them feel . If you provide an inspiring mix , you ’ ll get an inspired performance . Anything else is unacceptable .
PERFORMANCE VENUE / ROOM So far , we ’ ve been discussing points in order , getting each thing taken care of before the next . Perfect ! However , here ’ s the most common chicken or egg scenario that I see in church worship . What comes first , the acoustic treatment or the sound system ? Of course , we need a pretty good sound system to sound good ; however , no matter what system we deploy , if the room sounds bad , the sound will be bad .
Most sound operators are equipment freaks . It ’ s true ! We geek out about the newest digital board , classic microphones , plug-ins galore , and a very long list of other technologies that scratch our itchy spot so much that it makes our feet stomp the floor . We ’ re sick for gear .
If somebody tells us we can spend $ 5,000 on the sound ministry , we can ’ t wait to go buy that new widgety what ’ s-it we saw in the most recent [ WM ] magazine . When building a new church facility , it ’ s so tempting to spend the entire budget on that big new digital console with Dante and a fantastic in-ear system and some really groovy amps and speakers . I ’ ve seen that happen so many times .
If you don ’ t get anything out of this chicken / egg dilemma , please get this . Okay , are you paying attention ? I ’ m going to say it - get ready . Before buying sound gear , you will be much better off to spend everything it takes to design and deploy a great acoustical treatment scheme before spending a dime on sound gear . You ’ re better off using speakers on sticks and a 12-channel analog mixer in a great-sounding room than using a fully loaded Venue with 20,000 watts driving the latest line array in an untreated badsounding room . That ’ s the real chicken and the egg that we need to consider . I am admittedly opinionated on a lot of things that have to do with audio and music , but on this one , I ’ m just plain right on the money .
If you don ’ t value acoustical treatment enough to prioritize it first , there ’ s a great chance that it just won ’ t make it to the top of the budget list for a long time , if ever . You ’ ll always be struggling to get a clean and clear sound because the room will confuse the sound . Flutter echoes , standing waves , unevenness around the room , and a long list of hurdles will be between the stage and the congregation .
When a room hasn ’ t been treated properly , it takes a lot more volume to dominate the air space and reach an acceptable level of clarity and understandability . When the room has been skillfully treated , the reflections diminish , the sound tightens up , and it takes less volume to dominate the air space . The congregant feels the power and clarity in the worship presentation without having to be bombarded with mega SPL just to win the battle with ambient chaos in the room .
This article isn ’ t about treatment options . It ’ s about the importance of doing things in order and especially about the importance of acoustical treatment . I ’ d be doing you a disservice if I sent you winding through the magical marketing maze with a few random thoughts about acoustics . Once you understand a few concepts , treating a small room yourself is possible . I know quite a bit about acoustics and how a large room might be treated . But the fact is , I know enough to know that developing and deploying acoustical treatment for a large venue , like a church sanctuary , is best when handled by a professional who has designed many successfully deployed acoustical treatment schemes . A professional will evaluate every part of your venue . He or she will understand your specific problems and know exactly how they should be treated . And you ’ ll save money using a professional because , rather than stumbling to several dead ends — paying for treatment that doesn ’ t help the room — your money and efforts will be laser focused on acoustically designing the room for the best possible sound . Then , and only then , should you make the jump back into gear geek mode . Which comes first ? The mixer or the microphone ? The speakers or the amplifiers ? The kick drum or the bass guitar ? The keyboards or the guitars …. It never ends . Keep your focus .
Bill Gibson Teacher at Berklee College of Music Online , content creator for LinkedIn Learning , and author of more than forty books and videos about live sound and studio recording . Most recent book releases : The Ultimate Live Sound Operator ’ s Handbook , 3rd Edition , and The First 50 Recording Techniques You Should Know to Track Music . He also recently self-published an eBook / Audiobook combo called Stream Great-Sounding Audio : Guide for Streaming Church Services and Other Events .
BillGibsonCourses . com