WORSHIP TEAM COACH
[ THE 7 ROOKIE MISTAKES WORSHIP TEAMS MAKE ]
WITH PERSONAL MIXERS | Jon Nicol
I remember the first Sunday in our new church
like that, you’ve topped out all your channels
building (after doing mobile church in a local And if you’re running to IEMs (In-Ear Monitors), high school for years). The sound system was have mercy on your eardrums. I’m trying to get amazing. The air conditioning worked. The in the habit of turning down the master volume Remember, the monitor’s job is to keep you
seating was comfortable. And there was no (or the volume on my pack) at least once in-time and on-pitch. Take out or turn down
hour-long setup or interference from an all-day during rehearsal and warm-ups. As we adjust what’s not essential to accomplish that job.
volleyball tournament. individual channels, our overall volume can too And if you’re frustrated that your mix doesn’t
easily creep up. sound like a studio recording, see Mistake #1.
3. NOT PANNING 5. NOT SAVING YOUR MIX.
(and created a mess of a mix).
But you know the thing that excited me the
most? Two words: Personal. Mixer.
If you’re running IEMs rather than a powered What happens when the youth pastor’s kid
No longer did I have to share a single monitor monitor, you have the distinct advantage of gets on the stage and starts turning knobs
mix with a co-leader, three BVGs, five panning individual instruments and voices and pushing buttons on your monitor mixer
instrumentalists, and my neighbor’s dog. OK, along the stereo spectrum. Panning lets you sometime between rehearsal and Sunday? All
so the dog might be an exaggeration. hear everything more distinctly than having that work to dial in your mix is gone. Save your
every element jammed in the center. settings.
While personal monitor mixing is immensely
6. CLICK? WHAT CLICK?
freeing compared to sharing wedges, it comes
with its own set of issues that can be harmful to
you, your team, and ultimately the congregation
that you’re leading.
Like any tool we use for worship, we can use
it poorly. Here are seven rookie mistakes you
might be making with your personal mixer.
1. WANTING THE “PERFECT MIX”
The point of a monitor isn’t to give you a
perfect house or studio mix. The monitor’s job
is to keep you in-time and on-pitch. So even
though you can work to create a killer mix in
your ears, you should just focus on what you
need to keep from going off the rails (sonically
and rhythmically).
...even though you It’s disheartening to look at the settings of my
can work to create that the click channel is turned way down (or
a killer mix in your it up. It’s the musical North Star helping your
ears, you should
just focus on what
you need to keep
from going off the
rails...
team members’ personal monitors and find
even off). If your team runs a click track, turn
team stay together.
7. TOO MUCH ME.
This is the milk and honey of the Personal Mixer
Promised Land: I finally get to hear myself!
One problem: most players and singers take it
too far. Their mixer becomes a mirror. All they
want to do is admire their own sonic beauty.
Again, what’s going to keep you on-time and
on-pitch? Hearing yourself, yes. Hearing only
2. RUNNING TOO HOT 4. TURNING UP INSTEAD OF TAKING OUT yourself, no. Also, this is one of those places
Too loud, too old, right? Not when it comes to I learned about this mistake when we were where team members can display maturity. It’s
monitors. When you run your overall volume using wedges. I taught my sound techs to not all about me—musically or spiritually.
too hot, you’re either hurting your house respond to a musician’s request for “more me mix or your hearing. in the monitor” by asking, “What do you need Like I mentioned before, the personal mixer is
less of in your monitor?” a tool just like our instrument, our microphone
If you’re running your personal mixer into a
or our voices. We need to learn how to use it
powered monitor, stage volume could likely be When we turn up one element in our personal properly to help accomplish the goal of serving
an issue. Ask your sound tech if your volume is mix, that will bury another element. So we turn the congregation and worshiping God.
appropriate for the room. that element up. Which buries another. And just
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December 2017
WorshipMusician.com