Simplified, accurate, quality technology makes all the difference.
Regardless of your church budget, you can afford a streamlined technical process.
Vocal monitors – They REALLY don’t need to hear drums, guitars, reverb . . . train your vocalists, and have them rely on less as opposed to more. Vocalists that sing with me get my voice and piano in their monitors. But it trains them (whether they realize it or not) to listen to each other, and to the harmonic structure of the music for reference. It also creates better vocalists, because they’re able to sing with less. This helps reduce stage volume, and creates a cleaner mix for your sound guy.
My electric guitarists all use amp modelers. Some hated it at first, but it helps reduce stage volume, and in the mix of a few guitarists, bass, drums, vocals, piano, and sometimes synth, i PROMISE you won’t hear the difference between an amp and a decent amp modeler. In fact – about a year ago we tried an experiment – I had one of my best guitarists bring his amp, and we stuck it backstage with a mic, and he fiddled and tweaked, and we couldn’t get it sounding as smooth and consistent as our modelers.
A good sound board, whether analog or digital also makes all the difference. Allow enough technology to adequately support your style of music. An 8 channel board won’t cut it if you’re trying to mix full band.
Spending a little more money up front will reduce your need to quickly replace outdated or faulty equipment.
