Recently, I’ve been able to work a couple shows, and it has reminded me how much different the church world is from the ‘real’ world when it comes to audio and production. I’ve had a few thoughts stick in my mind that I want to share, and some insight I’d like to impart after a conversation or two with some production company owners, roadies, and musicians. The 1st lesson I want to share is one that I hadn’t planned on mentioning or focusing on when I started this blog. However, this aspect is one of the most important areas you can focus on to become the best possible audio engineer.

There are a few colorful noises in audio. Pink noise. White noise. What does it all mean? When I have a question, I consult wikipedia.org. Their description of pink noise is:

1/Æ’ noise is used… to refer to any noise with a power spectral density of the form

where Æ’ is frequency and 0 < α < 2, with α usually close to 1. These “1/Æ’-like” noises occur widely in nature and are a source of considerable interest in many fields.

There. Does that clear it all up?

I’ve been meaning to say this for a while, and just keep forgetting. I’m a big proponent of not taking massive creative license while running sound. It’s not the engineer’s job to shape the band/ song into something it’s not intended to be. One area you should make an executive decision though, is if a guitar is out of tune. Pull that way down in the mix (maybe not completely out, but bury it!). Even if your mix sounds a little empty now, it’s better than the alternative. That is all…

This is a continuation of the last post on mixing. I mentioned starting with a solid foundation of drums and bass. What that means to me, is that the bass is smooth, controlled, and is not too boomy. The drums should punch through the mix, and not take up too much frequency space. Volume is not the enemy, but it can become the enemy if you’re not careful. Leave yourself some room to put the rest of the band on top.

There are several types of instruments you should consider when mixing your worship band. Your goal is to make sure the leader is actually out in front, you know, leading. Getting the rest of the band mixed well and supporting the vocalist is not always easy. You can throw terms around like “warm”, “punchy”, “smooth”, “clean”, and “tight”, but what do they actually mean, and how do you create those sounds when you’re at the console?