As you know, "Sound Sanctuary" seeks to find common ground between those audio techs who volunteer their services and those who are paid to provide audio expertise. This month's installment only covers those of you who currently make money (or wish to make money) in worship sound. However, if you are an audio volunteer, please read on.
Honing Your Skills
There are a few different ways that we can earn cash as house of worship audio techs. First, and most obvious, is simply mixing live worship services. We all do this, but there are limitations. Most worship houses have one or two services every Sunday and possibly one on Wednesdays. Mixing these services is just not enough to make a living. But this is the environment in which you can hone your audio skills and ultimately become an expert at live sound.
Along with mixing sound, you should be constantly sharpening your troubleshooting and repair skills. If you check out the FRONT of HOUSE "Sound Sanctuary" archives (go to fohonline.com/archives), you can find some good articles on troubleshooting and basic repairs. Personally, I do not do a lot of repair work, but I am an expert at troubleshooting, and you should become one, too. Having the ability to locate a problem in your worship house system or any system is a very valuable skill. As for complicated repairs, find a local audio service business that you will use for all or most of your sound gear repairs. I have been seeing the same guy for a decade and, as a result, I get great repair prices. I can also call him for questions or advice, and if I have a rush order, it is never a problem.
Outreach Opportunities
Another area that offers some very lucrative income opportunity is outreach events. I define "outreach event" as any spiritual live sound event that does not take place in a house of worship. I just supplied audio and lighting (plus my mixing skills) for a church camp located in my local Southern California mountains. I live in Pasadena and there are dozens of local church camps. Each sponsors dozens of outreach events every year. Along with camps, I also supply audio for outreach events in local parks, Christian schools, hotel ballrooms and even church parking lots. Anywhere my house of worship clients want to put on an event, I will be there.
Of course, I am an owner/operator of a sound company, and that company took a fair amount of capital to launch. I realize that not all of you will be throwing down the dollars to create your own audio company, but you can always look for a gig at your local soundco. I have about a half dozen technicians that I hire on an event-by-event basis. Most of these guys work at their own house of worship where they mix services. They also take gigs with other sound companies when available. At least one of these guys is building his own sound company, and I hope he does very well.
Installed Sound
I believe that if you do a good job at mixing worship sound, you can also do a good job at installing or upgrading worship sound systems. You already know what sounds good in your house of worship, so go out and check out some other houses. I have an acquaintance who visits a new and different house of worship every Wednesday. By making this commitment, he is exposed to a large variety of gear, and he is constantly training his ears to know good sound (and bad) in whatever worship house he is in. Along with the weekly visits, he offers free evaluations of the sound systems he has listened to. I also offer free evaluations of worship house systems. It is a great way to make a particular house of worship a new client.
Evaluating a sound system is fairly easy. First, you look at the age and condition of the audio equipment, including the mixing console, outboard gear, microphones, mic cables, speakers, speakers wires, patch cables and all mic and instrument stands. There are a variety of software programs available that can be loaded into your laptop and used in a house of worship to help you evaluate the sound of the system. I found one I really like – you can check it out at jamierio.com.
There are obviously many options out there. Remember, your ears are your best diagnostic tools. When I started evaluating systems, I used a spectrum analyzer and my own ears. I had very good results with these two tools. Once you have evaluated the system, write up a non-technical report and give it to your potential house of worship client. Next, you will prepare a proposal with your recommendations and the cost of performing them. I give all my clients three proposals, ranging from the most expensive (and, of course, the best system) to the least-expensive one. You will have to also study up on the latest and greatest gear out there, but that is one of the reasons you read FOH.
Acoustic Treatments
There is one more aspect of house of worship sound that I have only dabbled in, but is also very lucrative. That is acoustic treatment of a worship space. Understand (and hearing) how sound waves interact with the interior of a house of worship (including the people) can take a bit of reading, training and study. (I have written on this subject in the past, and I'll probably revisit it in the future). The bottom line to this type of audio work is that the more you can control the sound waves in a worship space, the better you can make a service or presentation sound. And, of course, you will be paid well for this skill.
I hope this bit of information has given you some ideas on how to increase your income as a worship sound technician. My true feeling is that if you love this kind of work, you should be paid for it.
Good luck.
