Hear what I’ m saying, here. I’ m not suggesting that you should expect your audio engineer to keep a flat EQ on your signal throughout soundcheck, but rather that it’ s a best practice to ask them to start you there and then encourage them to mix and adjust as they see fit as they hear what you’ ve prepared for that specific setlist. Same is true of compression. It’ s likely they’ ll end up feeling the need to shape the dynamics of your signal, so it sits well with the rest of the band. Asking for no compression to begin with isn’ t an expectation you’ ll stay there but rather serves as an invitation for them to listen to what you’ re doing and collaborate with you in shaping that during soundcheck.
Many times I’ ve gotten helpful, specific requests from front of house during soundcheck like‘ can you add some compression to your upright piano sound for song two’ that allow me to dial something in for that specific sound, without forcing my pads, leads, and everything else through compression that was really only desired for the piano sound in the first place.
TOO REDUNDANT The last area where I’ ve seen hard work and prep not pay off is when I put effort into some idea, perhaps doubling a guitar lead or similar, and then arrive to soundcheck to realize the part doesn’ t need doubling, or even that the guitarist has prepared some other part entirely.
As a keys player it’ s of real benefit to your team to not always feel locked into the exact original parts from a song, and to explore reasonable deviations from it that feel more in line with your own creative expression along with what’ s typical for your local church congregation and band.
But, as you explore different spins on these tunes, you should often ask yourself if there’ s a simple way to verify that you’ re headed in the right direction. Whether that’ s texting your guitarist to confirm their plans for‘ that lead part’ or a more general conversation with your worship leader or music director about how they’ d like you to fill space from the keyboard, I think you’ ll find that a simple conversation or two can go a long way to making sure you’ re not sinking your time into something that won’ t be used as you would’ ve hoped.
Whether you see yourself already in any of the examples I shared above, the main purpose behind trying to avoid them isn’ t so that you have your moment to shine, but rather to help you balance your effort and relationship to the position with what’ s going to be most impactful and contribute to your team as a whole. So consider these cases the next time you’ re prepping for worship at home and you’ ll be that much closer to bringing your best to your church. Preparation pays off most when you stay flexible, collaborative, and rooted in serving the whole team.
Thank you for serving your congregation faithfully, it makes a difference!
David Pfaltzgraff Founder and Lead Sound Designer at SundaySounds. com, a site that resources worship keys players and guitarists around the world. David currently resides in Des Moines, IA with his wife and two boys. He enjoys volunteering in his church’ s worship ministry, old synthesizers, and a good super-hero movie.
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