As touch-based modern computing paradigms like ‘ drag and drop ’ combine with easy-to-read user interfaces , the baseline ability of beginning engineers to create workable mixes steadily increases .
a form of worship — just as valid and rooted in scripture as crashing cymbals , triumphant trumpets and heavenly harps . Here is where I would turn back to Carlyle again . According to an oft-quoted passage from Carlyle , “ Music is well said to be the speech of angels ; in fact , nothing among the utterances allowed to man is felt to be so divine . It brings us near to the infinite .” Putting our skills in the service of best amplifying and clarifying ‘ the speech of angels ’ to bring us all closer ‘ to the infinite ’ sounds like worship to me !
So it seems that we may have it all wrong in the pro audio business to call out ‘ volunteers ’ as a homogenous and somehow universally undertrained or unskilled bunch . And we ’ d certainly be going well off track to ever think that the folks in the music ministry aren ’ t ‘ really ’ worshiping or giving back via their skills and efforts . Given the advances in access to training resources and things like virtual soundcheck and even the console technology itself — particularly the latest round of digital audio consoles with much more user friendly and powerful user interfaces — the gap between the ‘ volunteer ’ and the paid audio pro may be shrinking at an ever-increasing rate .
So , what should we do ? Do we need a new term for volunteer audio engineers and camera operators and streaming video technicians ? I don ’ t really think so . Maybe I ’ ve been reading too much into the topic lately and I ’ m being overdramatic ? Maybe . How about if everyone reading this article took a minute to reflect on how we were using the term ‘ volunteer ’ as it applied to worship tech teams ? Perhaps a pledge to use of the term as a factual descriptor ( an engineer who is not being paid to provide their service ) instead of a catch-all for skill level or commitment or general quality ? I pledge to rethink how I ’ ve been using the term and commit to being much more refined in my use in marketing and ad copy going forward .
In the worship tech sphere , there is no shame in working for free and no shame in being paid for your service . If our hearts are in the right place and we are seeking not our own good , but that of our neighbor ( 1 Corinthians 10:24 ), we are all in the same boat and on the same team ! Now let ’ s get those show file channel names tidied up , check for firmware updates and get ready to worship and commence audio battle — whether a paycheck is coming our way or not .
Jeff Hawley A 20-year music industry veteran — equally at ease behind the console , playing bass guitar , leading marketing teams or designing award-winning audio products . He currently heads up the marketing for Allen & Heath in the US .