FRONT OF HOUSE
[ HEART TECH: UNDERSTANDING HOW WE FEEL | Kent Morris ]
Worship techs are adept at what appears to be AA batteries for the IEMs, out of pocket, of AVL mixers to raise their hands means they
deflection. Asked how they are feeling, they will course. When these two people meet on-stage stop doing their jobs. Any tech that closes
respond, “Great; I just got a new wireless mic for during rehearsal to discuss monitors, their eyes during prayer won’t last long. Whatever
the pastor.” This substitution of the material for mindsets are completely different. What seems is happening on the stage must be dealt with
the personal forms a disconnect for creatives, reasonable to one (more of me) is anathema now with an eye toward what is coming next.
but makes sense to other techs. To most to the other. Creatives should seek to realize There is no down time or personal time in the
people, the answer presented is not related to the depth of what must transpire before a note booth. As constraining as this scenario is, it
the question since one is internal and the other can be sung, while techs have to remember the has to be countered with actual down time
external. Creatives must, however, dig deeper greater good in play. and personal time or the tech will self-destruct.
Techs cannot be “on” every service without a
to glean an understanding of tech-world. In this
case, the statement refers to the joy the tech SKILL AND TALENT EXIST IN TENSIONED BALANCE break, even if doing so means some things go
feels for no longer being blamed every Sunday A skilled tech is not necessarily a talented one, undone. Emotions buried beneath the surface
by the pastor when the wireless mic drops out. and the inverse is true as well. However, it is will erupt in a negative manner if not allowed to
She sees the logic between the two situations wise to develop both sides of the equation. vent safely over time.
as wholly related. With techs, there is always a Worship leaders often place talented techs connection between gear and the heart. If you at the controls, leaving the skilled operators BEWARE THE PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE BEAST
are a creative striving to understand your tech to handle more mundane details. In order to When people are incapable of expressing
friends, or you are a tech trying to understand strengthen the tech team, a smart move is to themselves
yourself, here are some guideposts: have the talented members show the skilled mechanism is to publicly agree, but privately
ones why they make certain adjustments and undermine. If a pastor demands a last-minute
COROLLARIES EXIST ON A DIFFERENT PLANE how that plays to the betterment of the mix. video be played during service, the passive-
To a vocalist, a 7:00 rehearsal translates into Skilled techs can train the others in soldering, aggressive tech will claim the video is incorrectly
leaving work about 6:00, making a Starbucks troubleshooting, and system optimization in a formatted (true) and can’t be played without
run, and then arriving at church about 6:45. structured learning environment. six hours of work (not true). The issue is not
in
a
situation,
one
coping
the video format; it is the recurring last minute
For a tech, it means sneaking out of work early,
making a mad dash from work to the church EMOTION IS NOT ALWAYS DEMONSTRABLE demands made by the pastor on techs who
with numerous speed limit laws broken and no Church leaders complain techs are not cannot say no, due to personality inequalities or
time for anything other than stopping to buy engaged in worship without realizing that for staff hierarchy. It is a way for the tech to regain
some dignity. Awareness of the complexities
of video format conversion is a start, but the
bigger picture is understanding how other
people are constrained by your position or
person. Lead like a servant.
Being a worship tech entails working long hours
in a generally thankless role, but it need not be
a negative experience. There are moments
when it all comes together in synchronous joy
as people are moved to spiritual action through
the technology, and those moments make the
job worthwhile. Now go out and play nice.
Kent Morris
35 year veteran of the worship technology arena
with a passion for excellence balanced by the
knowledge digital is a temporary state.
40
April 2018
WorshipMusician.com