"How to Have a Successful Relationship with the Sound Person" Video Transcription

Video Transcript: How to Have a Successful Relationship with the Sound Person

All right, we're in the third video here on sound. And this one probably I mean, the other one, it's good to know these things you're not, you're not necessarily the in charge of the sound. But you are in charge of the sound person, or at least the music director should be I know, that's not always the case. And there's, there's sometimes some tension between the music director, and the sound and, and so that in this video, I want to talk about how to have a successful relationship with the soundboard director or operator. It's really a relationship thing. If you're at odds with one another, this, this doesn't work. So what can you do, and you can only do what you can do. So we're going to talk about that. 

Number one, if you get to choose your own Sound Director, which is the best of all worlds, let's say you sun church hired you. And you're coming in, you get to choose the sound person that's, that's by far the best, you can then establish some ground rules. 

A. First, the soundboard operator works for the music director, they have to understand that the soundboard operator is not producing his own sound. 

You know, like, you know, I want to produce the sound I like the soundboard operator works for the music director, it's with the sound that the music director wants, the soundboard operator uses all of his or her skills, and tech know how to deliver the sound that the music director wants. Remember, when I came to my present church, and the music was a disaster, the soundboard person was technically he was really good. He knew a lot of things do a lot of things that I didn't. But I've been in worship bands I've been. I've been in a group that toured the country and, you know, I, you know, I know music, I know the sound that I want. And and he thought, you know that he was in charge of what the sound should be. And I'm trying to, you know, encourage them, you know, it was a dead space. And he didn't have it didn't even have any reverb or anything. It was like I said, we gotta have some reverb, it's. And so we were always tussling as to who's in charge. And a lot of times it's not established. It's just, you know, here's the music director. Here's the sound person and there's no flow chart, and no one has ever said the pastor has never said or that or the leadership team has never said this is the order of things. And so it's sort of ambiguous. So if you're in charge of looking for someone, you establish that as part of the ground rules, if you get to choose your own Sound Director.

C. Next thing that you want to do if this again, is if you get to pick your own, the soundboard operator is expected to ask at least 10 times ask, expected to ask at least 10 times if the music director is happy with the sound, the guitar solo, the piano volume, all these things? So I would establish that. You know, again, I'm talking to the new soundboard guy and here's some of my expectations. I would like you to constantly ask me if this is okay. Hey, how's the volume on that? What do you think of the sound now? You know, you play something you do something? In the end, you're working on something? Well, can everyone hear their voice? Is everyone happy with their monitor? How about Julie, are you happy with your monitor, you know that the soundboard is soundboard operators constantly always asking if people are happy or not happy? Or what do you think of this? Because then people can freely say what they think if the soundboard person never asks. Then you know there's the singer he can't hear him or herself at all. And he doesn't dare say anything because if he says something, it's like I'm interrupting you. I'm criticizing you for your sound and that's what it feels like it feels like it in the soundboard person feels like zombies got five people saying hey, I don't like this or could you change this and then he takes it personally. 

So the soundboard operator could he can eliminate all of that relationship you know issue problem by simply being a servant. Hey, I'm here to make you happy. I'm here to give you the sound that you want. Music Director Please come back here and listen to the whole sound and see what you think it doesn't need more reverb less reverb reverb. The EQ Is it okay, is the volume Do you like the volume it's it's not the soundboard person's taste is the music directors taste. 

D. the soundboard operator is expected to keep his or her own songbook with notes. So that You know, notes written in the side so that he or she knows the songs. When a solo happens when things are too loud or soft, or you know, this part, you know, all of a sudden goes into, you know, harmony and then you need to adjust some things. The soundboard person needs to know the music at least as good as the music people. I mean, he's, he's the one in control, some some guitar player works 5 6 7 hours for three weeks on a guitar solo. And then when it comes for the service, he plays a solo and the soundboard person doesn't even know that there's a solo there and he misses it entirely. So that 20 hours of work was for nothing. So the soundboard person is an extremely important thing. 

E. the soundboard operator is expected to listen to all the CDs of the music, the praise team plans on using. So as you as the as a music person, you want to give the CDs and so on to your worship team. But you also want to give it to your sound people and start listening to this new song so you know what it's coming, you need to know this song as well as, as we need to know this. The soundboard operator is expected to be at practice, so they can learn their part in the songs that will be sung at the worship service. So right now we don't have that at our church. I mean, the soundboard people. Their system was to show up on Sunday an hour before and that's the system that they know and we're trying to move them towards Look, you're to an important part of this whole thing. We need you there at practice. Now I know that's another it's a whole, it's a two hour commitment, you know, plus the hour for the service. But really, that's that's what it takes. And if you're you're trying to find a soundboard person, and a person isn't willing to do that, then you keep looking. The soundboard operator can voice any concern that he or she has. But the music director has the final say. So you want the input of the soundboard person, we want you to suggest things we want you to say, you know, I think it might be a little too loud or you know, give your opinion. But in the end, we're not going to have a standoff of opinions. You know, when the music director says they want a little louder? And you think well, I don't know, it's already at you know, you have to make your point. But the music director said Yeah, I know. But I'm this song. I really want to push the envelope. It's up to the music director. 

F. Well what to look for in a sound operator, someone who has a walk with God, I mean, the soundboard person. It's all about worship to it's not about them. It's about worship to God, patience, music, he just need a lot of patience, someone who's positive, not someone who's negative and always complaining and encouraging person Hey, you guys, it sounds really great. I think I think it's awesome. Someone who's a servant, I am not here I'm here to serve, I have a certain know how, and I'm bringing this know how to the table and I'm asking the music director to direct me I'm willing to try to do whatever I can with the knowledge that I have to give you what you want or what you're looking for, knows the equipment, knows what to make sure is knows with the drag bikes knows where the cords are, takes care of the equipment, Mike's cords break and he takes him home and he fixes things and he has the mics ready and, and when a group is going to come in and sing he knows he can set it up and he he just knows the the board and the channel strips and all the dials and he knows on the tech side keeps up to date on the on the sound in the sound world. My son is really into sound and he you know he studied these digital mixers and what they can do and they become a lot more complicated and we finally got to a digital mixer and and it's got compression, it's got all these effects. It's got this it's got memory and and he studies it i mean he you know, three hours a night you know, during his time off he used to be studying this for a couple months to you know what's what's on the horizon? 

What What is just a gimmick and what actually helps with the music. He loves music. He want a sound person who loves music that there's your dilemma. You want someone who knows music, loves music knows music, but it's also a techie person. And a lot of times it's hard to find someone someone knows all the equipment, but really doesn't know sound doesn't know what harmony is can harmonize himself so it's hard for him to adjust if he doesn't know even what it is so that's hard, knows and can hear the parts of a song. Can I just mentioning that i think i think a sound person really needs to know who's singing The melody who's singing the tenor part is okay, I'm listening to the mix. Okay, I can't hear the tenor. Who's the tenor? That's Jove in there. Okay. The Alto, I mean, if you don't, if you can't tell harmony if you don't know, harmony, you have no idea what an alto and tenor and all these things are, that how are you going to adjust them to make them sound well organized, you gotta keep your I mean this obviously equipment and, and all these buttons and then different singers in different praise band, maybe you have two different praise bands or you, you rotate people in and out, and you have to keep track of who does what. 

And that's what's nice about these digital boards is you can, you can have it, the board memorizes. So you can have, you know, so and so and it remembers the EQ setting and everything for that particular person. Good music ears, they can hear when things are too tinny, or they can hear what it's to bassy and they can hear when the when the music is balanced. When the one that's singers and instrumentalists are right, it's, you know, I did a I did a couple CDs mixed a couple CDs. And it was really hard to I mean, when you're thinking about the bass, then you forget about some other instrument. And then I would mix it and start playing in my car, and I go on the bass great, but now I can hear the piano very well. One thing affects the other. And when you concentrate on one thing, you often don't hear the other thing. So you really I mean, you have to have good ears. Keeps the equipment working and looking nice. Sometimes sound people want to just show up on Sunday, do their thing and then walk away in the equipment room because there's cords everywhere, things that aren't working anymore, and they just get put somewhere and then the next sound guy comes in and he doesn't know what's working, what isn't working. And you really have to keep things in order. Okay, 

G. so if you're finding a sound operator, that's the best of all worlds, you can look for what you want, you can sit them down and say, here's the ground rules, this is how it's going to go do you want the job? What if you inherit a sound operator, that's often the case someone has been doing sound for 10 years, you get there, or you finally are in charge of the music. And, and you have this sound person, and there's no ground rules, there's just in fact, you're the new person coming on board. And that is the person that's been there. So they tend to think they're, they're gonna just do their thing. So what do you do? First, you have to realize that the sound operator is threatened by you as the new music director, he's, that person is going to be threatened by you. You're the new person they've hired you or they're they're asked you to take, you know, some authority in this. And they've been doing this for a long time. They feel like you know, something's owed them in a way. And then you come in and they don't know what you're going to do. They don't know whether you're gonna like what they do or what it is so that they feel threatened. Realize the sound operator may have been in total control of the sound under the direction of the old music. 

Maybe they just did what they wanted. The old music director never really dared to say anything. And so they there used to be in charge. Realize people are often set in their ways. So this is how I do it. This is the way it's got. I told you when I came to the church I'm at now, the sound director had been doing it for a number of years. He just didn't do reverb. And that's that was just it. I said what this is the Dead Space I've ever ever, ever spoken in before as sung before. Usually you have reverb even in in places aren't this dead. I mean, it's like, it was a no brainer to me. But he hadn't done it. And it's just not needed. So you know, just set in his ways. Realize that some sound operators are really good on the tech side, but not that great on the music side because they and they don't know it a lot of tech sound people they're good at the tech, they know all the buttons and so on. And they think they're good at music. But they don't know what they don't know. They don't know that you know what? They don't understand the harmony parts of they don't even know that they don't know it. If you inherit a sound operator, second, have a meeting. 

Okay, so you're new you're coming in the song directors been there a long time, set them down. Asked the sound operator to tell you as much as they can about the history of music and sound of the church. You get them talking, let them do a lot of the talking First, if you just come in with your program, they're going to feel like you just came in took over and you didn't care about all the hard work that they put in already. So you want to care about all the hard work, they want to, they want to feel appreciated for everything that they've done, even though maybe you've you weren't there, you didn't experience any of that. So asking them to tell you and let them tell you, you know, you know, when they stop, ask them for more well, then what happened? And then well, how about before that? or What was that, like, ask them to tell them how that win how they felt about it, they'll give you the good, the bad, the ugly, everything, let them say it all, because it's in and then say that, you know, that must have been hard or Wow, that was pretty good of you to keep going even when people didn't appreciate it, or Wow, it sounds like you've done a lot of work, you want to appreciate all the things that they did so that they feel like you you're a little bit on their side. 

B. thank him or her for all they've done during the history and express appreciation for their willingness to keep working on. I can't believe all the work you've done all these years. And when I look around, I see Wow, this is, you know, you picked up that and then you would that you bought this equipment, you research that you put all this, it's just amazing. And I really appreciate your willingness to keep working, I know it's a lot of work. So that you're willing to keep doing it even after all these years is just I appreciate that. See, ask him or her if they have any concerns or things that they want you to know about, About about the whole thing as you begin leaving? So you know, what, what are you concerned about now that as I have come and you you know, you know me a little bit? Do you have any concerns at all? Let them say, you know, you want them to tell you things? I know, I know, it's hard sometimes because maybe it'll be critical or something like that. But they already think it and and you're just not gonna you're not you're not going to know it. And and they'll be telling others and talking to others. why don't why not just have them tell you right here. 

So you know, up front, what you're up against. Second, have a meeting. Okay? I mean, D. in this meeting in here, I wrote this all out for you. Because, you know, this, this is where it gets hard. Have a frank discussion of your expectations, all the things you would want if you were in charge of finding a new sound opera, so other things, so those expectations that we went over, if you were trying to find a new Sound Director, you want to express all those the same things, but you can't just go in and say, Okay, number one, here's my expectations. As we begin our new relationship, I am in charge.

Okay, I'm the music director, I am in charge. And your job is to give me the meat the sound from the tech side. It's your job to give me That's sound okay, if you went and did that you would offend them. So you you have to say it in a in a gentle and winning manner. And so I wrote it off. So you might say something like this. I welcome and will appreciate any thoughts you have on anything related to the sound of the music. But I've been hired to lead the music. And I'm responsible for it. And I hope you don't mind me asking you to try to give me the sound I'm looking for. Okay, so I'm telling you that I'm in charge, but I'm trying to be real nice about it. I know what I want, but I'm not able to do it. Okay, so now I'm trying to be humble about it. I, I you know, I'm the music director. I've been in the music. I've been a singer I you know, I know harmony. I know these things. And I know what I want. I have a vision for what the music could be. That's why they hired me. But I don't know how to do it. Okay, I need you see. So, on the one hand, I'm saying I'm in charge, on the other hand, I'm saying but I can't do it. That's where you come. You. 

You have the technical gifts and the know how to make happen, what I can only envision, okay, I know what it is, but I can't make it happen. I need you. I know this might be more than you've done in the past. And maybe you will not be able to give the time. My rickrack request is going to cost you but I really would like you to be in our practices. I see you as one of the most important players we have on the worship team. The soundboard is like the most important instrument and we really need you to know the music as much as anyone else. Okay, so now you're asking on the one hand, you're asking them for a higher commitment than they've given in the past. Now the other hand, you're lifting them up and saying you are the most important team member we have, you probably didn't know that to help you. Okay, so now I'm gonna tell you what I'm going to do for you, to help you our provide the lead sheets for each songs that you can have your own song book. Okey so you're giving him more responsibility, but it sounds like you're giving him something, I'm gonna work hard for you. I will also get you the recorded tapes that I give the worship team so that you can become familiar with any new songs we plan on doing. And remember, your input is always welcome, as you are part of the team. 

So I'm not saying you can't give your opinion. But remember, you know, in some subtle way, I'm saying but remember, I'm in charge, but you're an A. So on the one hand, you're saying I'm in charge on the other hand, you're, you're lifting him up to a spot He probably didn't think he was at. Okay, number four, learn the basics of sound and test yourself. Okay, if you're going to be telling the sound person, you know, well, it sounds a little muddy. It doesn't sound clear. It sounds a little Bassy if you're going to be suggesting all these sound changes? You should, you should be sure you know yourself. So test your own hearing. My son did this with me the other day found a site that tests frequencies and how low I was able to hear and how high and the older you are you start losing your highs. So it's like you know that some of the sound I can't even hear anymore. So do you want me on the soundboard adjusting things because parts of it I can't even hear the EQ, if you can't tell the difference between a high and a low if you can't sit down with the sound system and just kind of start, you know, Hello, hello, hello, hello, hello. 

You can't tell that that's adding highs, you should be able to tell what I did without saying. So if I just randomly do these buttons, you should know that I just added mid you should know that I just put some bass on, you should know that I just took the highs off, you should know that I just added a little bit of reverb. I mean, you should be able to without me saying what I'm doing I should be able to play with these things. So test yourself have someone just start playing with these knobs. And then you try to tell them what you're doing with each knob. A reverb, you know, turn it on, turn it off. It's you know, it's so frustrating to me. Sometimes the sound person is back there and I can just tell this is dead as can be the harmonies aren't blending, nothing's blending. And I'll say hey is the reverb on and sure enough the reverb, the reverb. reverb is off, it's off completely. And it's like well, you know, your ears should be able to hear the sound should just be so unpleasant that you can't help but hear. learn the basics of sound and test yourself on parts. Can you tell who's singing? If you if you just listen to the singers? Can you tell? Who's singing the bass? And who's singing the tenor who's singing the alto singing the melody? That decibels? You know the overall loudness? Can you tell how loud something is? Well, you know, have them play something. And then you tell them we're 95 is I think this is about right and anything loud is too loud.

Then test your sound operator on the basics of sound. Now, this is a tough one. You know, I you know, and I really don't know how you do this, it's very difficult to sit down with a sound operator and say, you know, I'd like to test your hearing to see if you can hear stuff. I mean, my brother, I didn't know this. And he didn't even know this, but I was playing some notes on the piano are really high. And he couldn't even hear them at all. He didn't know that I was playing anything. And he didn't know that his hearing had dropped that far. And I didn't either until until we did that. And so that might be true about your song person. Their EQ, can they tell the difference between adding high and low and all these things? And reverb, you know, do they do they know what it's on? Do they not know when it's on parts? Could they tell who's singing what part the decibels? I mean, now, this is where I think this is where I think it's good to have someone else come in. It's like, if you had a friend or someone that you know, that really knows all these things. And and you tell your sound person look, I have this person who's coming in and and they're going to test all of us. 

And the sound person can just be a part of that whole thing. Or you have a special training or even like this, this video here. I mean, you know, CLI is sort of trying to help you do this. It's like it's not your idea is you know, I watched this thing and they said we should do it. So I think we should all just do this or that we should try this out and see how it goes, I don't even know about my own hearing and so on. Maybe we could do this together. So you have to do it in a gentle way. But I think, you know, that sound person, you know, maybe you just have someone that's incapable of really doing it, and then why not find that out? Now, I've given you a few suggestions. It is, you know, making it sound like it's easy to do. But this is probably one of the biggest problems with especially contemporary music today. And churches, the music director is not in charge of the music, and the sound person is sort of doing their own thing. And it's really difficult to get them together. Now, I, I had a sound person come in to help us evaluate our sound maybe 6 7 8 years ago, when we upgraded all our equipment. 

And that guy came in, he not only knew all these things, but he was constantly asking, what do you think of this? How do you like this? You like this sound? And I was so impressed with that, that that's why I'm telling you if you can get your sound person to just ask questions, instead of just sitting back there and waiting for the worship team or the music director to constantly say, Hey, you know, it sounds a little tinny. Can we this are we need more monitor are we you know, always asking the sound person for something, if that's the direction the questions are coming, then the sound person will feel threatened. And we will, you know, give up trying, we'll just live with the poor sound that we have. We don't want to hassle white people, we only go through all this conflict. So we'll stop saying thing, he'll sit there. And we'll have this great divide between the music and the sound person. Or you can get that sound person to really, you know, get into I'm a servant, I really want to make you happy. I want the sound. I want to be the guy that that puts it together so well that I can get you exactly what you want. And so you need to tell me what you want. 

So sound people What is it? What do you want on this? How long do you want this up? You know, as you begin with just the piano Do you want that a little bit louder, I can kind of play I can like do that level a little bit louder, and then I'll take it down again when everyone comes in. Is that what you want? So the sound person should be asking more questions than anyone. So again, you know, pray about it. Relationships are important and and that relationship here with a certain person is probably the most important relationship