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Musical Mixing for the Layperson

by Nate McIntyre

I have found in my time as a church sound tech an interesting trend: many people are drawn to this area of ministry because of their technical interest and ability, not necessarily because of their musical talent. While this is not entirely a bad thing, it can lead to neglect in the more musical aspects of live sound mixing. In this article I hope to provide a fresh perspective on mixing to help improve the musicality of your church’s live sound.

Mixing live sound is both a technical and musical process. While it is important to understand the technical aspects in order to properly setup, operate and trouble shoot the sound system, it is also important not to overlook the musical elements that contribute to achieving a quality mix and experience for everyone involved. The soundboard should be seen as an instrument. Similar to the musicians on stage, the soundboard should be continually “played” or adjusted as changes take place on stage to maintain the most musical and pleasing mix possible.

Front of House Mixing
I encourage you to think of the mix as a box to be filled with sound or music. As in any box there is only so much room. It is important to think of where each instrument will fit in the box. This is achieved primarily through EQ and volume.

EQ - Each instrument produces sound in a certain frequency range but many instruments’ frequencies ranges overlap. Instruments and voices are most intelligible when they occupy mostly their own space in the mix. Each time instruments overlap in frequencies there is less space at that frequency and the corresponding instruments become less intelligible or “muddy.” The more instruments there are in the mix, the less space each one has in the box.

Piano and guitars are two of the most problematic instruments in a band setup because they have such a broad frequency range. You may have to EQ them so they don’t sound full range (or the same as they would acoustically) in order to help them stand out in the mix. If a guitar and/or piano are the only instrument, or one of only a couple, you can EQ them much more full range. The same is true with all instruments and voices but these tend to be the most troublesome.

Following is the recommended frequency space that each instrument in the modern worship band should occupy, keeping in mind that all instruments will overlap a little bit. I believe the mix should be built from the bottom up to create a foundation for the music so I’ll start there.

• Bass guitar will be the lowest instrument in terms of frequency. I have found that in general not much EQ is needed on bass guitars but you can adjust to your ear so it sounds natural.
• Kick drum will occupy much of the same space as the bass but it should also have some high end to make it “snap.”
• Toms will occupy similar space and will be incrementally higher in frequency as the drum sound gets higher in pitch.
• Next is the male voice. Most sound boards have a high-pass filter on each input that rolls off frequency response at somewhere between 80–100 hertz . The filter allows frequencies above to “pass,” thus limiting unwanted low frequency noise on those inputs such as microphone popping and stage noise. The high-pass filter should be used on all vocals. You will probably need to EQ quite a bit of low end out, as well as some low-mids.  High-mids and highs should be adjusted to help make the voice intelligible but not shrill.
• Note that High-mid range frequencies are heard loudest by the human ear and thus are the first to hurt people’s ears. When people say the music is loud they usually mean the high-mids are loud. Because of this vocals are one of the biggest culprits of the mix sounding loud. You can have a fairly loud mix that is full and warm but that doesn’t hurt people’s ears, if the high-mids are adjusted appropriately.
• Next highest is the piano. As I mentioned before, the piano’s frequency response is very wide and will overlap a lot. I have found that EQing out a bit of the lows helps bring it out in the mix. The high pass filter should also be used on the piano.
• Next is the female voice. The high-pass filter should be used. You will need to EQ out quite a bit of low-end and follow a similar EQ to the male voice so it is clear but not shrill.
• Snare drum is next highest. It should sound full but not too low and also snap.
• Next are guitars. In a full-band set-up I like to EQ guitars a bit high so that they will stick out and not clutter things as much. When played by themselves they may not sound full-range but that is ok.
• The highest instruments in terms of frequency response are the cymbals.

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Nate McIntyre is the volunteer sound ministries coordinator at Southside Community Church in Newberg, OR. He has been mixing live sound for churches and other groups for over 10 years. For his day job he works in the Undergraduate Admissions Office at George Fox University. He and his wife Kim have two little boys.   .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)