It’s a little too loud, but that’s good!

A couple of weeks ago my front of house engineer and I were standing in the middle of the main sanctuary trying to decide if the overall level was too hot. We were also trying to understand why the stage volume seemed to be significantly up.  As we were talking (actually almost shouting, so that we could hear each other), I asked the question. “Is that the acoustic snare I am hearing or the amplified one?”  With the dB meter showing peaks of nearly  95 dB A and an average of about 88 dB A, I knew it had to be amplified or more likely a combination of the acoustic and amplified.  As we walked closer to the stage we realized that the drums we rather loud on stage. 

Recently an excellent drummer who happens to be college age started playing with our house worship band.  His presence brought new energy and some excitement to the band.  His showmanship and general positive stage presence really added to the worship time.  He also truly added energy as he was shall we say, eh, aggressive (read loud) in his playing.

Our stage set for this service brought the drum kit about 8’ downstage (closer to the audience) from its normal location. More importantly it brought the kit in front the overhang that comprises the wall where the main rear projection screen is housed.  The bottom of the screen that is built into the wall is 12’ above the stage floor. At 9’ above the stage floor the wall for the rear projection room starts. This creates a 9’ high opening on the back of the stage that opens up to the back stage area.  The drums normally sit under this overhang and we close a curtain behind the drums to make the separation from stage to back stage.

With the drums now in front of the opening and fully inside the main room we were hearing a lot more of the acoustic sound from the drum set than we were used to.  Between songs the front of engineer and I approached the worship leader (and head of the band) asking him if he felt that the stage volume was a bit much.  He paused, and then said yeah the drummer is a bit loud, I will talk to him.  Case closed right?  Well, I happened to hear the worship leader talk to the drummer and this is what he said,” The drums are loud, a little too loud this morning, but that’s good”.  The response of the drummer made me laugh, “Awesome, that is right where I want to be, a little too loud, but good!”

If you read my previous entry (The cave or the fishbowl?) you will see some of the suggestions that I give to “tame a wild drummer”.  What I would like to briefly bring up in this entry is how loud is too loud?

Much has been written about the appropriate sound level for a Sunday morning service.  I have talked with sound guys that have used very sophisticated monitoring setups to ones just like me that relay on the good ole radio shack dB meter. Mine even is the old analog needle style. 

My choice for going with a simple metering technique is based on a couple of factors.  The first one being is you take an average of the overall dB level of a one hour church service it would be hard to exceed the OSHA limit for exposure.  OSHA states that you can experience 105dBA for up to one hour a day.  The chart below shows the dB level of some common noises.

This chart shows the OSHA time limits on dBA level per day.

What these chart show it that if you go to a rock concert, bring your hearing protection or leave after the first ½ hour, as at 110db at ½ hour you exceed your daily maximum dosage.   What this also shows that for the typical Sunday morning church that is doing contemporary worship, the band could play for some 8-16 hours (the average contemporary worship band sound level average is usually between 80 -90dbA).  That being the case my metering is really for preference and not for hearing damage or potential law suit.

My suggestion is to lengthen the music portion of your service significantly (and stop mowing your lawn as your lawn mower is potentially more dangerous)!

Another reason for using the simple analog meter, is obvious.  It’s SIMPLE! Anyone can read and understand the meter! Coupled with a comparative noise chart and the OSHA sound level recommendations guide you can objectively judge the level of your Sunday morning service.

A couple of notes

1.   The above is a very basic overview, If you go buy a dB meter to check levels do yourself a favor and make sure that it is set to dB A (not dB C , there is a significant difference especially if there is a significant amount of low frequency).  Also put the response setting on slow.  Peak level (easily seen on the fast response) is important if you are above a 100db A, below 100 db A I always look at the avg level which is best reflected by using the slow setting.

2.   Level is objective and subjective.  I guarantee you that if the lead guitar stuck on a note that was in the range where our ears are more sensitive and you cranked it up to 95dB A it would be painful to most people.  However and overall quality mix at 95dB A would be perceived as powerful and not painful by most people. So just because you measure it does not always mean that people will accept it.  You may be technically right that your mix is 95 dB A, but overall you might get booted out of the sound booth because your ill balanced mix is, well, painful.

3.   My buddy Chris Gille has written an excellent letter explaining the overall dB level at Willow Creek and the explanation behind it.  Read it here

An open letter regarding audio volume levels at Willow Creek ...

Like Chris’s open letter there are a lot of great resources out there to help and guide you.  A simple Google search of the words: contemporary worship sound levels, produces about 676,995 more returns than I would ever even look at.

My suggestion would be to go out and get a basic sound level meter and do some measuring of your own. Then through listening and input for staff and attendees, determine what the best sound level is for your worship service.  Finally, keep using the meter and monitor your services to make sure you stay within the range determined to be the best for your service.