Things the Worship team wish the Sound Person knew :

Yesterday I posted Things the Sound team wish the Worship team knew part two of this post are a few things that the worship team wish the sound person knew. Again this is not a top 5 list but just a few things that we have found helpful.

1 We are a team, we need, appreciate and value, honest and tactful feedback. If you hear something is wrong let us know or pull us down in the mix if it is during the service. We are trusting you so that we will not be a distraction to the worship.

2 Get to know us and make a note of what we typically need in our monitors and preset them before soundcheck. We are artists and knowing you have taken time for each of us goes a long way

3 If you explain why you want us to do something we will trust you more and follow your direction.

4. Please don't expect us to be warmed up vocally at 7:30 AM. We know you need to get levels set on the board but we need to warm up for a few songs first.

5. If we see you on sound, set up and tear down regularly we get to know you better and trust you more. Be on time, we know that you are usually the first people in and the last to leave and we appreciate you for that but if you are always scrambling at the last minute it makes it hard for us to get comfortable.

I am sure there are lots of other points so feel free to share any that you have found work for you.

Things the sound team wish the worship team knew:

A while back Chris asked me to give some suggestions for Worship Teams and Sound Teams. As a sound person and guitar player I have been on both sides of the board. My wife, who also takes part in both, and I talked about some of the things that each team would benefit from knowing about the other.

There are lots of stories out there of the battles between the A/V team and the worship team. At OBC the tech ministry falls under the whole worship ministry which has really helped develop a team atmosphere. This is by no means a top list, but just a few of items that we have learned over the past number of years and I hope that those of you reading can take some of these ideas for your own church.

Chris posted this previously on his blog and I wanted to share it here.

I have set it up under two posts and you can see that the items are specific to each team but the underlying big team is still there. Second post to follow.

Things the sound team wish the worship team knew

1. We are a team, we process every sound that comes off the stage and send it to the speakers. We are all working together to produce the best audio mix that we can. Invite us to join you during your pre service/ practice prayer times etc. If you need something just ask, we will do what we can to help, but remember we don't like last minute surprises. Think of it like being handed a new song that you have not practiced two minutes before the service.


2. Know what you "Need" not "Want' in your monitor. If you have to many instruments or vocals you will have a hard time hearing yourself. Less is more. As a guide, pick 3 things that you must have and a couple more that would be nice but not necessary.
Until we get levels set don't keep stopping and asking for adjustments, once you have gone through a song and we have set our levels we can then make any adjustments you need.

3. Trust your sound person to do the mixing, Things sound different for you on stage especially if you are using in-ear monitors. We are in the congregation ( or we should be, but that is a whole other topic for sound booth position) and will be mixing for what sounds best out there.

4. Please be aware of your monitor or amp level. You may like to "feel" the music and want your monitor loud but that noise bleeds out into the room and diminishes the quality of the mix for the congregation.

5 Please be on time. We will do our best to have everything ready for you to start the sound check so we ask you show up on time especially if you need time to set up your own gear.

6 Please use proper mic technique and hold your mic close, where we tell you to and not keep dropping it lower. You might be nervous but you need to trust your Sound person. Also sing out during rehearsal and sound check so that we have something to work with for the service.

These are just a few helpful ideas that have worked for us, feel free to add any that have helped you.

Visit to the Aukema's Farm

Another field trip, this time Barley. Thanks to Ed for educating us

Lots of fun on the swing

Flowers

Snake and Gull

Grace and Caleb

Had the privilege of spending a few hours with Phil Karklins gaining some more tips. Thanks to Grace and Caleb for being such willing participants and putting up with our requests. You need to check out Phil's work at: photobyphilip.blogspot.com

Wind Waves and a Kayak

Port Elgin Animals & Nature

Went for a few walks along the beach and took lots of pics.

Chased this guy for a while. Each step I took he jumped to the next rock

I guess he had enough of the game

Playing around with some slow shutter speeds

No idea who he or she is but they looked quite content heading out to watch the sunset

Port Elgin Sunsets

The Port Elgin area is famous for it sunsets over Lake Huron. We have sent a few days here the past couple of years and have not been disappointed.
The weather people kept calling for rain, we prayed for sun, guess who won.

Once the sun set the sky had some beautiful colours

Field Trip with Phil

Recently @dandercas and I spent an evening with Phil

photobyphilip.blogspot.com/
to get some tips from a guy who is a great photographer and has a great eye.
Learned some now things both on the camera and what to look for.
Check out his site for his pics and here are a few of mine.
Thanks Phil we should do it again.











Phil in Action