As the holiday season approaches, worship facilities are gearing up for Christmas plays, or other special events in addition to our weekly worship services every Sunday morning.
The line check assures that what you plugged in on stage comes up exactly where it is expected to come up on the sound console.
In this installment, we will take a look at the advantages of preparing for worship services and events and how sound checks and rehearsals play a role in the success of those events.
Preparing for Sound Check
Although sound systems in a worship setting are used in the same manner every week, if there are any changes to channel inputs, it's always a good idea to perform a "line check" before the sound check begins. For example, if your normal Sunday morning set up is drums, one or two keyboard set ups, two guitars, and bass, but for a special event you add horns or another guitar, you'll want to do a line check before you start the sound check.
The line check assures that what you plugged in on stage comes up exactly where it is expected to come up on the sound console. This is especially true if you have a stage monitor console, or are using a personal stage monitoring system (Aviom, etc.). Your tech crew can perform the line check before the band hits the stage. A useful tool for line checks is the Qbox. The Qbox (manufactured by Whirlwind) is an audio line tester that can be used to send a tone down the line to confirm signal continuity between the stage input and the audio console(s).
The house and monitor engineers will need to "ring out" the house and stage speakers, which basically means to identify frequencies that are on the verge of producing a "feedback" loop. For a church sound system that's used every week, this is something that's probably already under control.
After confirming that all audio signals are showing up where you want them in the sound system, and all offending frequencies are under control, it's time for the band to begin the sound check.
Sound checks serve at least two purposes:
1. For the performing artists (musicians and singers) to confirm they can hear what they need to hear in their monitors (floor wedges or in ear monitors), and
2. For the sound engineer(s) to dial in their mix for the event.
If your worship facility has a monitor mix position with a monitor engineer, this is the time for the musicians and singers to ask the monitor engineer for more or less of what they need for their mix. If the musicians and singers are using a personal monitoring system (without a monitor engineer), as mentioned above, the sound check is the time to set their own levels to their preference. Most musicians and singers want to predominantly hear themselves and a little of the entire band, sometimes referred to as a 60/40 mix (60 percent of themselves and 40 percent of everyone else).
A good monitor engineer will use the same listening device that the musician or singer is using to get a feel for what the performer is hearing. I tend to put myself in the shoes of the performer and start with a mix that I would want to hear if I were performing, and let them ask for what they want after I set their mix up. Front of House engineers use the sound check to tweak their mix to get it just right for the audience.
The best approach to begin the sound check is to have the band play through an entire song, with all musicians playing at "performance levels." The importance of this may have to be reiterated to the band and singers, because performers have a tendency to reserve their energy during sound check and, whether the excitement of the moment or adrenaline kicks in, they almost always give you 20 percent more energy when it's time to perform.
Rehearsals
It's a good idea for production and media teams to keep rehearsals and sound checks separate. In other words, the time set aside for sound check should not be used as rehearsal time. There's a good reason for this, from the perspective of the sound engineer, and that is because the dynamics of a rehearsal may be counterproductive for a sound check. One good example of this is when the sound engineer is dialing in the mix, perhaps tweaking equalization or compression settings, and the music and singing suddenly stops.
While it might be perfectly normal for the band to stop playing during a rehearsal, it makes it difficult for the sound engineer to accomplish his tasks without a seamless flow of music at performance levels. Musicians and singers will often meet separately from tech to rehearse, and then come together for a full rehearsal and sound check with sound, lights and stage personnel. Rehearsals are invaluable for worship presentations, measuring production values by secular standards.
Worship leaders and teams need to spend time learning and rehearsing songs to lead congregations during the worship experience. It's particularly advantageous for the sound engineers to be involved in at least one rehearsal with the worship team before the worship service to familiarize themselves with the music and the flow of the worship.
Technical Rehearsals
For some houses of worship it may seem to be a bit over the top to use theater terminology. For others who engage in major worship production for holidays, such as Christmas and Resurrection Sunday, involving dramatic elements and/or perhaps an orchestra, it is helpful to employ a sequence of rehearsals that combine the technical elements of lighting, sound, props and scenery. I should mention the importance of the Stage Manager (SM) for larger productions and that his or her role is very helpful to keep the flow of rehearsals and sound checks in order.
Not enough can be said of the importance of being prepared before leading a congregation in worship. Sound checks and rehearsals are valuable methods of preparation that every team of worship leaders should incorporate into their weekly regimen.