our mix got better, we were actually able to run louder than we could previously with virtually no complaints. Right now, I get a pretty even mix of "it's too loud" and "it's too quiet" - probably about 1 of each every Sunday. I'm ok with that balance.

I can also relate to having to explain stylistic changes to congregation members. I've had to explain that, because we are playing fast rock songs, there is a certain amount of volume that the music requires to reach the desired energy level and intensity.

Of course, all of this goes back to the fact that we can't please everybody all the time. I'm convinced that one church really can't be all things to all people, especially when it comes to music style & volume. If you're making sweeping changes, there will probably be a few folks who simply won't appreciate the new approach, but if the church as a whole is behind it, then that's ok.

Sorry for the somewhat rambling response - this is an issue that is important to me, but I find it hard to explain sometimes.

[Dolce Crystal]

I find it funny that the people who tell you it is too loud are also the people who tell you to speak up when you are having a conversation.

Speaking in love you can tell them that the same way the hymns that appealed to them as a young person these songs appeal to the young of today. And those young people are the future of the church. We have to remain relevant to them, the method changes while the message stays the same.

[Mike on Bass]

Of course, that could backfire, too.

A few things to remember when taking the approach of 'it's what the young people like'

We have to be sure we don't discount what that generation has done for the church. They have been faithfully serving and supporting the church for longer than many of us have been alive. It's because of their contribution that we have a church to call home. To come in and say 'this is what the young people like, and they are the future' can come across to the older generation as we are putting them out to pasture- we don't need them anymore.

Not that they are sacrosanct, or we need to kowtow to their whims, want but we need to show them the proper respect while moving forward. It's along the lines of 'honor your father and mother'. So the key is to do it in a way where they are in the boat rowing with you.

That being said, sell "the youth like it and they are the future' as them (older generation) helping you leave a legacy for the next generation of believers- so the church they contributed so much to can thrive for another generation. Explain that you are only trying to create an environment where their kids and grandkids will feel that same closeness to God they have felt over the years.

Using something along those lines may help it make sense to them- they might not agree with all of it but they understand why you are doing it.

Now there are some that are ornery old coots that have nothing better to do than bend your ear about the sound- not much you can do for them but smile and nod...

[merry]

Ditto everything said Mike said, especially this.

We have to be sure we don't discount what that generation has done for the church. They have been faithfully serving and supporting the church for longer than many of us have been alive. It's because of their contribution that we have a church to call home. To come in and say 'this is what the young people like, and they are the future' can come across to the older generation as we are putting them out to pasture- we don't need them anymore.

Not that they are sacrosanct, or we need to kowtow to their whims, want but we need to show them the proper respect while moving forward. It's along the lines of 'honor your father and mother'. So the key is to do it in a way where they are in the boat rowing with you.

[Korg4god]

This is something that we literally do... at the back of the room we have the offering paraphernalia, the flags and such but we also have a jar with the foam rubber ear plugs. You an buy a bulk of these and have them available.

Works for us....

J

[eyema_believer]

Thanks for all of your thoughts on this! Now, look at the thread I'm about to post in this same area of the forum! ;-)