Loading ...Just thought I’d throw something out there today to keep the posts rolling. Last Friday I went with the findingBethel guys over to Quincy to see Remedy Drive in concert. By the way these guys put on a good show if you have the chance to see them do it, plus they are from Nebraska which is an added bonus (ok, maybe just for me). Anyway, as I was listening to the opening band a thought crossed my mind, how loud is too loud? Here’s where I’m coming from on this, the sound for the opening band was so loud and piercing that I started to get a headache. However, it did add to the rock concert effect and got everyone moving to the music. Still, after a few songs it was starting to not be fun. Amazingly, the sound really smoothed out for Remedy Drive which saved the evening.
Obviously, in a praise and worship setting at church we are not going for an all out rock concert, but there is some value to turning up the mix a little bit. As praise and worship becomes more intense in the expression of the congregation a little volume helps engage people even more in worship. But the question remains how loud is too loud? Well, I’ll give you a couple of ideas and easy reads to help you tell if you are too loud. The first easy read is people covering their ears. There used to be a guy in my church who would sit right in front of a speaker every Sunday, and he would come to me every Sunday and say the music was too loud. That is not what I am talking about, what I am saying is if there are several people throughout the congregation that are covering their ears it is probably too loud. The second read is the actual mix. If you have a good mix in practice and then turn it way up for the service and everything becomes muddy sounding, you’ve probably turned it up too loud. At high decibels it is hard for the human ear to make subtle distinctions in the different frequencies. Finally, if your head is hurting from the pressure or the lead vocal sounds like a drill, it’s probably too loud.
Here is a good rule of thumb to use. If you have a decibel meter it will help take more technical readings, but in general an orchestra plays at 80 decibels without audience participation. This is considered normal, comfortable music listening level. Since praise and worship has audience participation the level of music should rise so that people feel comfortable sing along. Our sound engineers generally try to bring the level up to between 87 and 92 decibels. It may not sound like much, but it is important to remember that an increase of 10 decibels is a perceived doubling of increased volume to the human ear. Our church does have a higher ceiling level and if your sanctuary is smaller and has a lower ceiling, you may need to turn it up a little more or down some depending on the number of people. At that point you can tweak it to your style of worship service.
So, how loud is too loud?
Tags: audio, church, decibel, muddy sound, praise and worship, small, sound, sound engineer, too loud, volume
May 5th, 2009 at 11:19 am
Yo! Long time reader, first time commentator… Personally I think my mix normally runs a little loud. I think it’s because I like being able to hear everything, and once the congregation fills in, you lose some depth, so when I turn it up, it just gets too loud. The last Sunday that I ran you gave me some good pointers and good levels/ concepts that helped a TON! Basically, find who is your tempo, make sure that instrument is on top of the mix, and then fill in accordingly. I also run my vocals too hot. All in all, it’s just practice and paying attention to your room and the overall mix that helps for good levels! Keep it up D, this stuff is sound man gold!
May 5th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
Josh absolutely true, one of the things to remember and consider is that adding bodies to the room will “suck-up” some of the sound from your mains and you do want a good clean sound to get to people in the back row. It is also true that by tucking some of your background vocals down in the mix you can turn the music up a little louder. Good points!
May 7th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
Hey guys great topic.
I must preface my comment to those who don’t know me by saying that I’m usually on the stage singing rather than running sound. However in my experience of running sound these are my comments.
When I began leading our worship team here a few years ago we had many obstacles with our sound system. The sound system had been pieced together with older and newer equipment and had a very mediocre set of speakers. We tried several different option with how to hang the speakers because of the complaints we got. We have a pretty small sanctuary, low ceilings, and some of it was band issues.
The complaints was that everything was “muddy”, you couldn’t hear the vocalist, and when you did turn the vocalist up they were piercing.
One way we solved this problem was we invested in a good quality speaker. We went with Macpherson speakers. We went with 12″ highs with a 2″ tweeter and subs that are dual 18″ in a box. I must say that this was a HUGE factor in getting the sound right for OUR building. We have much more than we need, yet the ability to run it louder for different occasions. The clarity of the 2″ tweeter has allowed us to bring down the FOH volume and have a very clear mix.
Somehow that isn’t quite answering the question I think, but maybe one way to have control over how loud the mix is and still have it clear.
Anyway… Just my two cents! Keep up the post I want to keep learning!
May 15th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Good point Jason. Clarity does help a sound engineer run the db’s up without killing people in the congregation. And the quality of speakers are another good point, quality speakers can help people perceive a more pleasant sound without realizing how loud the sound really is. I might have more on that later.