After 7 years of FOH at my church I’ve settled in with what works and what doesn’t work for Cornerstone when it comes to volume levels. Volume is the most popular and complex subject when it comes to church sound and worship. In this post I’ll stick with where we actually run our levels and talk a little about the hard work of getting a great mix within context.
I’d like to frame our context a little first. We rock like most churches in America with Tomlin, Hillsong, Crowder, and the like. We offer ear plugs for people who ask but here’s the deal: I don’t want to be that church where a third of the people feel they need to plug their ears to worship God. That’s lame. For me it’s just plain lazy because I’ve learned that when I get lazy it gets too loud. The quickest way to make things sound better is to turn it up 3dB and that will push it over the edge for us. Getting a stunning mix within the green of the picture below is hard work that involves more than turning knobs; you absolutely need a great performance from the band and tools that are often met with resistance like full isolation for the drums and off-stage guitar amp isolation.
With that in mind, here’s my take on Cornerstone’s dB levels. Get a DB meter app on your iPhone and check it out for yourself this Sunday. We’re probably just like most churches in the country. We stick to the green and creep into the yellow.
Our target range is 85dB to 90dB measured A-weighted with slow response. An occasional peak of 94dB might sneak out but we don’t ride up there. A-weighting doesn’t measure sub frequencies (felt more than heard) and we run those hot. Depending on where you sit you will really feel the kick and bass. We are not timid with our mix by any stretch. To compare with a couple super big churches, we run a little louder than Willow Creek in Chicago and much quieter than North Point in Atlanta. Contrary to many volume complaints I receive, we are well within OSHA noise exposure limits.
One interesting piece of trivia for you: the chatter in the courtyard between services rides at 90dB. That’s louder than worship in the auditorium. Who would have guessed? Keep those ear plugs in! Funny how perception rarely reflects reality.
(After the jump is a little more about perception and getting a great mix within context.)
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