Photo courtesy of Grace Point Church, Bentonville, Ark.
Let me start by asking a question; When you mix, do you listen to the room? That may sound like a question from an amateur. Every good sound engineer knows it's impossible to put together a good mix without constantly listening to the room and evaluating what you are hearing. But are we listening to the right things? More importantly, are we listening to all of the right things?
A few weeks ago, while mixing an early morning worship service, I asked myself that same question. Was I listening for all the right things?. That morning the musical selection was especially good and the mix sounded good too, but the most prominent aural content was the congregation itself. I found it really inspiring to look around and see people joyously participating in the moment and worshipping together in community. Ultimately, we are called as a group, to worship together, and to enthusiastically sing praises to God.
Psalm 95:1-5 (NKJV) says this:
“Oh come, let us sing to the Lord!
Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
3 For the Lord is the great God,
And the great King above all gods.
4 In His hand are the deep places of the earth;
The heights of the hills are His also.
5 The sea is His, for He made it;
And His hands formed the dry land.”
Take stock of that. Together we are to sing to the Lord and shout His praises ‘For the Lord is the great God'.
Ever since mixing that service I've had to consider how much I listen to the congregation when I mix. Like with most things, some days I do better and some days I do worse. But in reality, if I am not listening to the congregation with an ear towards their participation, how can I make sure that there is room for them in the mix? I wouldn't listen to the lead or background vocals intermittently during a service, so why do it with the congregation? It would seem even more imperative that we take them into account --- even make them the priority --- as we try to foster a community-based worship experience and not simply a performance.
So how do we make room for them? How do we setup our mix so that it more naturally creates a place for participation by those in attendance? Here are some thoughts:
Turn it Down
I imagine that some of my friends who know how I mix are perplexed that I would suggest such a thing. It's not a secret that I love high-energy worship. However, something that I have learned by watching lots of different congregations (and even with my own personal experience) is that an overly loud mix (or even a quieter one with poor frequency management) can cause attendees to simply shut down and look forward to the end of worship. For many people it's hard to worship together as a body if you can't actually hear the person next to you.
Even more so, it is hard to worship together as a body if the volume is physically uncomfortable. While the topic of sound level in a church service is a complex one that requires honest conversation and intentional decision making by church leaders and their tech staff, at the end of the day, if congregational participation in worship is being limited by loudness, then I would suggest that we have missed the boat.
Mix musically
We need to make sure that we put our mixes together so that they are overtly musical in their composition. Most all of us know someone who mixes such that the prominent focus of their mix is on their favorite type of instrument. The issue here is that for the average person singing to the lead guitar's hook can be fairly challenging and confusing as it rarely reflective of vocal parts. Said in another way, if we want to invite the congregation to participate, we have to give them something that they can sing to and are familiar with. I boil this requirement down to the need for tempo, melody, and lyrics. People in general need all three of these things to sing along with a worship set. It should be our intent to make them somewhat obvious in the mix that we present. The good news is that this is relatively easy to do with just a few instruments. Great sources of tempo can be found with a hi-hat or a kick drum. Either one does a great job of telling the congregation what the tempo is and where the beat is located in time. If you don't have a drum kit, then this information is generally found with the primary melodic instrument such as a piano or organ. The melody, as stated earlier, can generally be found with a keyboard-type instrument, and in all cases, some number of the vocals. Lastly, the lyrics, or the words that are actually sung, come straight from your vocalists. In some churches lyrics are also presented visually, but regardless, your mix should present the vocalists clearly so that they can lead the congregation. At the end of the day, if you have these three things, then the average attendee should be able to sing and participate.
Collaborate with the Team
One of the best ways to make space for the congregation is by using dynamics to give them the opportunity to sing out and lead worship themselves. Since you as the audio tech are part of the band (reference article October 9, 2014 ) take some time to collaborate with the worship leader and find spaces where you can pull the worship team way back and let the congregation sing out. Simply turning down the volume in hopes that the congregation steps up doesn’t work very well as worship team’s needs to be on board so that their output matches the volume. If you simply pull the faders while the worship team is rocking out it won’t feel right and will likely lead to confusion. Also, consider agreeing on specific cues that the worship leader can give to indicate when it’s time to pull back and let the congregation go with it. This can allow for spontaneity and the ability to seize a moment. Some of the best moments of worship come when the worship team lays out spontaneously and lets the corporate body worship as a unified whole.
Worshipping together, as a body, is something that we are called to do. As techs it is something that we should always be looking to make room for and promoting. Let's make sure that we pay attention and listen to what is really going on around us so as to make sure we are giving our attendees the opportunity to participate and not just observe.
