{"id":2802,"date":"2009-09-10T11:31:37","date_gmt":"2009-09-10T11:31:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/?p=2802"},"modified":"2019-08-09T09:36:29","modified_gmt":"2019-08-09T09:36:29","slug":"50-tips-worship-soundchecking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/50-tips-worship-soundchecking\/","title":{"rendered":"50 tips – Worship soundchecking"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

Sound checks can be time consuming, but there are ways to make them more efficient and less arduous. Most sound checks have three stages. 1st each instrument is line checked to make sure a signal comes through the desk, 2nd you decide what you want in your monitors and 3rd everyone plays together, stops and then readjusts their levels.<\/p>\n

And here lies the problem\u2026. you have no overall volume level reference of where each instrument needs to sit in your mix until the whole band starts playing together. Once they start and you add in acoustic stage volume, everything changes. It\u2019s then very difficult to communicate back to the desk what\u2019s too loud or soft when you are trying to play. When you have stopped you try and remember your list of what was too loud or soft. Adjustments are made and the band plays again but because everyone else\u2019s levels have changed, the mix you hear onstage is different and you need to tweak your monitor again, but you can\u2019t because it\u2019s very difficult to attract the soundman\u2019s attention so instead you try to self mix and everyone\u2019s volume keeps rising\u2026<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an alternative:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Tag team
    \n<\/strong>Have two people leading the sound check, one at the desk and one on stage with a microphone communicating mix requests to the sound desk.<\/li>\n
  2. Go straight from line check into building a layered groove<\/strong>
    \nLine check everything then get the drummer to drop into a straight simple groove at the volume he is likely to play for a fast song. As he is playing get the sound check leader to stand at each instruments\u2019 wedge and relay to the desk what elements of the kit each member would like in their monitor one member at a time. Don\u2019t stop playing!<\/li>\n
  3. Start with drums, then rhythm, textural, lead, un-amplified instruments followed by lead and backing vocals.<\/strong>
    \nWhen each member has a drum mix, get the bass guitar to add a one note groove as a layer on top of the drums. Repeat the same monitoring procedure with each member until they have enough bass in their mix and then check all other instruments in the same way. After this the best order is probably rhythm instruments first such as acoustic guitar, then textual sounds like keyboard pads and electric guitar chords followed by single melody instruments such as flutes. Think of it as adding layers to the same one chord groove. Don\u2019t change the groove! It\u2019s probably worth leaving any instrument that doesn\u2019t have its own amplifier such as strings till this point too.<\/li>\n
  4. Vocals last.<\/strong>
    \nLastly, bring in lead vocals and then backing vocals. Don\u2019t do the BV\u2019s first as they need the lead vocal level to know where their own volume sits in context.<\/li>\n
  5. Don’t noodle.<\/strong>
    \nWhen the band does stop playing, resist the temptation to twiddle!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Try it this way.
    \n<\/strong>If it takes a while first go don\u2019t worry, as you do it more you\u2019ll speed up and leave much more time for rehearsing<\/p>\n

    Other posts you may also find helpful:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    What you need to run church sound<\/a> – free survival guide handbook<\/p>\n

    Worship leaders, you’re killing us<\/a><\/p>\n

    T-Loop feedback whistles<\/a><\/p>\n

    Top 10 mistakes that most churches make when recording their first worship album<\/a><\/p>\n

    From the 50 Tips series so far:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Stage placement<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    Playing together as a team<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    Communication skills for worship teams<\/a><\/p>\n

    Rehearsals <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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Most sound checks have three stages. 1st each instrument is line checked to make sure a signal comes through the desk, 2nd you decide what you want in your monitors and 3rd everyone plays together, stops […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":17041,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[676],"tags":[834,835,1502],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n50 tips - Worship soundchecking | Musicademy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/50-tips-worship-soundchecking\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"50 tips - Worship soundchecking | Musicademy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"  Sound checks can be time consuming, but there are ways to make them more efficient and less arduous. 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