4. Enlist musicians to help
Musicians are a valuable resource!
What to do: Train them to set up their stations. As long as they come in a bit earlier than normal, they can be a great help.
Guitarists can easily set up their pedals and DI boxes and singers can grab their own mic’s and cables or a wireless from FOH.
5. Use the same band setup
Familiarity breeds something… Oh right, familiarity on stage is good for musicians and sound guys. For example, the guitarist is always on the left and therefore always knows to look right to see the bass player. It’s also just a mental issue.
When you can picture who is standing in what locations, it’s easier to set up as you move across the stage.
What to do: Establish a stage chart for each band. You’ll be amazed how quickly questions during setup diminish when people suddenly have their own “spot.”
6. Labels for the mixer
I put this off for longer than I should and regretted the delay once I did it. Enough said.
What to do: By spending an evening with magnetic tape and a labeler (or just use a pen), create labels for every person in the bands as well as any other people such as the pastors mic and, lectern mic.
Also create generic labels such as “guitar” or “guitar 1” and “guitar 2.” These labels are great if you either prefer to label your channels by instrument or if you have a visiting band.
7. Keep an orderly audio closest
Quite simply, an organized audio closet/room enables you to find equipment in a snap. Keep those mics in the same place, with cables wrapped and ready to go.
What to do: Tag it, label it, hang it, whatever works best for you to organize the area. I use labeled bins for tools, mic part, cable parts, etc.
8. Find out about last-minute changes as soon as you walk in the building
Once… we had a miracle. The schedule was not changed by either the pastor or the worship leader. Typically something is switched or added.
What to do: Take your copy of the schedule to the pastor, worship leader, or whoever else might have a key role in the service and check for changes.
Do this as soon as you can. It’s easier to deal with the needed changes earlier in the process instead of at the last minute.
9. Drink your first coffee on the way to church, not once you get there
This is partly is jest, but if there’s anything you need to do to be prepared for thew service, take care of it before you hit the door.
This includes properly caffeinating yourself, if necessary. After all, why should we expect anything less of ourselves?
10. Mentor someone!
Have a person interested in joining the audio team? Know of a sound tech who needs some extra attention? This is a great time to use them as a helping hand as well as talking and teaching and getting to know them.
Hopefully you’ve found some, if not all of these illuminating. I’m sure you have your own tips and tricks to help speed things along as you prepare for worship.
