Most of our churches rely on volunteer musicians, singers, and techs to make services run smoothly. When teams are distracted or frustrated, it has a ripple effect across the entire gathering. And lets face it, there are SO many things that can distract and frustrate us. And that’s before we even get to church! A good attitude is essential …
The Role of the Musical Director
A Musical Director is a voice of leadership on the platform that helps to run the rehearsals, navigates the band through musical transitions, and fuels the worship leader with clear ideas that can create a moment where people can interact freely with God. A Musical Director adds unity and strength to the team on platform, …
Creating A Safe Worship Environment
“How can I, as a leader, create a safe worship environment?” This is a significant question that draws at the heart of what it means to be a worship leader. I remember what it felt like to me when I first encountered a safe worship zone! The atmosphere in the room felt electric. The sense …
Six String Theory // The Capo
Editor’s Note: This tutorial assumes that the reader has at least a general understanding of a guitar and basic fretboard theory, including key signatures, note names and guitar-centered terminology. If you are unfamiliar with these concepts, please refer to this post for a great introductory lesson about basic fretboard theory. A capo (short for the …
Worship = Power
Our churches are filled with broken people that have real hurts. Others keep coming through the doors in denial, thinking that everything is well and that they can just “phone in” their worship by showing up at church once a week, usually right before the teaching. How can we, as leaders, facilitate worship that breaks through great pain …
Vocals: Breathing and Breath Support
We’ve all been there. The set list for the weekend is epic. The songs are on the high side of our vocal range, and we just cannot wait to dive in and shout them out with everything we have. We’re just hoping our voice doesn’t give out before the end of the service because we have to hit those …
Slash Chords and the Nashville Number System
In this video, Dustin explains how to interpret slash chords you will find on your chord charts, and how to assign them a number in the Nashville Number System based on how they are used in a song. Download the chart for Hillsong’s “Forever Reign” in C here to follow along. Forever Reign-C (Rhythm Chart)
Music Theory // Intro to Nashville Number System
Dustin discusses octaves, scale degrees, and practical applications for the Nashville Number system. Download Charts mentioned in this lesson: Our God Charts Head here for part 2 of the lesson series!
Vocal Warm-Ups
Our vocalists have an interesting struggle, in that their instrument is their voice and their voice (or vocal chords) is a muscle. To achieve a greater sound from any instrument it needs to be taken care of. Just as a guitarist will show up on a Sunday morning, plug-in, and check the tuning on his …
F.O.H. 101 // Gain Staging
The most important thing that we as audio engineers do is get signal from instrument to speakers. But to do that, the signal (at its most basic level) must first pass from the instrument into a microphone or DI box, down a line, through a snake, into a console, into a preamp, through an equalizer, …
F.O.H. 101 // Noise Gates
Be sure to check out the previous posts in FOH 101: Microphone Selection, Microphone Placement, and Compressors and Limiters. NOISE GATES Noise gates are a Front-of-House engineer’s best friend. Their ability to clean up an audio signal, reduce noise, and make the mix sound crisp and clear is unrivaled. Adding a gate to an audio …
F.O.H. 101 // Compressors & Limiters
COMPRESSORS AND LIMITERS Military communications during the Second World War were, at best, strained. Equipment of the time could not properly transmit the quieter sounds of the human voice over the sounds of battle because they were drowned out by the louder gunfire noises and explosions. New technology had to be developed so that radio …
F.O.H. 101 // Microphone Placement
BASIC MICROPHONE PLACEMENT Now that we’re able to make informed decisions in regards to selecting the best microphone for the job, we’re ready to place them on the instrument to get the best possible sound. As with microphone selection, placement of the microphone largely comes down to personal preference and how they sound in your …
F.O.H. 101 // Microphone Selection
HOW MICROPHONES WORK A microphone is a form of transducer, or a device that changes one form of energy into another corresponding form of energy. The same way that the magnets in guitar pickups turn the vibration of the strings into electrical energy, the microphone turns changes in air pressure into an electrical signal. That …
