Live Sound Engineering: Bars Vs. Churches

Mike Ward may be the sound engineer at Suncrest Christian Church, but when he leaves Suncrest, he takes his sound engineering skills with him. In this video, Mike compares experiences working live sound for churches against bars.

The difference, Mike explains, is a trade-off. Working bands that play in bars generally know their equipment better, but the musicians he works with at Suncrest Christian Church are more willing to work with Mike and less likely to turn up their master volume mid-performance.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• music
• Suncrest Christian Church
• Suncrest
• Live Sound
• PA System
• Church PA
• Live Sound At Bars
• Studio Sound
• Musicians

[79blackbelt]

Tube amps have to be turned up to a certain volume to get them to sound the way they are designed to sound and that's a fact. However, I always work with the sound guy as best as I can. The other guitar player in the band I was in used to get on our nerves because he would turn his amp up little by little through the night until it was overpowering everybody and we would have to get him to turn down.

[Sugano]

Tube amps need to be cranked up to realy make thier tubes sound nice and thick. Unlike solidstate amps, that genarly peform better at lower volumes. A guitar player can always turn his cabinet around to make it poing backwards (in micing situations) as a last resort to decrease stage noise.

[patchcords]

I tried to get the band I was working for to all run low but...the bass player always wanted to be loud...next thing you know everyone started to get louder...HHAAAA !!! He even asked me on break why his fader was so low. "your too loud" turn your amp down on stage so I CAN put you in the front mix ....I ended up tilting his amp up at him as though it was a monitor...then he was a happy camper and the front mix then sounded correct.

[Calymos]

@berto3 I wish I had the time to talk to the bands that come through my bar, every time I do that it changes the way the room sounds, since the guitar or whatever is just going in one direction, instead of going through the setup we've got.

[berto3]

@Calymos not the best practice but sometimes its all you can do. been there. I've worked hard to build a relationship with our band members so they will trust me enough to turn down when I ask them to.

[Calymos]

@hardcorps72

especially when you ask them to turn it down repeatedly! i always end up just cutting them out of the mix and trying to build the other channels around it. :/

[JOETRANROCK]

@hardcorps72 Know what you mean. Its funny because you can tell when you're working with very experienced musicians when they have their amps turned way down so you as the engineer can do your job (since especially the engineer is the one that makes the band sound good).

[hardcorps72]

I totally know what you mean about battling the musicians amps! It is bad when I have to tell them to turn down there amp because I can hear it clearly in the house without the house speakers on. Not to metion we have "battle of the amps" among the musicians. Sometimes I laugh other times I want to pull my hair out! ;)