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The sound ministry is unique in many ways, but one of the distinguishing characteristics of a good sound man (no offense sound ladies, that’s just the term we use) is this - a good sound man strives to be invisible. It is a good day in the sound ministry when the service is over, everyone in the congregation, the singers, the service leaders, and the pastor have all gone home, and no one has thought once about the sound system or the people who run it. That is the perfect day in the sound ministry.
The sound ministry is not a good place of ministry for someone who needs a lot of attention. To be sure there are many ways for a sound guy to get attention, but none of them are good. Our goal is that everyone attending a service will give their heart and attention to the message. That they would be fully engaged in the preaching, music, and every element of the service. The simple truth is if they are thinking about the sound system, the lighting or the projection, they are not thinking about the message.
Here are three scenarios that make the sound ministry “visible” and distracting to the service, and how to avoid them:
Missed cues
If you have done sound for any length of time this has happened to you. You either get engrossed in what is being sung or said, or your mind wanders, and suddenly you realize that the next speaker or singer has grabbed a mic and is talking, but the mic is not on.
The solution for this is obvious—pay attention and anticipate. It should become a habit. As soon as a group starts to sing, or announcements start, your mind should say, “What happens next?” If you are asking yourself, “What’s next?” when the song or announcements are done and the transition is happening, you are toast. You must anticipate.
We like to use the analogy of riding vs. driving. If you are responsible for the sound in a service, you can’t just be taking a ride in the service, you have to be actively driving.
Equipment failure
When the mic does not work, or the CD does not play, or the batteries on a piece of equipment are dead, the sound ministry becomes very visible and distracting. Sometimes this is unavoidable. We are working with mechanical and electrical equipment that is going to fail at some point. However, 99% of the time these in-service failures can be avoided by thorough checking before each service. It sounds simple, but every piece of equipment that is going to be used for a service needs to be carefully checked before that service.
Sudden Changes
The last scenario that makes the sound system visible and distracting is any noticeable and sudden changes. These can be in volume, in EQ, in a ring, or just about anywhere else. If you properly anticipate, you should be able to keep your in-service changes and adjustments to a minimum, so they do not become distracting.
These are three of the big categories we all work to avoid. What common distractions do you deal with and how do you avoid them?
our mike, by Shure but unsure of model, has a momentary switch with half second toggling mute and three second hold toggling on/off. but the pastor never uses it..(except to turn on just before the sermon and turn off just after the sermon often during the prayer before the altar call) The Pastor is the first person that should not be bothered by the sound equipment but in the mentioned events if he wishes to talk on mike to a large auditorium (a small auditorium could just use no mike) and at the same time do private consultation and conciliatory comments off mike you need to look for a mike that has a jack for a press to talk button to be plugged in during the altar call
then the pastor could hold the remote button in his hand and press at appropriate times
note, a press to talk button would require he plug in just before he needs to use (or the sermon will be muted...
an alternative is a button that plugs in and will press to mute, it could be in his pocket, already plugged in, during the sermon and easy to reach into pocket to retrieve button come the altar call
are they available? I would imagine so but not sure since i have never looked for any (the button likely will be called a dead man switch)... an alternative with two drawbacks would be to have an electronics hobbyist add the jack and even make the button (I could do both as could any DIYer with a little thought)
The two drawbacks? first is the warranty.... if the equipment is altered you can kiss your warranty good bye, not a problem if no warranty(too old) or you can convince your church steering committee and voting membership that there is no need to continue the warranty (possible arguments include warranty almost expired and no problem the last year but should be at least a year with no problems or you may have a problem that is about to happen of course if you want to manipulate them to allow there is always the old chestnut: "lets ask God to prevent any troubles with the altered microphone" . and in writing spell it altared) :D
the second problem is those makes are very compact, there may not be room in the case to put an internal jack thus requiring a wire to the dead-man trailing out of a hole drilled in the case., such a "not pretty" thing would need to be installed under the pastor's jacket prior to services
viable? yes! definitely... will it happen? you can only try.
(and the "Lets Pray about it" suggestion was supposed to be a joke, if you try it you may not be the sound-man much longer due to them thinking you are not a very sound man for the job)
one last thought the electronics are very delicate in a portable mike and broadcast requirements very strict. internally there should be just two very small soldering joints made with silver solder and after you make it it needs to be tested to be sure the dead man switch wire doesn't act like an antenna as it would likely exceed federal limits for antennas if it does i can give suggested circuits if you email at my gmail major suggestion, interrupt the battery before the antenna
after writing all this i had another thought, if you have two mikes, the portable on the pastor and a hand held one, they could both be on the same channel and just turn off the personal and on the hand held at the end of the service... again not perfect because it requires the pastor to at least turn off his personal mike (someone could hand him his hand held, of which said someone would turn it on just as they give it to the pastor)
feel free to email me if you need more info