Train your sound team, one Sunday at a time

The 10 lessons

1. The desk is a place of worship. Explain what great church sound is for, and decide what comes first when everything competes.
2. Follow the signal. Trace any sound from the source to the speaker, and find where it goes missing.
3. Mics, DIs and wireless. Place a mic so it hears the voice, not the speakers; coach the person using it; and look after DI boxes, phantom power (the power some mics take from the desk) and wireless packs.
4. Gain, the most important knob. Set gain on any channel from its loudest real level, so it's strong, clean and has room to spare, then leave it alone and ride the fader.
5. EQ without fear. Use the high-pass filter to take out the low rumble, and make one useful cut.
6. Speech that stays steady. Keep every spoken word steady and dry.
7. Feedback, stopped before it starts. Keep plenty of room before feedback, ring out a problem spot with your mentor (find and gently cut the notes that ring there), and stay calm when a mic rings.
8. Line check, and a backup for everything. Run the line check on your own, and swap a failed mic calmly because the backup is already waiting.
9. How loud is right? Measure the level, and keep it where your leaders agreed.
10. Your first spoken-word service. Run a whole speech-only service with a mentor close by.

The 11 lessons

1. Build the band mix. Build a full band mix from the drums and bass upwards, with the lead vocal clear on top.
2. Mic the drums, check the phase. Mic a kit with three to ten mics (or connect an electronic kit), and make every mic add to the sound instead of cancelling it.
3. Kick, bass and making space. Give every part its own space in the frequency range, starting with the low end.
4. Vocals that lead. Keep the lead vocal on top and steady through a whole song, with the backing vocals just under it.
5. Gates and the drum group. Clean up the kit without making it sound like a series of clicks, and make it move as one.
6. Effects that serve the words. Set up reverb and a tempo delay the right way, and ride them with the service.
7. Groups, DCAs and scenes. Shape the whole service from a handful of faders, without hidden routing mistakes.
8. In-ear mixes musicians love. Build each musician's in-ear mix with them, at a safe level, and keep the stage talking to you.
9. The band's network and mixing app. Set up a network just for the sound system, connect the desk, and get every musician's phone on it, locked to their own mix.
10. Tracks, click and playback. Run tracks with a click and cues that reach only the right places, with a backup ready.
11. Soundcheck and the band Sunday. Run a short, predictable soundcheck and a full band service with clean transitions.

The 10 lessons

1. Your room and your system. Know what the room and the speakers do to every mix, and when to call for help.
2. Volume you can defend. Lead the church to an agreed volume target, keep a log against it, and protect every ear.
3. The stream mix. Give the stream its own mix, built for the people watching at home.
4. Stream levels, loudness and lip sync. Get clean, loud-enough, in-sync sound to the computer and out to viewers.
5. Ring out, and learn your frequencies. Ring out every speech mic along the routes people really take, and name a ring by ear.
6. Troubleshoot under pressure. Stay calm, fix it or switch to the backup, and keep the service moving.
7. A team that lasts. Build a team with at least two trained people for every job, and look after them.
8. Train someone. Take a new volunteer through the first steps of the Sunday ladder, well.
9. Lead with the worship leader and pastor. Work with the church's leaders so the desk is part of the plan, not a surprise.
10. Lead the Sunday. Run the whole morning as team lead, from the week before to the handover note.