If you’re in the band, chances are you don’t always see eye to eye with your sound crew. If you’re in the sound crew, chances are you think your job is impossible since the band is too loud/ demanding/ unrealistic/ pre-madonna-ish (sorry for making that word up). My take, is that most audio engineers have the wrong attitude and often want ultimate control of the sound. The band though, also has to realize, that they have an ultimate responsibility!

Consider a photographer whose job is to shoot a wedding. This photographer takes 2 shots of some bridesmaids. Which one of the following 2 shots is better?

<–or–>

Grabbed those shots from flickr.com and each photo links to the creator’s page. Thanks!

If you’re thinking that the first shot is very artsy, creative, interesting, and unique, I agree with you. However, you may think that the second shot is more realistic and a more accurate representation of the wedding day, and I agree with you too! It comes down to, “What is your responsibility?” At my wedding, the photographer was hired to accurately capture the event, not his artistic interpretation of the event. (And you did a great job, Claude!)

As a member of the audio team, your responsibility is to recreate the audio the band is giving you. Don’t approach the worship service with the attitude that you’re going to shape the band into something they are not. What does the electric guitar sound like on stage? It should sound the same in your mix, except for a small adjustment here and there to make it fit in the blend. Same thing for the drums, or keys, singers, etc. Slopping on a ton of reverb, delays, compression, EQ, and constantly panning the bass left to right may be your expressive creativity, but please don’t subject the congregation to your art! Perhaps you could find a creative outlet in remixing dance music.

Final note… TO THE BAND! Please learn your instrument. Do you really need all those pedals on your guitar, or do you just need to practice playing your instrument more often? Hey, drummer- when was the last time you changed your heads, or even tuned them? Singers should not rely on reverb to cover up their pitch problems. I’m not trying to sound like Simon Cowell here, just trying to get everyone on the same team.