Once the instruments have been checked, you can begin checking the vocal microphones. Raise their volume fader to a pleasant level and use this as a reference for the rest. Adjust the individual volume of the other singers or musicians to blend together. You can do a quick rough adjustment on each and then go back and fine-tune each fader once the band has played through at least one song. Adjust the level and eq for each instrument and vocal within the monitor mix as directed by the worship leader or appointed stage leader. It is easier to take direction from the most experienced musician or worship leader than to ask people his or her opinion of their monitor mix. Those who have less experience may not have the knowledge or confidence to ask for more bass or "shine" in their mix. Once the band has agreed to the rough mix, ask them to play through a set. Take a walk on stage and listen to the mix of each monitor and ask each performer if they can hear themselves adequately.
Headphones are useful for blending a mix, but remember, the ambient sound will be slightly different than what you hear in the headphones. Your fine-tuning of the mix will need to be performed without headphones, listening to what the congregation hears.This is the only way to gauge the ambient sound properly. Input faders must be adjusted so that the meter level reads approximately zero during the loudest volume. Less than this will allow hiss to be heard in the program sound - more than this (in the red zone) will cause distortion (a ragged, raspy edge to the sound).
Experiencing Worship, The Study
Used by churches all over the world to help teach worship, the Experiencing Worship study can help your worship team too.
Your team will learn why we worship and gain a better understanding of how to worship.
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Experiencing Worship, The Study