Church Sound System Stress Reduction
By Chris Huff

I was recently asked by a church elder, "Do sound operators get to worship during the service?" I wish more people would think about this question. After 10 years of experience on sound ministry teams, I still can't worship 100% during my time "behind the mixer." That's just part of the job. Sound operators, however, shouldn't take on unnecessary stress. Here are some stress reducers that benefit both the operators and the church worship experience.

1. Get a Team
Make sure there is a team of operators. My personal opinion is to make sure the rotation gets a person behind the board every five to six weeks. Anything less frequent and it's easy for operators to get out of practice. Anything more frequent than every three weeks and burnout occurs. If you only have one sound operator, then announce that help is needed and hold a training session.

2. Establish a Pre-Service Schedule
I recommend sound operators have equipment ready 15 minutes before the start of the service. That gives you some time to take care of last-minute things like tracking down a soloist to get their accompaniment CD, coordinating with someone on a change in service order, or dealing with a malfunction or broken piece of equipment. If you allow for a 15-minute window, these issues will be dealt with long before the service starts.

3. Create an Order of Worship
Operators need an order of worship…on paper. Actually, everyone involved in the service from the pastor to the praise team to the soloist should be working off of the same order of worship document. Church bulletins can be used for this as long as they contain enough information.

If the order of worship needs to be changed, don't forget to check in with the sound operator to make sure they are made aware of the change, and to make sure the changes won't cause a problem from a sound operation standpoint. It's usually not a problem, but consider it a common courtesy. Remember that sound operators are always planning ahead to the next cue so they can provide a fluid flow to the service so the sound system operation goes unnoticed. They need predictability.

4. Set Expectations
Don't let anyone, at the last minute, hand the operator an accompaniment track and say "just play cut #2." Operators need to play the media before the service for setting sound levels and balancing. They also need to ensure the media plays properly. You don’t want to break the mood of a worship experience.

5. Use the Right Gear
If you have a DVD/CD combo, spend a few bucks and buy a separate CD player. DVD players can be temperamental with CDs, and the time between pressing the play button and when the sound comes out can be 20 to 25 seconds. That's a lot of time of silence if you are standing on the stage all alone with a mass of people looking at you. Also make sure the CD and DVD players you use have a clear display on the unit that shows what track number is being played.

6. If It’s Broken, Fix It
An operator shouldn't spend an entire sermon praying the lapel microphone doesn't short out again. Have a good system of communication in place so that problematic equipment is taken out of service. Promptly fix or replace equipment as necessary. One operator shouldn't struggle with a piece of equipment that another operator found was problematic the week before.

These last two are specifically for church leaders/worship leaders:

7. Accidents Happen
If an audio/visual mishap occurs in the middle of the service, politely say an unexpected problem has occurred and it will be fixed as quickly as possible. Even go so far as ask if there is anything you can do; maybe you accidentally kicked a wire or need to turn something on.

8. Say Thanks
Thank the sound operators from time to time. Sound operators are the first to get bad feedback and the last to get a pat on the back.

The sound operator performs an important ministry in the church. Good planning and preparation is really the key to keeping stress levels low behind the mixer. Sound system operation is always going to demand some focus, but hopefully by applying some of these ideas, the sound operator will be experiencing the same calm and readiness for worship as the congregation when the service starts.

Chris Huff is the owner of Behindthemixer.com, a Web site for church sound system operators.