Every month, I attempt to write about issues, items and situations that directly involve or affect the worship sound world. However, there are a few different dividing lines with regards to those of you who work in this corner of live sound.
Many of you simply volunteer your time at a particular house of worship and expect nothing else. Some of you work at your church and are paid for your work. And then there are those of you who work at a variety of different houses – either in the realm of mixing, installations, repairs, improvements or all of the above. You may wonder why I am stating something that is so obvious to so many of you. I am just reminding myself of who my audience is, and that I should always be concerned with addressing your needs. That said, let's get on with it.
Two Scenarios
The first has you as the main – and, possibly, the only – mixing engineer at your church. This position may be very fulfilling, but also carries a lot of responsibility. Who fills in for you when you are not available? For that matter, how well does your replacement know the system, and mixing in general?
While you are pondering these questions, I will give you scenario number two. You have just installed a new sound system in a house of worship. Your client wanted all the bells and whistles for their new sound package, but no one other than you has the ability to operate the system to its full potential. So there you have it. Whether you are at the top of the pile as a solo church mixing technician or a professional installer, you both have one common goal. That is to teach and train those in the congregation who want to learn about sound.
Let's start with the installer. You know that most houses of worship want the best sound system they can afford. This fact is probably why you got the installation job to begin with. But buying a sound system is a lot like purchasing a new car. It may prove to be very challenging when it comes to operating all the new onboard systems, and, of course, it will inevitably need some maintenance in the future. So the answer for you as an installer is to offer a certain amount of system training with the new installation. I suggest that training the house of worship sound staff be included in your original bid and contract. How many hours and the depth of the training is, of course, up to you. Once you have trained the faithful, make certain to stay in-touch with your house of worship client. I offer a free yearly maintenance review. Or you could just send a friendly e-mail to check how well the sound system is operating. This practice has worked out well for me and is really just good business.
Back It Up
Let's go back to scenario number one. You are great at mixing, but you have to duplicate (or clone) yourself if you ever want to miss a church service. The answer is the same for you as for the installer. You will take on the task of training those who show a desire and interest to serve in your house's live sound needs. My suggestion for you is that you really do your homework with regards to sound in general. That way you are not just showing your people how to turn on the gear and push some buttons and faders. Everyone under your tutelage needs to understand the basics of sound, and how sound reacts in the real world – especially in the world of your particular church building. They also need to acquire some knowledge about amplifiers, speakers, outboard gear and microphones, etc. Teach them things like signal flow, ohms, frequencies, sound waves and so on. The more thoroughly you train these people, the better things will sound when you are not there. Don't worry about being replaced. By becoming the teacher, you will also separate yourself as the pro in your congregation. There is also the whole realm of repair. Just knowing how to solder properly is a major thing if nobody else in the congregation knows how to do it. Of course you will have to make time for all this training, but it will be worth it.
You can see as an installer, my teaching is more limited. However, I am the author of House of Worship Sound Reinforcement and I always suggest my book as a supplement to my training.
Along with incorporating a few training sessions in my installation contracts, I have also put together a full training program for those interested in investing their time and money in the world of worship sound. For example, I installed a sound system in a worship house near Long Beach, CA. I included some basic training with the install but ultimately convinced the Pastor that he should invest in classes for some of his future audio techs. Besides my training sessions, I also put together a comprehensive operation manual for the church's new sound system. I included all the aspects I could think of, from live mixing to how the system is wired up, including microphones to speakers and everything in between, plus a section on general troubleshooting.
In addition to training the church staff and offering classes, I also offer my mixing skills for any church special events. Often, a worship house will hire a pro for Christmas, Easter or any event they feel is of major importance.
I hope that you find some of my ideas helpful. I know not all of you are natural teachers or communicators but you posses some specific and important knowledge. If you can devise a plan or program to share this knowledge effectively, you will be able to improve your business if you are a pro – or at least increase the number of qualified sound techs at your church.
