ProAudio Review - January 2009 - (Page 44)

opinion worship audio by Dan Wothke Everyone’s A Sound Man An effective house-of-worship audio engineer must regularly process the opinions, ideas, and criticisms of his congregation. In doing so, it's helpful to have an extra dose of humility and an open mind. Front-of-house engineers always have somewhat of a target voiced opinions about how things should on them. Regardless of the circumstances and the justifiable sound — because everyone can run sound, right? reasons for any problems during a live show, the responsibility to make it work ultimately comes down to their “perform- Line of Authority when was a guy ance” as an engineer. This is the same for touring acts, per- One weekendtold me itI was 8mixing, loud. In came up and dB too forming arts theaters, and houses of worship. my best cynical tone, I replied, “8 dB?” to which he replied “Well, 8 or 9.” I couldn’t help but to laugh for the simple fact that, number one, if it were 8 dB too loud. I would have been over 100 dB, which I know is a no-no; and, number two, if at that level you can tell the difference of 1 dB, then please, take over the mix. Later, I was convicted about the tone of my response. Was the mix too loud? Probably. Not 8 dB, but probably too loud at that time. The response I wish I had used would be something like, “Oh, sorry, man. I’ll turn it down a bit.” It is easy to take on offense when someone comes to point out his/her perception of what is wrong or right with your mix. The engineer’s response and tone of response can either immediately remove any opportunity to escalate the situation, or the opposite. Granted, this opens a can of worms: If we have to adapt to everyone with opinions, it will be a constant game of jumping through hoops to meet everyone’s expectations, which will ultimately end in our frustration. I have made this mistake both as an engineer and as the media director, overseeing multiple engineers. So, how do we navigate these sometimes troubled and sensitive waters? Ultimately, I have found that someone has to be in charge, preferably someone with a basic understanding of the dynamics involved in our job and some of the technical limitations that we work within. This is no different in any other audio area: theater, touring, or even producing a record. Randi Anglin T h e c h o i r a n d ba n d ’ s 2 0 0 8 C h r i st m a s Ce l e b r at i o n p e rf o r m a n c e i n t h e m a i n s a n c t u a ry at N a s h v i l l e ’ s Be l m o nt C h u r c h . The unique aspect of the house-of-worship “audience” is that most of the same people return week after week, year after year. Some of those people are our superiors, some are in leadership roles, some have sat in the same spot for the past 20 years, and some are brand new. A friend of mine who used to run sound at our church has a great quote: “Everyone has two jobs: their own and the sound man’s.” His quote was birthed from the neck turns of people in the congregation anytime something went awry and the many- Dan Wothke is media director at Belmont Church in Nashville, and he welcomes your comments at dwothke@yahoo.com. 44 ProAudioReview | January 2009 www.proaudioreview.com http://www.proaudioreview.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of ProAudio Review - January 2009

ProAudio Review - January 2009 Contnets Technically Speaking New At NAMM: Studio Opinion: Studio Sense Feature: PAR Session Trials: Large-Diaphragm Microphones Review and Second Opinion: McDSP TDM Emerald Pack III featuring FutzBox PAR Contributor Of The Month Review: Audio-Technica AT2050 Multi-pattern Condenser Microphone Review: LaChapell Model 583s Microphone Preamp & Model 583e Microphone Preamp/EQ Review: RNDigital D4 Plug-In Mini Review: MXL Microphones V88 Large-Diaphragm Microphone Mini Review: Solid State Logic Mynx New at NAMM: Live New Live Products Opinion: Worship Audio PAR Recommends: Portable PA Options for 2009 Mini Review: Fishman SoloAmp Review: AKG D 40 Instrument Microphone Installation Profile: 9:30 Club, Washington, DC Single Slice

ProAudio Review - January 2009

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