8) Build the house mix from the bottom up.
If you take my approach of using a foundation of bass and guitar for the house mix, build it out with by adding the remaining instruments and vocals.
But regardless of your favored foundation, finish it up, and if you’ve done a decent sound check, this should be a relatively quick and painless process.
Once I have all inputs up and going, it’s time for critical listening. My primary evaluation of a mix is based on the ability to identify each instrument individually, as well as appropriate balance between the elements.
During this process, get out of the booth, walk around and sit in several locations in the coverage area. Just don’t go too far in case you need to get back quickly for something urgent like a vocalist setting a wireless mic on a monitor wedge…
Getting out of the booth helps clear the mind and lets you really listen to what’s going on. In my evaluation, if I can identify each instrument and there’s good balance, I’m 95 percent of the way done.
From there it’s “finesse mode” and working a bit with compressors, gates and effects. A word of caution here, if you’re at 95 percent with the mix, less can be more. Sometimes there’s a tendency to over-mix, and it can spiral out of control pretty quickly.
9) Affirm the musicians through your attitude.
Most of how sound operators are perceived comes from their attitude toward musicians. A worship leader that I work with on a regular basis once told me, “If I look up and see the people in the booth looking relaxed, having fun and worshipping along with us, I know the mix is sounding great.”
Also try to make it a habit to give a word of praise and/or encouragement to at least one of the musicians after a service. Even if it’s just a “hey, thanks for playing today,” doing this tells them that you’re engaged with what they’re doing, reinforcing that what they’re doing matters and that you care.
10) Plan on the first song being at least 3 dB hotter than sound check.
After a good sound check and rehearsal it’s tempting to think, “all right, this is auto-pilot from here on out.” Don’t mislead yourself. Yes, you’ve set up yourself and the band for a win. Yes, you’re prepared and ready to go.
That last song of the rehearsal sounded spectacular and you’re still thinking about it. Now the service starts, there are people sitting in the seats, and the pastor has just amped everyone up with his opening. The musicians naturally sense the energy and excitement in those words and guess what? They all play louder and with more intensity!
And all of a sudden that nice 85 dBA level you had during rehearsal jumps to 90 dBA and you fear that if the drummer hits his crash cymbal any harder it will break. This is natural, and don’t blame the musicians. Appreciate the energy they’re bringing to the worship time—just be prepared for it. Usually I turn down the master faders 3 dB right after rehearsal in anticipation of the “big boost” with the first song of the service.
There you have it. Again, nothing over-the-top complicated or mind-blowing, but a path that if followed will take you where you want to go.
