What you hold in your hand is something pretty unusual for FOH–a themed issue. Most of what you will find between the covers of this month's collection of live audio missives relate in some way to the world of house of worship sound. Before you non-churchy road warriors run away screaming, don't worry, there is plenty for you here, too. That includes coverage of a decidedly un-churchy Ozzfest. So why a themed issue for a news publication that lives and dies on being current and covering what is happening now? Well, there are two answers, and I am going to do the unthinkable and give you both of them–even though uttering one means pulling aside the curtain for a peek at the inner workings of the news biz.
If you live in a city of any size you almost surely have at least one local paper of the weekly arts and entertainment variety. And you will have likely noticed that most of these papers run some kind of "Best Of" issue where readers vote on the best local whatever–restaurants, galleries, theatres. Well, if you have been paying close attention you will have noticed that these issues happen more often than not in the month of August. Why? Because traditionally, advertising revenues in August are less than stellar. So, news publications all over do "special" issues that aim to give advertisers a reason to loosen up the purse strings in what is often a tough month. Hence a themed issue in August.
The second, and more important, reason is that the house of worship market continues to expand as other parts of the live event audio world are contracting. As you will see in the features in this issue, multi-million dollar installs are becoming more common and rival the biggest theatrical installations anywhere in the world.
Even if your idea of Sunday services has more to do with the NFL and a good recliner than a pew seat and a sermon, there is opportunity here. But, more than most areas of the live event production and install world, you MUST understand the culture and issues particular to the world of house of worship audio if you are going to get into that part of the industry. Examples: Richard Rutherford (whose Sound Sanctuary column is actually out this month–we figured that with a church-themed issue having a church column was kind of redundant) is very involved in his church but that involvement preceded his church audio work. So he knew that world well before he got involved on the biz side. Paul Overson, who is one half of the Anklebiters and who wrote the Installations piece on the huge LDS Conference Center, is equally active in his church but, as his particular denomination is one that is not big on production values, his church activity has not led to a lot of work. In fact, if anything it has led to a lot of people expecting him to donate his time and gear for church events. Jamie Rio, former Anklebiter, on the other hand, has turned his work with church events and praise bands into regular install work with smaller churches in the L.A. area.
Here's hoping that our contributors this month can help you understand what it takes to get a foothold in the house of worship market whether that means install work or just mixing and working larger shows. As churches expand their production offerings, their need for help and input from experienced pros increases exponentially. Now, all rise.
