In the Mix

I have now been interning at Rockharbor for almost 3 months. I've gotten some pretty good experience with running lyrics for worship services and learning how to create video and audio files for the weekly podcasts. However, my main goal as an intern has been to become more familiar with sound mixing and how that relates to worship musically and to the church as a whole. Since my first day, I have been developing my mixing skills by practicing on an isolated sound board with a live feed of the church service flowing into it. The advantage to having an isolated mix is that I am able to freely figure out how things work without worry about anyone hearing my result.

Throughout the summer, my mentor Alex would sit with me and critique my mixing. He explained to me about EQ's, fader levels, effects, and compression and how each elements effects the "sonic landscape" of a mix. He says my main goal as a mixer (at least for Rockharbor's style) is to create an overall mix in which all instruments are evenly blended but can still be heard independently.

So after 3 months of taking in advice, observing the mixers in the main sanctuary, and developing my own ear, I was finally given the opportunity to try my hand at mixing the main board alongside one of the sound men. I had been waiting to mix at the main board for a while because I knew that working in a live setting would be drastically different than working in a isolated room. I had to learn how to adjust to new elements such as live instruments, room acoustics, powers subs and speakers, and bodies filling the room. I also had to prepare for smooth transitions between music, teachers, and videos.

During my first run, I was a little nervous. Unlike mixing in the side room, hundreds of people could hear the adjustments I was making to the mix. To me, it seemed like every change I made to the mix was magnified because I was working with larger and more powerful speakers than I had before. However, at the same time I felt more free to listen and mix artistically because I was now working in the midst of a very live atmosphere.

One thing that I quickly learned about mixing in a live room is that I constantly need to be aware of the volume level of the worship leader's vocals. Because musical dynamics affect overall volume level, I constantly adjusted the vocals to match the volume level of the rest of the instruments. The singing styles of each worship leader makes a huge difference as well. Some worship leaders belt; others sing in a breathy manner; while even other may constantly switch between both styles. The ranges of notes also make a difference in vocal volume. Typically, vocalists sing more quietly on low notes than they do on high notes. All of these aspects can change the vocal volume and can occur multiple times throughout one song. This is why it is always important to listen to the vocals' volume in relation to the rest of the mix.

With that being said, I am slowly getting a feel for what it is like to create and maintain a good mix in a live setting such as the main sanctuary. A sound mixer must always be alert and aware of what is happening on stage and on the board; and he must be quick to make the appropriate adjustments. As I continue in this internship, I hope to develop these skills to the point that they simply become natural to me.