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December 2000 Table of Contents
Special Feature
The Music's Too Loud
By Dwight T. Whitworth
Worship and Fine Arts Pastor,
First Commonwealth Church,
Richmond, VA
You’ve heard this time after time in your ministry. You feel you had a great service and people were blessed when someone walks up to you with a cup of “verbal” cold water and throws it in your face, “the music was too loud this morning.” You thought it was awesome, you thought it sounded great, and it probably did. Why do people say that? Why do people complain when things go good?
There are several reasons why this happens to so many good ministers of music. First of all, the people who complain have a spirit of griping and murmuring shadowing them. They not only complain about the volume of the music but they complain about the length of the sermon, the temperature of the sanctuary, the style of music chosen, the color of the carpet, the color of the ushers’ ties, and on and on it goes. Take heart, these are people who are unhappy all the time unless of course they are complaining.
Music directors are sensitive people; they have to be to listen to the Holy Spirit. It is the nature of a great director to know and understand “flow” of a service. This sensitivity is innate. It is born in a good director. However, the strengths of a good director are also the weaknesses. As one has feelings to desire to please God, these same feelings are sometimes confused in desiring to please man as well. In that same vein, when someone complains to you, you accept the blame, feel terrible that you caused these people grief and you do everything you can to make the situation right. Is this good? No, of course not!
You, in your efforts to do right, must realize that you cannot please everyone. Think about it, there are more people pleased with you than are not. Be encouraged! Not everyone, not the majority, not even the best of people in your church feel like the complainer that hit you up on the Sunday you thought was best. Don’t lose heart, be creative.
Please realize that it is man’s nature to vent at times; you do! How about when your steak is not cooked to your satisfaction? Or those times when at the fast food restaurant they mess your order up. Don’t you feel better when someone listens to you? So what is the solution to these gripers?
You can prepare a “suggestion card” just like the restaurants have. You can ask them to put their name and phone # on it, have a diagram drawn on the card for them to mark where they sat that particular service, a list of items for them to check that gives you an indication of what was too loud, i.e. piano, keyboard, drums, percussion, horns, special music, soundtrack, choir, pastor, etc. A lot of times when these complainers begin to fill these cards out, they forget what was too loud and sometimes not even fill it out. They also realize that every time they complain they will not be recognized until they fill out the card. Assure them that they will be contacted concerning their complaint. After a while these complainers you’ve been dealing with will cease.
Secondly, another reason that is common in churches is that the sound technician is not in the “spiritual’ frame of mind. You pay so much attention to mentoring, praying for and leading your choir and band that you forget to do the same with you sound technicians. These are people who concentrate so much on the service that they are “out of it” spiritually and into it electronically. Let’s be honest with about something you probably already know. Your soundman can make or break a service. It doesn’t matter what kind of great musicians or vocalists or even ministers you have, if the soundman doesn’t get it right, it won’t be right.
There are times when you are in a rehearsal and everything is “clicking.” The monitors are just right. The mikes sound warm and sweet. The house mix couldn’t be better. Then there are days when the band is griping because they “couldn’t hear.” The choir had intonation problems because the monitors were not loud enough even though you were motioning so much with your arms to the sound man to turn them up that you looked like a great big bird ready for take off.
Your soundman needs to understand your heart and philosophy of sound. He needs to understand and hear it from your what your purpose is in mixing and giving a great ministry product to the people during the services. They don’t understand sometimes why people do not sing loudly or worship uninhibitedly when the music is too soft and people can hear them or everyone is looking at them because they are singing too loud. He needs to hear your instructions about why you want the music to “encapsulate” the worshipper to make him “feel” the music and enjoy his worship experience.
I’ve had great sound technicians who were some of the best in the world. However, when it came to mixing for worship, they needed to know my heart. They needed to be instructed on what is necessary for a great worship service. However, this is only just one part of a two-part problem with soundmen.
The second problem is that if he is not ready spiritually, the people will hear the music coming from the sound system with a lack of “anointing.” How can this be? I have found in my experience that when my sound man is ready spiritually, that he becomes a worshipper and wants others to experience what he is experiencing and will do everything he can to see that they do from his perspective and advantage. He will keep an “eagle eye” on the praise leader or music director and watch him for directions and instructions while at the same time he is observant to the congregation and how they are receiving the sound. If they seem lackluster and on the perimeter of worship, he might sweeten or fatten the sound or even increase the gain. Are you trying to “work up something? No, I’m wanting the listen, in this case the worshipper to not have to work at straining to listen and make it easier on him to enjoy the worship experience.
Experience has shown that when sound technicians do this then people get so involved into worship that they couldn’t care less about how “loud” the sound was. Why? Because they were hearing it through the “anointing.” They were being fed sound though an anointed and praying sound technician. It makes so much more sense that if we want our pastors, music directors and musicians to have an anointing, then why shouldn’t the same go for sound technicians?
Remember to keep those happy and blessed who cause your services to be successful. These “techies” are wonderful people. Bless them by sending them to a conference where they can improve their techniques and enjoy the fellowship with other soundmen.
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