Ever since recording devices were invented, houses of worship have wanted to record some or all of their services. I began my journey of mixing and recording live worship services more than two decades ago. Way back then, recordable CDs were available and affordable, but most of my churches were still using cassettes (I know you remember what those are) to record. My main task, years ago, was to hit the record button and capture every word of the pastor’s sermon. The pastor would be talking into a podium microphone, lavalier or handheld mic, and I would use a record/aux out or mono out from the board to carry the signal to the recording device.
In actuality, any output (other than the main outs) could be used to send audio to the recorder. Pretty soon, the churches I worked with wanted to record the worship band and solo singers and players. Ultimately the entire service was recorded, from beginning to end. Now that you have a little history on my recording journey, I’ll focus on how I do it today.
My main goal (as obvious as it may seem) is to get the mix to the recording device exactly the way the congregation hears it. These days, there are many ways to do that. Here are a few of my experiences.
Real World Examples
I have a church in Pasadena, CA that records from an analog Allen & Heath GL2400-32 to a Steinberg Cubase program loaded into a desktop PC. I use aux 6 from the mixer for my computer feed. This method gives me control over every channel I send to the PC. I can adjust the level of each channel aux until I am satisfied with the mix I route to the computer. Of course, I can monitor my aux mix through my headphones. All my instruments, drums, guitars, bass, keys, vocals etc. are either miked or sent direct into the mixing board.
From there, I simply mirror (as I explained) my main mix through my aux six send and give the computer operator a realistic representation of the service. The only thing I have added to this scenario is two live mics placed halfway back in the sanctuary, about eight feet high, with one microphone wall-mounted on opposite walls of the room. These live mics are not part of the congregation’s mix. They are sent to the PC as an addition to the main mix. These live mics add a bigger sound and more “air” (realism) to the mix. With this set-up, the computer operator can use the live audio or not. Of course, with Cubase, once the initial recording has been captured, there are numerous editing and production options.
I have a similar setup at another church where I mix in Los Angeles. I am using an analog Yamaha IM8-32 with eight aux sends. Sends 7 and 8 are dedicated to recording and broadcast, as this church has a cable broadcast every Sunday. The difference here is that I use a mono out to send the sermon signal to a vintage Tascam CD recorder. The sermon is also sent to the computer/camera room, but this particular church insists I burn a CD of each and every sermon. This is a much larger house of worship (about 900 seats) compared to my Pasadena church (250 seats), but the setup is very similar. My instruments are either close-miked or direct, and I have microphones for the choir and the pastor. I also have four live mics placed throughout the sanctuary. I set the mix up in my headphones and add the live mics in for my own personal taste. I send what I think is a brilliant mix via aux 7 and 8 to my computer/camera room where they can manipulate it to their liking. This scenario is slightly more complex than the first example, but it is pretty much the same idea. I send a good mix to other handlers and hope they don’t mess it up.
The Quick Grab
There is another recording scenario I would like to share. It’s a small extra I add to my outreach and events. Usually, when I set up an outdoor event, there is no recording device to capture the audio. So I have been using a Zoom Q3 handy video recorder. It actually records audio very nicely, and the bonus is that I have the video also. And, of course, everything is recorded to an SD card. Capturing the audio and video on this type of medium means there’s lots of room for manipulating the recording.
Basically, I set up my recorder on a small tripod near my mixing console and just let it record the entire event. It is extremely simple but very effective. At the end of the event I can just hand the SD card to the client and let them know that it contains their entire outreach show. It is just a very nice bonus for any client. Sometimes I will walk around with the camera and record the event from various vantage points, but if I want a consistent sound, I have to leave the Zoom in one location.
I realize that these are just a few ways to record a service, but it all boils down to the same thing. You want to capture your mix as realistically and honestly as possible. Of course, the next step up is recording multiple discrete tracks to a hardware multi-track recorder — such as the JoeCo BlackBox — or to a computer-based system. And even if such systems have transformed track capturing into a relatively simple procedure, the steps in mixing, mastering and archiving the finished product can complicate the process and might make a good topic for a future column.
Yet, however you go, I guess you all better become excellent mixing engineers. Then the recording thing will just become second nature. So good luck as you go about your efforts in spreading the word via recorded media.
