What is hurting the growth of quality audio?
There are several factors hurting the growth of quality church sound.
1. The quality of the sound guy
I have to be honest, there are many in the pro sound world who laugh at people who claim to “know audio” because they run sound at church. Unfortunately, we’ve somewhat earned that image.
The reason is that in the majority of churches, sound guys don’t get the training they need nor are they hired based on qualifications. “You’re good with computers; would you like to run sound on Sundays?”
On top of that, the average church sound guy isn’t pushing to improve their knowledge and the overall quality of their work on any other day ending in “UNDAY.”
2. Expectations are incorrectly placed on equipment
The answer to getting a better sound isn’t always buying a better sound board or more expensive stage gear. A $20,000 mixing board won’t make up for a poorly trained sound guy or bad room dynamics.
3. The church music style has changed drastically but the acoustic space has not
Additionally, many churches are being built without regard to room dynamics.
4. Audio production is not a priority by church leadership
When the economy takes a downturn, it’s one of the first budgets to get cut. This past year, I’ve heard from a couple of technical directors who had to cut many of their paid positions and change them to volunteer positions.
5. No Source of change / mentoring
Each church is at the mercy of the one person in the church who has the motivation for always improving the audio quality. In churches where there is only one person like that, that person can have tons of drive but little experience or knowledge of how to proceed.
When they don’t have a mentor, they are limited in how they can improve the audio because they are limited in knowledge. I’ve even been at a church with a 5-person audio team where no one had been trained and they behaved as “volume controllers.” No mentors and no push for improvement leads to zero improvement.
6. The “less adequate” mentality
What more can I say than to quote Frank’s words again; “Shall the music of the Church be less adequate to its consecrated purpose?”
Over the next ten years, none of this is going to change. As long as these six points are still issues in the church, the quality of sound production is going to suffer.