There are 2 schools of thought when it comes to vocals in a mix. I’m speaking specifically about music at a live church worship service. This is not about the recording studio, CD recordings, ‘concerts’ at church, or anything else. At the last church I did a training seminar for, I heard arguments for both thoughts. The first is that the vocals are the most important part because they deliver the words of the song, and therefore need to be louder than everything else and the singer should be understandable to the congregation. Another thought is that the vocalists should not be ‘performing’ as if a concert at church, and their microphones should be buried in the mix a bit. The most common opinion I’ve heard is…

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?

Recently, I’ve been hearing some discussion on the way to handle mixing a member of the praise band that is not peforming well. Should the person be muted from the mix? Should they be included the same as everyone else? I’m going to TRY to not open a can of worms, but it’s more fun if I do.