Worship Services

Great sound doesn’t have to be complicated sound. In fact, a simple setup and mix can increase the potential for better sound quality. Whether the need for simple sound is a necessity (like a new church plant) or a choice (like acoustic-style worship), it is important to understand what contributes to great sound with a simple setup.

Live streaming events is a great way to expand your church's ministry. There are lots of steps and a few different ways to approach this ministry of your church. If you've been charged with your church's vision to begin, once you get started, there is often concern or even panic that can set it. You want to make sure you give a great first impression but are a little overwhelmed by the different obstacles that live streaming presents.

When working in church tech ministry, there always seems to be “what next” moments. What’s the latest gear? How do I get things to look and sound better? Many church techs, and for good reasons, are always looking to improve the church experience. At some point, however, we need to take a step back and ask ourselves the question: WHY are we doing this? Is it to make it look good or is it to bring glory to God?

Creating a thorough soundcheck process is one of the best ways ensure that a consistent audio mix is achieved at church each week. There are different ways to approach a soundcheck, but the end result should always be quality sound from the stage to the main loudspeakers, a good monitor mix for each musician and vocalist, and a sound tech that is prepared to mix the live event.

We know as ministry leaders that you often don't get the chance to visit other churches on Sunday mornings. One of the perks I have is that I don't work for a church and can take time each month to visit churches in my area. Recently, our family visited a new church plant that meets at my daughter's middle school. I immediately noticed the lack of clutter on the stage area. I also noticed that there worship leaders were leading from iPads with no sheet music.

In many ways, churches face the same issues that organizers of any live event are up against. Limited capacity is one, fixed locations another. With an estimated six billion religious worshippers around the world, even the biggest churches have to close the doors at some point, and even the most fervent church members are not always able to attend services in person.

Streaming audio over Wi-Fi for assistive listening is the new thing for the hard-of-hearing, multilingual listeners and overflow areas of church services and events. For several decades the assistive listening technology landscape has been dominated by three twentieth-century analog technologies: Inductive Loop, Radio Frequency (usually FM) and Infrared (IR). Wi-Fi audio is now offering comparable and often superior alternatives to analog systems. How do they compare and how do churches know if Wi-Fi is the right solution? Let’s find out.

Mixing consoles and loudspeakers tend to dominate the discussion when it comes to church sound gear. However, it is extremely important to consider the smaller components that can make a huge impact on the sound quality before the signal even reaches the mixing console. Microphones and direct boxes are very common input sources, but there may also be a variety of other sources connected to the church sound system. Each type of device has its own special considerations worth learning about to ensure that the best quality signal is sent to the mixer.