I’ve got a confession to make. I used to be addicted to headphones. More bluntly, I used to spend way too much time behind the mixing console with headphones over my ears, staring at the board, and tweaking knobs. What cured my addiction? An intervention. Ok, well, it wasn’t really that intense! The worship pastor gently pulled me aside one Sunday morning after soundcheck and said something along the lines of, “James, you’re doing a great job. But, I feel like you could probably spend a little more time listening to what is happening in the room instead of constantly checking your mix in the headphones.” He went on about some other soundcheck related issues and then we went about the rest of our morning preparing for the service. But what he said stuck with me. In fact, I still remember the feeling from that morning, and I continue to refer back to it often, especially when I find myself with headphones clamped to my ears for more than just a few moments behind the console. My worship pastor’s gentle critique was exactly what I needed to hear. I had forgot the most important thing about mixing live sound. Listen. Listen to the room, listen to the instruments, listen to the vocals, listen to the congregation. Listen. Adjust. Listen.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Sep 2014 12:30:13 +0000