No time for a sound check…

A few years ago, I was running sound in a large church. On a particular Sunday morning, the Worship Leader’s wife was to sing a solo. She arrived at the church late and, because we had worked together many times before, we both agreed that a sound check would not be necessary. BIG mistake!

This was at a time when solo tracks came only on cassette and the tape contained the demo track on one side and the solo track in two or three keys on the other side. I had worked with these tracks many times and felt quite certain that a quick spot cue would be sufficient. BIG mistake!

The service progressed and the time came for the big solo. The music started at the perfect time and the audience waited with great anticipation to hear this lady lift up an amazing praise offering to our Lord. However, what they heard was a duet that included a very surprised soloist and the superstar that recorded the demo track.

I immediately stopped the tape and the Pastor took the cue, went to the pulpit and spoke for a minute to give me time to re-group. Without looking to see how the tape was inserted, I pulled the tape out, made sure I was using the correct side, cued the tape, and restarted the song.

Again, the congregation waited, and again they received a duet instead of a solo. By this time, the Worship Leader was on his way to the sound booth (never a good thing) and I was completely frustrated. Again, the Pastor got up and spoke to give us time to sort out this painful situation.

As it turned, out the tape had been mislabeled and the solo tracks were on the side of the tape labeled demo. A quick sound check would have prevented this disaster and quite a bit of humiliation. As the sound engineer, I should have insisted on at least a mic check with a minimal track check. If I had done this, I would have realized that the tape had been mislabeled and saved myself and the church much embarrassment.

Sound checks are not just for the performers - they are for everyone involved. Here are some things that should be done during a sound check from the engineer’s perspective:

1. Make note of the mic(s) being used
2. Make note of the levels - monitor and house
3. If an accompaniment track is being used, make note of the track number and/or track key to be used
4. If the track is on a cassette tape, cue the tape
5. Make sure the performer is comfortable with what they are hearing and confident that you, the sound engineer will make them sound good

As a sound engineer, we need to work closely with the Worship Leader to eliminate the possibilities for errors. Not only does this create embarrasing situations, it is very distracting to the congregation. Remember, this might be the only opportunity we get to relay the Gospel of Jesus Christ to someone whe needs it, so let’s make sure we don’t blow it with a preventable mistake!