It has been my general experience that many — though certainly not all — houses of worship will wait until their house sound systems are completely falling apart before they consider investing in a new one. Well, I’m here to tell you that you don’t have to wait that long to upgrade (or completely replace) your church system. For that matter, you simply have to use your ears and check the worship house bank account and you will know whether it’s time. That said, you sometimes only have to upgrade a single piece of gear or two to make a huge improvement in the sound of your system.
Step One: The Self-Exam
When I get call from a church looking to install new speakers or a mixing board for their sound system. I show up at the appointment and while listening to some programmed music being played through the mains, I will check out the speaker wires or the XLR cables if it’s a self-powered system. Then I will see if all the gear is grounded. Next I will look at the age and quality of the microphones, how much dust has made its way into the mixer and other outboard gear.
These actions may seem very common sense to many of you, but so many times I have found that these simple maintenance issues have been overlooked. A simple fix here can make a huge improvement in the quality of the audio that a system produces. For example; I went to a church that had a pretty healthy buzz in the front of house speakers. The assistant pastor told me that over the years the buzz had gotten worse, and now they felt it was interfering with the service. It turned out that the church was originally built in the 1920’s and the electrical system was not grounded. As the church added gear to their sound system, the buzz got progressively worse.
I added a copper ground rod at the outside electrical panel and grounded the whole system. The buzz vanished. I guess that’s not a good example of a simple fix, and it does help that I am also an electrician, but grounding a building is not rocket science.
Okay, something a little simpler. At another church, I checked a powered speaker that was really losing fidelity. It turned out that XLR input cable had a frayed wire to one of the pins. I simply changed out the cable, and the system was restored.
In one more instance, I visited a house of worship with some beautiful new JBL main speakers that certainly cost some real money, but they were using 30-year-old speaker wire and microphones that looked like they had been used to pound nails. The point is that it’s not always new gear that makes a sound system sound great. It is a system after all, and every part of that system needs to be working great if you want great sound.
Okay, so let’s say that all the wiring is good, your console and outboard gear is clean, microphones are passable, the system is grounded, and it still sounds like hell (just a little church joke). One more thing to consider before you write a check for a whole new audio system: How are the acoustics in the sanctuary? If your acoustics are bad, the best system in the world can sound like the worst. That said, my recommendation is to get the environment sounding sweet before you add the audio. At this point you may need an expert. If you live in Los Angeles, I can help you. Wherever you live, you will need somebody who can evaluate your sanctuary and correct any problems. That person may be you. If it’s not, you will have to call a professional.
It’s Shopping Time!
Once the acoustics are sorted out, it’s time to get some new gear. To me, a new sound system would consist of main speakers, monitors, a mixing console, outboard gear (if needed), cables, mics, wires and a new snake. If that’s what you are planning, it sounds like fun. However, I usually replace a piece of the system rather than the whole enchilada. The fact of the matter is that not every system needs to be replaced from top to bottom. Installing new FOH main speakers can make a huge improvement in a sound system. And as a rule, I also like to replace cabling when I replace speakers. That goes for mains, monitors, cry room, etc.
Of course, in addition to improving the sound and quality of your house sound system, a new mixing board will also make the audio techs really happy. There is nothing as exciting as working with and learning to operate a new board. I know that sounds nerdy, but if you love audio (church or otherwise), you will agree. Okay, you got a new mixer and some new FOH speakers, but what about the monitors? If you are in the worship band, monitors are the most important part of the sound system. Hearing yourself and your bandmates well is right next to being in heaven. So if your house of worship purchases new floor monitors, make certain that you have a dedicated EQ for them, that you tune them to your sanctuary stage and, of course, get new wires.
Snakes in the Church
There is one very important piece of audio gear that very often is overlooked and generally neglected. That is the stage snake. How long have you had your snake? Most helpful volunteer audio technicians (and paid ones) have no idea how long the snake has been in their sanctuary. I worked on a church that had a snake mounted on the floor of the platform. It traveled up the wall and outside the church. The snake was routed along the building about 10 feet up and re-entered the building right where the mixing console was parked. As crazy as that sounds, it was true. Now they have installed a new lightweight digital snake. Of course. as a result the audio system sounds better. By the way, I love digital snakes.
