Pursuing Excellence as a Small Church Worship Leader
Church size should not determine the amount of effort we put into our worship services. Truth is, someone who leads a church of 100 has no less of a call on their life than someone who leads in a church of 10,000. We are all valuable and making a difference in our communities. So, don’t settle for mediocre – even in a small church. We should all be fully pressing in to the gifts God has... Read More
Why Worship Should Go Beyond Music
Not too long ago, the church as a whole began to put a huge emphasis on music. The most important hire was the worship leader. And if a church didn’t have good worship, it was assumed the church was on the brink of failure. Things are starting to change. In a recent post by Thom Rainer (CEO of LifeWay), he points out that the first priority staff hire is now the children’s minister, no longer the... Read More
How to Become a Better Problem Solver with Church Sound
It’s Sunday morning rehearsal, time is strapped, and something goes wrong with the sound. It worked just fine last week, why is it not working now? You frantically search for a solution but can’t seem to figure it out. Everyone is staring, waiting on you…the pressure is on. Have you ever been in this situation? We all have. Becoming a good problem solver with church sound takes experience, but this post will give you a... Read More
5 Tips for a Better In-Ear Mix
If you are new to in-ear monitors, chances are, they are not your favorite. It’s tough to get the mix just right and you often feel isolated from everyone else in the room. After employing the tips in this post, I believe you will end up loving your in-ear monitors. When properly mixed, in-ears offer a much better result than traditional floor wedges – for you and the congregation. Use panning to create space and... Read More
3 Mistakes Worship Leaders Make
As a worship leader, I’ve made all three of these mistakes. And, it took me years to realize what was going on. This post is not to put you down, but to save you time. Get a head start and learn from the things I have done wrong. Mistake #1: Not Believing In Your Team It’s quite possible you have musicians on your team who aren’t quite ‘there’ yet, especially if you lead worship at... Read More
The Key to Great Church Sound
When it comes to great sound, there is one thing that often gets overlooked – especially in churches. We run to the mixer to fix problems that arise while ignoring the most important thing. It’s like the current healthcare system. We are prescribed medications to get rid of symptoms when the root cause of the issue is ignored. So, what is the key to great church sound? Get it right at the source. When something... Read More
Drums too loud at church? Try these weird drum sticks.
Up until recently, my drummer has been stuck behind a drum shield. We all wanted to set her free, but couldn’t bear the loudness of the drums. My church recently went mobile and I wanted to simplify setup as much as possible. This meant ditching the drum shield and sound panels. The less to load in, the better. Of course, the first thing I thought of was electronic drums…but, my drummer absolutely refused. And, I... Read More
3 Ways to Motivate the Worship Team
As worship leaders, most of us work with a team of volunteers. Considering the team is not paid to be there, we employ a subdued leadership style. For example, we say nothing when a team member consistently shows up unprepared. We hold back in times where a team member needs to be corrected. We let things slide week after week – after all, they are only volunteers. What if I told you that your team... Read More
How to Achieve Great Sound in a Small Church
Achieving great sound in a small church is impossible, right? I mean, you have practically no budget and no one around with preexisting sound tech skills. I might have agreed with this common belief at one time…but I have proved it to be wrong. The truth is, you can achieve great sound at a small church – and it may not be as hard as you think. The 3 “First Steps” to Great Church Sound... Read More
Reverb Techniques for Church Sound
Reverb holds the power to take your mix from sounding dead to alive. But, it also comes with the risk of making your mix unintelligible and frustrating to the listener. Good news is, there are a few simple techniques you can employ to harness all the benefits of reverb while protecting your mix from becoming unclear. The Reverb Golden Rule In general, the best way to mix reverb is to turn it up until you... Read More
5 Tips for Achieving Consistent Sound from Week-to-Week
Keeping sound at church consistent from week-to-week is tough. There are tons of variables that change every week – even temperature and humidity affect live sound. With everything changing, how do we maintain a consistent experience for the listener? First, you must make peace with the fact that there will be variations. There is no way to make two different services sound exactly the same. Instead of trying to keep sound exactly the same, work... Read More
CCLI Reporting: The Easy Way (Using Planning Center)
So you are one of the lucky chosen to fulfill six months of CCLI reporting…congratulations! Truth is, it happens to all of us who hold a CCLI license, once every 2.5 years. I don’t know about you, but I generally don’t get too excited when the letter comes in the mail that it is time to report. Actually, it is more like a sigh and ‘roll your eyes’ type of moment. Luckily, I have found that... Read More
How to EQ Your Room with the X32
If you are ready to take your mix to the next level, it is time to EQ your room. This is also a great way to solve feedback problems. This technique is somewhat of an advanced tip, but I am going to break it down in a way that is easy to understand. Once you have some basic EQ parameters set to compliment your room, it is going to be much easier to create a great... Read More
The Worship Leader’s Guide to Communication
As a worship leader, when looking for ways to improve, I bet your mind wanders to things like: improving as a musician and vocalist, finding better gear, and getting a better grasp on sound and lighting. But, there is one thing that we don’t think of that might actually be the most important: communication. We tend to write it off as something the pastor should be doing. I mean, why should we worry about communication... Read More