Do all to the Glory of God

In the last 1-2 months, I have some thoughts pertaining to my involvement in the Worship Ministry within the church as a musician and a soundman and so I thought I'll blog about it. For this blog, I will be focusing on the “job” as a soundman and hopefully it will help people see that the job of a soundman is not just pushing levers and adjusting knobs and only a means to an end.

As a Soundman, I had always believed and told my understudies that we are an integral part of the worship team except that our instrument is the soundboard and the various equipment connected to it like the Equaliser, Amps and Speakers. As the worship leaders and musician works with melodies or musical notes, the soundman works with sound. The aim is to deliver a worship experience in terms of “sonic” environment instead for musical or melodic experience and as much as the worship team wishes to deliver that “experience” of connecting with God, the soundman should also seek to create the environment where that experience can occur.

The soundman should try to create that environment by making sure that the sound “experience” allows for minimal distraction such as making sure that the sound is not too soft or too loud for all areas of the Sanctuary, that there should not be sonic feedback, that the instruments are blended to occupy the various sonic space and not jarring and that vocal are adjusted and blended in a manner where the one vocal is not overpowering the next, where as much as possible, the blend is such that there is “fullness” to the vocals that can be achieved and most importantly, that the words could be heard.

The soundman thus helps to create the “feeling” of connection, to enable the envelopment of the congregation in the musical experience that would extend that connection. The same thus applies to the worship leaders, back-up vocalists and musicians as to enable them to deliver that “experience” to the congregation. It is important to have a sonic environment that is conducive for the congregation as well as for the worship leaders, back-up vocalists and musicians on stage for the worship of God.

I always like and try to use the example of an album or music that a person liked and have that person listen to the music using a headphone and adjusting the volume to a level that is comfortable (not loud until you damage your ears) and try to “feel” the music.  That is essentially what I would try to create for the congregation using the audio equipment that is in the “House of Worship”. For the worship leaders, back-up vocalists and musicians, the requirement and demands are different but it should also be an environment where they can hear themselves and the specific blend that they would like on their monitors that would allow them to play in “tune” and in rhythm with the rest of the band. It is like eating a well prepared meal by an excellent chef where the various components and seasoning of the dish would complement each other, to bring out the flavours where one is not overpowering another, where there is a balance to the saltiness, sweetness, sourness or bitterness and also to enjoy the various textures of the ingredients.

It is therefore my believe that the soundman is not just a tool, a mean for delivering sound to the congregation or to the worship leaders, back-up vocalists and musicians. The soundman is as much an integral part of the worship team and plays an important role as much as the worship leaders, back-up vocalists or musicians. The soundman would thus need to have a desire to worship God and are given the instrument that is the soundboard (mixer) and various audio equipments. They should understand that in the “House of Worship” environment, doing sound is not just a job but that it is also an integral part worship to God. The worship leader leads, the back-up vocalist support the worship leader and the musician delivers the music and the soundman take all these and deliver it to the congregation where they sing praises to God.

Again, moving into the realm of political incorrectness… and no offence intended, the worship of God is as it says, is “the worship of God”! Everything that we do should then direct attention and focus onto God and not for self gratification. The adjustment of sound and the request for the sound to be adjusted in certain manner should be done in the spirit and desire to connect with God, not “Oh… the congregation must hear me” but the congregation must “hear God through me”. The soundman should not just think “the congregation can hear can already la…” but rather, “the congregation must hear God through the sound”.

As a disclaimer, not everyone is endowed with gifts to be a “good” singer, musician or soundman. The desire is to achieve the “best” for the Lord but we may not be the “best”. However, it should not be used as an excuse for mediocrity for the Lord sees the heart since “⁴⁵ The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.” Luke 6:45 (NASB)

What I do as a soundman or musician (I play the bass and electric guitar too but I'm really not very good at it), I do as worship onto God and to the best of my ability that may or may not be the “best” technically. This verse may not exactly be in context from the passage where it came from but the meaning is essentially the same when in 1 Corinthians 10:31, it says “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (NASB)

In God We Trust