Making Each Instrument Sound Great
No amount of EQ fixes clashy cymbals or a poorly tuned guitar. Before you buy new gear, get the best possible sound out of the instruments you already have — because good sound is made of good-sounding instruments.
One of the most direct ways to improve your church’s overall sound is to improve the sound each individual instrument is making. The mix is just the sum of the individual sounds — so if you strengthen each source, the whole thing gets better. Your goal is to hand your sound person the absolute best signal to start with, so they can make it even a little sweeter rather than spend the night compensating.
You can’t fix a bad source at the board
No amount of EQ is going to fix junky, cheap, clashy cymbals. No amount of compression is going to fix a poorly tuned guitar.
The console can only do so much. If the raw sound is harsh or out of tune, it stays harsh or out of tune in the mix. Fix it at the source first.
And you don’t necessarily need to go buy all new gear. You might eventually, but start with what you already have — sit down and see how much better you can make it. Ask yourself:
- When’s the last time you tuned the drums or replaced the drum heads?
- When’s the last time you changed the bass strings?
- When’s the last time you played with your electric amp settings or keyboard patches to get a better tone?
A little time spent tweaking tone knobs on each instrument will noticeably improve the sound coming from every one of them.
Just like a good band is made up of good musicians, good sound is made up of good-sounding instruments.
A source-by-source checklist
- Drums — tune them, replace the heads, and consider darker, warmer cymbals that aren’t clashy and harsh (e.g. Istanbul or Dream cymbals). Warm cymbals don’t fatigue ears and stay out of the way of the vocals.
- Vocals — try different vocal mics on different singers, find the best match for each person’s voice, and use that mic every time they sing. Get vocal mics away from the drums so you don’t bake drum bleed into every channel.
- Piano — if it’s been years, get it tuned.
- Bass — if it’s buzzing on the lower frets, take it to a luthier to get the action adjusted.
- Keys — invest in great software/patches (e.g. a Sunday Keys patch library) so the sound is excellent before it ever hits the board.
The better each instrument sounds on its own, the better the whole mix sounds.
Application
- Pick one instrument this week and get it sounding its best at the source — tune it, re-string it, or dial in a better patch — before touching the console.
- Walk your stage and find the weakest-sounding source. Is it a maintenance problem (old heads, dead strings, untuned piano) you could fix cheaply right now?
- Are you handing your engineer the best possible signal, or asking them to rescue problems that should be solved on stage?