At Church on the Move (COTM, Tulsa, Okla.) we put a lot of stock in our rehearsals and rehearsal process. So over the years, the role of the audio engineer has become fairly important—much more than just the one pushing some faders.
In most cases, there is usually someone out in the seats producing the rehearsal—making sure the song, feel, and overall set is coming together the way the creative team has mapped out.
But in addition to pulling together the audio mix, I have a responsibility to share my opinion on what is being created. This is a big deal and perhaps a good time for a reminder of one important responsibility of the audio engineer: good or bad, young or old, the audio engineer is the last person to touch the contents of whatever is coming from the stage before it gets to the people in the seats. Consider the audio engineer a funnel that all the creativity, discussions, prep time, performance, work, and emotions must pour through in order to morph into a solid message with impact. I've not run across a successful audio engineer who doesn't feel the weight of this responsibility when they are working at their craft.
At COTM, we also place a considerable value on communication as we rehearse—translation: the audio engineer is expected to bring something to the table. This works out good for me since I don't have a problem vocalizing my opinion. Sometimes, we audio engineers are the only ones really listening to what's emitting from the stage—[and] we have to figure out a way to get involved and get on board to help the process.
Nothing is more aggravating than seeing an audio engineer with arms crossed, grimacing at the stage and muttering about how bad everything sounds—instead of helping to fix it. It's a major part of my responsibility to be active, engaging in a few meetings during the week to stay locked in with where the creative team is headed or being in the same headspace as the musicians so I can communicate better with the band. Rehearsals are not a time for the “us” and “them” thing; if I have a bad day, we all have bad days—I let down the team onstage. Likewise, if the band has a bad day—I have ownership in this, too.
So I suggest: get serious and work on injecting some real structure into your rehearsals. At COTM, we believe the rehearsal is the time for the audio engineer and/or production crew to get it together. Rarely, if ever, is a rehearsal run from someone onstage. This takes a considerable amount of trust and confidence from the worship pastor and the guys producing, but it makes sense as I am usually the one in the room with the technical knowledge and perspective to know when I've “got it dialed in” so we can move on. I assure you, this will be a hard jump for some. The person leading on stage may be used to maintaining all the control, but here's the deal: the best leadership a worship leader can exhibit is sometimes letting someone else with a different perspective decide what needs to happen next.
