Vineyard East Worship

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I had one pastor define loudness in the same breath as power from God. they are not the same!! loud does not mean God is theres. yet it needs to be loud enough that the people in the back can hear and feel the music without using an ear horn ( showing my age, right). actually this is paul on her site

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Here’s a couple thoughts…I’ve noticed that many people perceive too loud for too bright…and when the mix is well balanced (lows -highs -mids) all is right in the world!

Another thing is stage level…getting control of the stage volume can be “volume wars” if the term “Team” isn’t in perspective. The sound man can never do his /her job totally effectively if the stage is out of control; and the p.a. doesn’t get to be turned up to it’s full potential…and I’m not saying blasting it, but some systems need to be turned up to get it’s richest sound.
We squelched that issue by buying an Aviom in-ear mixing system, Roland electronic drums and an isolation cabinet for the guitarists…that cut the stage volume in half! However, it ticked off a drummer to the point of leaving the church, and not every church has the budget for it… but it DID work!

Quality training for the sound tech still ranks the highest in the mix though…even the best flowing worship team and great quality gear is still at the mercy of the hands of a green engineer!

My last thought is, and I admit I sway on both sides of the issue, but in this ever growing Godless culture, do we need to be more intentional in our relevant thinking of what would draw a person into the church…Do we need a more energized “sound and feel” to attract their senses and let the words we sing penetrate their hearts and minds (after all God is in control and has wooed them there anyways)…or do we try to stay “traditionally thinking” with less than exciting worship? I tend to lean more towards the attractive concert feel…just not ear deafening and definitely not showy (it’s our job as worshippers to lead people to the Throneroom and get out of the way!); and we also try to explain why we have cool lights and stuff as just another opportunity to worship the Lord with excellence in all areas of our worship experience…

Make sense?

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Seeing as loudness is relative – and that perception of loudness changes as you are exposed to various sould levels – we’ve taken to using a sound level meter to get more consistency.

You’ll still need to get to agreement on the levels that work for you – but having something less subjective than a human ear can help.

Amen to the training comment. That helps TREMENDOUSLY.

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Ah, the sound battle. I believe this will continue until Jesus comes. May He come quickly.

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To my comrade in arms, Chris O. : your post is well written. As a side note, I’m amazed you even took the time to respond to my post. I believe I just may be getting old. I can see how all you young kids would like everything loud; I was that way myself in my earlier years. I will continue to do my playing as long as I’m allowed and let you leaders handle the sound issues. (Jim Pons, where are you now ?)

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Ed and I spoke briefly about this so – I’ll throw in my 2 cents too anyway.

I think it’s somewhat obvious – that one main goal at our services is to worship God together…and making it accessible and pleasant.

At our church, we’ve had some sound issues. One problem has been that no matter how talented or anointed a worship leader or team is, what comes out of the house is really in the hands of the sound person/team. The problem with this is that most people we have had – have nice and humble to volunteer to do sound, but are not professionals and have little or no experience. Herein is one of the problems…inexperienced sound teams thrown to the wolves on sunday mornings.

We have recently taken steps to put our money where our mouth is (because we say worship is a top priority) and we’ve invested in acoustic treatment and are researching and having ‘professional’ sound ‘consultants’ come in and give their advice.
This will definitely help, but even with updated equipment and advice from pro’s – we still will lack professional or experienced sound techs who know the ins/outs of a board and the science of sound, etc.

Ed – I know you don’t like to mic the drums…but believe me when I tell you it makes a HUGE difference bro. My personal taste aside (I personally love to feel the kick drum in my heart when Im listening to a band play live) – but even during a sunday morning worship service – when the drums are in the mix and the sound guy has control of a drummers volume – I think it really helps and can add to the quality of the sound mix. Otherwise it can tend to sound flat.

Anyway, I may not be adding anything to this conversation – but I did want to elaborate on some of the issues we’ve had at our church.

And I have to state that I for one am very thankful for the people who volunteer to do sound cause its not an easy job. They are great people and I hope my .02 didn’t come across demeaning anyone =( Hopefully not.

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Peterson,

Very well written. Somehow there has got to be an appropriate balance. Head for the middle ground, and if your pastor says, “Quieter please” than you can always turn it down with an apology.

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Hi Ed,

I agree with your concern about the loudness & usage of the PA in worship. My viewpoint is that the PA should never be allowed to be an obstacle to worship.

However, I’ve been running sound systems for over 30 years now; and have been leading worship while using a sound system worship for 8 years. So, I could write volumes of boring and useless text about this. But I won’t. However, I do have the following 2 suggestions:

1. Get expert help. Either a local music shop or sound company usually offers consultation services that can help you determine the *best* placement and usage (volume levels, etc) for your room. They probably don’t charge much and their advice would be well worth the outlay. There’s also a great book named “Sound Reinforcement Handbook” by Yamaha that I think is still very relevent.

2. In my experience, the volume level should be loud enough to avoid making the team and worship experience seem flat. I’ve been in a number of churches where the volume was so low that the team came off like a limp garage band recording that was played back on someones boom box. To me this is a detractor to worship. It does need to be loud enough to be heard *and* felt to help the congregation “buy in” to the event. Keep in mind, I don’t mean we should be “Night Club” loud. A member of the congregation should be able to speak to someone next to them with a raised voice but without the need to shout.