My nature is to constantly refine what I do in search of a better mix. I try new mics, new mic placements, a new way to EQ something or maybe even start my mix with a different instrument. One of the reasons that I love mixing is the excitement of pursuing a better mix. I love the excitement of discovering new and better ways of doing things and even the let downs when something doesn’t work. There is however one fail safe way that I have found to improve a mix. Serving.

At the heart of most great mixers that I know is the heart of a servant. There is something powerful about serving those around us. For me personally, this is a characteristic of Jesus that I find myself focusing on often. It seems to bring out the best in people when you serve them. It takes the focus off of you and lets people know that you’re about something bigger than yourself. It creates a sense of team and this is where your mix begins to improve. When a guitarist knows that you’re on the same team, they will not only listen to your input on tone, they might actually ask for it. When you serve a musician by giving them the perfect monitor mix, it allows them to hear how their instrument is interacting with the other instruments. Suddenly musicians stop playing all over each other and the house mix cleans up!

-Dustin

Dustin is speaking of an intangible quality of great mixers that is often over-looked, perhaps by accident. I remember walking onto the Buckhead Church stage as a wet-behind-the-ears audio volunteer in early 2004. As a musician, I empathized with the pressures our musicians were facing being forced to relinquish control of their in-ear monitors to someone they hardly knew. Knowing very little at the time about mixing monitors, I quickly grasped for what strengths I could offer the band members on-stage. I couldn’t yet tweak a great mix, but I could serve them with all I had. I could give every effort ensuring each musician’s requests were met, that their mixes were as close to amazing as possible, and that no need/want went unfulfilled.

I found myself hurrying to fetch cables, fielding “petty” requests for small mix changes (with a gracious smile), passing out bottles of water in-between songs, and bending over backwards not only to meet their needs, but satisfy their wants. My goal as a volunteer was to take every potential distraction away from the band being able to lead people well. I knew that if their mixes were great, and they felt cared for, that would be reflected in how they played and led our church attendees. I saw fruit from that quickly. Even for my own development, I had even more opportunities to mix, because musicians began to request me, specifically, to mix their monitors. And in turn, they returned that grace to me as I (slowly) learned how to mix better.

As audio volunteers and staff, we have an opportunity to lead the bands before they ever lead our church attendees. My level of service may directly correlate to their quality of performance. Are we taking this seriously?

-Chris

One of the most important things we can do as mixers is gain control of the instrument sounds coming from our stages. Electric guitar amps are perhaps the easiest, and highest impact instruments to move off-stage. We’ve found a piece of gear that makes this transition easy, all while retaining the quality of the guitar player’s tone. See the video for more details on how we set it up.

The Radial SGI is about $250. For more information about the Radial SGI, click here.

There are a million things going on in the mix at any given second during a song. It’s easy to get tunnel vision, you focus on one instrument, then the next, then there’s a strange noise, this song is ending, who’s next, did I change those batteries? It never seems to end and if it does, you just want to zone out and enjoy the moment. It’s very easy to focus on the urgent issues when mixing, and I want to challenge you to focus on what is important to the music. The things that give the music life, character and depth.

What is the most important thing happening in the mix right now? This has become the creed among our volunteers. If you find yourself thinking “this mix is just boring” or “it just sounds like noise,” it’s time to start digging for what is important. Look for ways to breathe life into the mix by looking for things that are interesting. Be wary of the perfectly-balanced mix where everything is the same level. In many songs, there is one instrument that really makes the song shine. Figure out what it is and let it stand out. You will find that the song suddenly has a new life by making a few small mix changes.

Oh, and if you’re having a hard time deciding what is the most important thing in the mix or finding something interesting, it’s a great opportunity to talk to your Music Director!

-Dustin

As a Music Director, I can tell you that our team of musicians works very hard to craft a polished set list each week. Some of our efforts are focused on picking engaging arrangements of songs; and, ample time is spent piecing the music together on-stage at rehearsal. It’s important for each musician to know his/her role in the music, and to know when and when not to play. When music is performed strategically… said another way… each part is played completely on-purpose, there should be room left for one interesting musical element to shine in any given moment.

In modern worship music, the “most important” element is often the lead vocal. It also can be the melody line on electric guitar, an interesting bass riff after a vocal phrase, a piano melody soaring over the bridge, a background vocal repeat of the lead vocal, or a memorable drum fill. It’s rarely rhythm electric guitar, acoustic guitar strumming, or quarter note chording on piano. (In most cases, I consider these elements “textures.”) If you’re mixing or playing, and there is nothing interesting happening, this may be a warning sign that something in the music needs to change. (If you need help discerning this, these are the moments when everything sounds like mush.)

On the other hand, if each band member is riffing on top of one another, someone needs to organize the chaos. It’s crucial. If you need answers for how to play songs, reference the recorded versions of music. They are often produced and played very well. Copy them note-for-note. There’s no shame in borrowing great production.

If you get the music arranged well, then there is still one important step: communication between the Music and Audio teams. Chat about what’s happening in the music, who’s singing what/when, where the interesting parts are in the arrangements. Make sure your mixer knows the arrangements as well as you do. It’s a law of good music: there is always something that is most important. Find it, amplify it, and sense your worship environment come to life.

-Chris

There’s no doubt that the issue of volume is the most dreaded topic of conversation for a sound guy. It may start as a kind “Do you think it’s too loud?” or a not so kind “It’s too LOUD, turn it down!!” Either way, I always start the conversation the same way. I take a breath. A DEEP breath. I remind myself to take a step back and not take things too personally. I choose to trust that the person with the concern has the best interest of the worship experience at heart. Then, once I realize this isn’t a personal attack on me and my mix, I can objectively move on to helping solve the problem.

Many times the volume complaint is really more of a tone complaint. They’re just trying to tell you that something in the mix is painful, they just don’t know how to articulate what it is that is hurting them. If it is fitting, ask the person to help you identify what it is that is offensive. The usual suspects tend to be the snare drum, cymbals, guitars and vocals. Ask yourself if any of these things may be a little shrill or painful in tone. It may even be a combination of instruments that are causing the pain.

Once you have identified the problem instrument, you have a couple of options. The first is to manage the overall volume of that instrument using the fader or by using a compressor to tame the spikes in volume. The second option is to use the EQ to remove the most painful frequencies from the instrument. The actual frequency can vary greatly but I would start cutting in the range from 1k to 4k.

You may have noticed that I haven’t mentioned any dB SPL measurements. That’s because I honestly don’t put much stock in metered levels, if it hurts, it hurts no matter what the meter says. A bad mix may get volume complaints at 85 dB while a great mix won’t get a single complaint at 110 dB. You also need to consider the style of music being played, and your target audience. Who are you trying to engage? Too soft can be just as disengaging as too loud. If you aren’t sure who your target audience is, ask!

-Dustin

Volume is one of my favorite topics to discuss. It’s probably the most controversial and polarizing topic around the proverbial Church Audio water cooler. I don’t think we have the perfect answer, but we have developed a philosophy that allows us to deal intelligently with complaints, and make the best decisions for our worship environment. As Dustin mentioned, it’s extremely important that noise complaints not be taken personally. In addition to runaway frequencies, noise complaints might actually be linked to something less obvious: music selection.

In my experience, doing a wide-range of music, I find that more aggressive songs, especially the heavily-guitar-driven songs, tend to get the most noise complaints, irrespective of volume. Most attendees and non-production staff members do not have an audio vocabulary, and when it feels loud to them, they may actually being saying, “I don’t like that song.” It’s very important to ask clarifying questions of those who push back. If you discern that your complainer dislikes the music/song, then you probably need to handle the situation differently.

It is crucial that we know our target audience(s); who are we trying to reach? Without that knowledge, your decision-making, song selection, and service programming is likely based on bad science. This information also provides the answers you’ll need for volume questions. Nothing diffuses a potentially awkward conversation like a well-supported strategy. You’re in trouble when you can’t tell naysayers exactly why you’re doing what you’re doing.

As Dustin mentioned, we never limit ourselves to a pre-determined SPL level, and frankly, limiting SPL is allowing the tail to wag the dog. If we get multiple volume complaints, then we can assume that the masses might be feeling the same way. We use common sense and humility to ensure that the environment we are creating is engaging and exciting for our attendees. How loud is too loud? Wrong question. Better questions: Who is our audience, and is what we’re doing engaging them?

-Chris