Turn It Up – Sound Experiment

TURN IT UP (Part 1)

An experiment with sound levels in church.

Much like most churches out there, TMP has always been battling the treacherous monster called Sound Levels.

It’s a mean beast. That has been moderately tamed.

Until Sunday.

During our rehearsal I gave the drummer the green light to play at his normal volume…. which is LOUD. And I as well decided to play at my normal level… around 3 or 3.5. (Which, for you gear heads.. is a sweet spot on the VOX AC15H1TV when playing a Gibson Hollow Body) I made sure to chat with the sound tech about the idea of experimenting with higher volumes. He said he would be interested in it.. tho I could tell he was skeptical.

Results:

The band became more alive. Played with passion and energy. There was a freedom felt…. and an understanding: that nothing will be holding us back this morning. We can just go all out for God. And y’know what.. it was just plain fun!

The congregation…. seemed to mirror that as well. They sung louder. Engaged more. SMILED more even. They seemed to express joy!!

Now usually when this happens… it is followed by a mountain of complaints.. (mostly from the older folk) about how its much too loud, unnecessary and distracting etc.

But not this time. Only good feedback. And lots of it. Not one person mention the “volume” issue. Not sure why, but here are my theories. You see because.. the volume was never really too loud in the first place. We just seemed to cater to those that voiced their opinions on this subject – which makes sense.

Here is the deal: bottom line – I don’t want to destroy people’s hearing! I also don’t want to destroy my own!!! But for some reason it is understood in many North American churches that LOUD equals BAD. This is not the case.

By the sound tech and musicians working together to find an overall good balance; we were able to crank it up without making ear drums bleed. Both parities were sensitive enough to really try to keep the church-body in mind while still pushing the boundaries.

And most importantly: I believe we were able to create an atmosphere that people could engage with their creator in a new, fresh and exciting way. And I say that cause this is what the feedback consisted of. People’s stories of (for the first time in a long time) finding hope for themselves.. and for our church. Finding the music inspiring enough to want to engage. Finding joy….. during a joyless season. These are the stories I love to hear. One of the many reason why I LOVE my job.

I’m not saying that volume is the answer. Cause it is not. It didn’t “make” the services. But perhaps it comes down to not being stuck in a box. Maybe its about being flexible and free to follow the nudging of God to do silly things like cranking up the amp. I think that being able to express a wide dynamic range thru sung worship can really be a great way to engage and inspire people. Being loud.. isn’t all that great. Neither is being at a low volume. One side causes pain.. the other side just gets unheard.

But finding a great balance was one of the keys for us. We were able to flow between a good strong volume between the amps and drums…. and also bring it down quiet enough where the congregation’s voices were drowning us out. For me.. there is something exciting about those kind of dynamics. As musicians you play differently. As singers.. you sing differently. You begin to lead people thru these moments – thru times and praise and reflection, in a different way. For us.. it simply came down to freedom.

But I do have to say. When our backdrop curtain opens up, the cymbals reflect off of the back wall.. and then its really REALLY FREAKIN LOUD!!! And not in a good way!

John Stackhouse wrote an interesting blog post that addresses the issue of high volume in places of worship. Its so interesting that I emailed some of my team this same article just a few weeks ago!!! Check it out here.
Most of what said is fighting against using volume as a way to create energy. And there are tons of comments saying that people (drummers and guitarists.. and sound ops) play too loud. And I’m sure there are lot of examples of these out there.

All I am thinking is that maybe instead of saying turn it down… we should seek a balance. LOUD CAN BE GOOD. EMBRACE IT.

The experiment will continue. I’ll give my report as it happens.