If a dodge ball, traveling at 40 miles per hour, hits a fountain drink cup sitting on the ledge of the sound booth, what are the odds the tech director will soon be charged for murder?  read more »

"If you build it, they will come."  That's great for drawing in baseball fans but not so good for recruiting volunteers.  Just because you have a sound booth everyone can see, it doesn't mean volunteers are going to run up and ask to join the team.  Here's how you can recruit the volunteers you need.  read more »

This morning, I awoke to the weather forecast; "another inch of snow is expected for Saturday."  "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"  I LOVE snow but this winter has lasted so long that even I (mild-mannered reporter for the Daily Planet) have become moody and crabby.  And I'm not the only one with this malady.  read more »

What are the hardest concepts to teach new tech team volunteers?  Do they have problems with certain terminology?  Do you find they are usually confused on the same topics?

I'd love to know your thoughts and what you've done to get over such learning hurdles.

For me, it's volume control of instruments in contrast to vocals.  Most push instruments so vocals don't come out strong.  When the congregation knows the song, it's not to bad.  When it's a new song, vocal level is crucial for teaching the congregation.  I'm working on that hurdle now.  read more »

The Scout Motto is: "BE PREPARED" which means you are always in a state of readiness in mind and body to do your DUTY.

A sound tech that doesn't adhere to the same mentality is going to find themselves in a world of hurt.  An event in which I worked last night demonstrates this perfectly.  read more »

This morning, I felt I should post the reasons I love being a sound tech.

What Do You Love About Being A Sound Tech?  read more »

This Sunday, as my family pulled into the church parking lot, my wife asked me the question "do you have to do anything at church today?"  My response was "I'll find out when I walk in the door." 

I had no official responsibilities that day.  Yet, after being there for less than five minutes, I heard someone calling my name.  The sound booth computer was acting up.  I put on my superman cape and jumped into action!  Ok, maybe without a cape...  read more »

Sunday's are filled with enough stress, right?  Now add in all the requests, comments, and "suggestions" from well-meaning parishioners and it's a wonder we don't put up bullet-proof glass around the booth.  This is where I'm talking about sound booth spam (sbs).  SBS is anything thrown at us which detracts from our ability to do our job.  read more »

The results of the survey are in...Now it's time to take some action.

44% of survey respondents do not have an annual audio budget!  There are a wide variety of reasons that budgets are not present; no money, never had one before, and we just ask for stuff and we get it.  Let's take some action!  read more »

"I am the Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz" said the man behind the curtain.  Looking back on that scene from the movie, I realized there was something unstated that was very profound.  The people in Oz visited the Wizard and BELEIVED he was this magical wizard.  They never questioned what happened behind the curtain even though it was in plain sight.  They wanted to believe the wizard was really a wizard.  I'm trying not to break out in song here.  Oh what the heck.."it's off to see the Wizard, the wonderful wizard o  read more »