Soundcheck, the 30/45/60 minutes we dedicate to preparing our worship set. A time to come together as a band in morning or the night of your service. Some bands prefer to have soundcheck the day or night before. I’ve personally felt that that’s a risky move, anything could happen 24 hours from then. How do you have soundcheck for your services?
Let’s look at a few major keys to soundcheck that can help out your team and help things run smoothly. This may mostly come from a worship leader’s perspective, but this should still translate well for musicians and singers.
1. Show Up Time: What time does your team meet up? How long is your soundcheck? This usually depends on how many musicians you have, singers, and how many songs you need to run through. For years we had soundcheck for 15 minutes, vocals all at once, musicians all at once, then us all together. We then moved to 30 minutes to fine tune a few things as our band and gear increased. Currently I am in a piano/acoustic combo with my wife. We have soundcheck for maybe 20 minutes at 6:00pm every Friday with set up taking most of the time. We have the advantage of practicing at home and fine tuning our songs at home which makes soundcheck a breeze. Run through a chorus or bridge and we’re good to go!
2. Song Preparation: How far in advance do you have your songs prepared? How far in advanced do you let your team know what songs you are doing for Sunday/Midweek service? Some musicians need to take a moment to load presets; singers need to make sure their vocals are warmed up enough to sing (especially in the mornings), etc. It’s always great for your team to know in advance, your guitarist may need to practice a bit more to nail that solo, or your vocalists might need some work on harmonies. This ultimately helps your team to show up 100% ready for what the worship service holds with a goal and destination to reach.
3. Egos and Conflicts: This has to be one of the biggest issues a worship team has to deal with. Who should be heard, why is more attention paid to this person, and the list goes on and on. It’s a musician’s/singer’s duty to stay humble and reminded that they have the privilege to be on a platform. Pray as a team to rebuke stress and conflict from hindering your team and what the Lord wants to do with your worship team. Talk to your members or your worship leader on how you might be able to solve any issues that you may have during soundcheck. Never be afraid to bring up any problems that you may have. If you do bottle it up, it could possibly pick up other issues and create a monster of emotions and frustrations on your team.
TIP: Try and keep a practice set of instruments at home to cut down on set up time at during soundcheck, this also it prevents you from having to carry around your gear wherever you go!
I hope this has blessed you and would love to hear stories here, or on Instagram or Twitter @anhonestsound!
-AO
anhonestsound.com 