Church Sound Tech Tips for Sanity

Recently I've been seeing a lot of videos of Church sound-techs showing their morning routine. You know: wake up, have coffee (because you'll need it), get to the church, power everything on, test everything, sound check, etc. However, I never see them do or refer to the most important thing they could do that morning to help them keep it together best... PRAY. That doesn't mean they don't but this is a clutch part of your day as a Christian especially one that serves in any capacity.

I want to give you some tips that will help you keep your sanity while serving in this function, because I promise you that Barbara on the worship team and Rob the bass player are going to work your nerve at some point, on top of the pressure of executing properly that you put on yourself. A big part of the gig is managing relationships, managing yourself and working together with other people and other teams that might not understand what you do or how you do it.

1. Pray

Praying in the morning and through out the day helps you to foster a connection to GOD and the Holy spirit dwelling with in you. It's too easy to get lost in serving: setting things up and becoming consumed with making sure everything goes right. While you serve your congregation and your Pastor/s and that's good. We can't forget about who we REALLY serve, Jesus.

You can start the day and carry out your duties, in his presence knowing that even if things go wrong (because sometimes they do no matter how on point your are) that you are in good hands.

This practice will help to keep you level headed, humble and graceful when you need it most.

This role requires a lot of you. Everyone depends on you to clearly hear what's going on at every stage of the service. You'll have days where everything goes great and because it did you become invisible but you'll also have days where things go wrong and all eyes are on you. On both of those days you'll need to be prayed up.

2. Fasting

Fasting twice a week is not only beneficial for your spiritual life but what I have found is that it helps a whole bunch being fasted on service days. Being in a fasted state opens up a whole other level of clarity and awareness while you work. You are able to process quicker, move quicker, connect to the atmosphere better. Execute at a higher level of excellence be more disciplined and focused. Plus is generally good for your physical and mental health.

3. Keep your ears fresh

As an audio engineer all the skills and techniques you learn over the years won't do you any good if you don't take care of the number one tool you use while mixing... your ears. Detox your ears before service so that they can perceive sound as accurately as possible. Avoid blasting music in your ears for extended periods of time. If you're doing anything that requires your ears take small breaks so you don't get ear fatigue (that's a thing.)

4. Be Prepared

   
   

As a sound tech you want to try to be as prepared as possible for every eventuality (did I tell you things will go wrong sometimes?) Having extra cables, mics back up DI's and redundancies like alternate routing paths will go a long way to helping you trouble shoot a problem quickly. I should also mention that having the right tools readily available is also a big help. I will be linking a list of useful tools that i'd recommend you keep handy in the resources page on this site.

5. Trust but verify

I can't tell you how many times i've been caught off guard until I locked in this little treasure (thank you David Lopez). Ready? You think everything is on and good to go then the Pastor comes up starts speaking and stops... looks up and asks you to turn on the stage monitors (-_-) you or your A2 (if you have one) take the walk of shame up to the front, the Pastor smiles at you with this almost disappointing smile, you flick the little switch on the back while every one watches you then you fade off back into the tech booth to ponder this dismal miss. If you didn't put hands on it yourself, make it a habit to double check to make sure everything is on and working properly. Remember that just because it worked yesterday or even this morning, doesn't mean it's going to work now.

6. Sleep

Being well rested helps a whole bunch to keep you in the sanity pocket. So I recommend getting some good rest the night before service. I you have to be up super early to start the day, Take it down early the night before.

7. Remain Humble

   
   

Remembering that you're a part of a bigger picture and not the picture itself will definitely help you keep it together, especially in those rough moments. Remember that just as you are in the role, it could always be someone else. Apart from your skill, what's going to keep you there is your composure and level of maturity and responsibility. How you respond is often a good indication of whether you are the right person for the job despite the skill level.

Being the sound or tech guy at a church can be overwhelming sometimes. So I pray that these tips might be helpful to someone that's just starting out or maybe is just having a hard time adjusting to the role. Overtime I will update this post with additional tips to help out. GOD bless.