Breaking News

Status
Not open for further replies.

Eoghan

Puritan Board Senior
"Worthington First Baptist Church Signs Greg Johansen from Elim Pentecostal"
Members at Worthington First Baptist are appreciating anew their Pastor Hank Rose, after signing sound engineer Greg. Sister Clara's voice broke down as she described the blessed way Greg boosts the bass at the climax of the sermon. I know that Hank and Greg rehearse the sound levels for the sermon Friday night and Saturday afternoon if there are any re-writes, deacon Bob Bradshaw said, they make a great team!

The secretary of the Elim Pentecostal was unavailable for comment pending a court case in which Greg Johansen is being sued for breach of contract. While the six figure salary offered by Worthington First Baptist Church remains unconfirmed, it is common knowledge that the "company car" Greg has been given is a BMW 6 series convertible.

Asked to comment Greg said that his was a classic case of the American dream - you work hard and reap the rewards. Greg, who used to work for Sony-EMI until the lay-off's of 2007 says that there is a great future for sound engineers in churches. "As the music industry contracts with online databases and P2P downloading music engineers should think about a career in sermon engineering"


It's not on LarkNews but it should be!



I thought of this on Sunday when the minister was using a microphone with a lot of amplification. He sounded as if he was coming from the front even as he walked about at the back! Very disconcerting!! I also think it makes for a lot of passionless preaching. I feel that emotion does not play well with the amplification system. It seems to engender a conversational tone and volume. Maybe I am limited in my experience but back in the day at The Tron, the minister used the mic sparingly and more for hearing loop. His preaching was passionate when warranted and unfeigned. Technology has in large measure taken that away.

Correct me if I am wrong but without automatic sound level adjustment would the preacher raising his voice not sound like a sonic boom? If the sound engineer has to make a decision about whether to over-ride the equipment and let the preacher raise his voice (or drop it to a whisper) then that interposes between you and the preacher. Where will it end? Well I will tell you it will end up on LarkNews as a news item.
 
Much depends on the quality of the sound system and the skill of the guy running it. If everything is top-notch, a microphone lets you speak in a whisper to a large crowd and still be heard, and also shout without breaking anything.

But if you have a lousy system and an inexperienced teenager running the sound board, it can be very frustrating for a speaker (like myself) who tends to vary his delivery a lot and get both soft and loud. You realize you don't have total control over your own voice, and get scared to try a whisper or to raise your voice. So the microphone can indeed discourage energy in speaking, and cause the preacher's delivery to end up sounding flat.

The last time I spoke at my church the microphone wasn't working for the first of the two services. So I largely shouted the sermon the first go-round, then spoke with the mic for the second service. I was worried that the first one, without the mic, was less effective since I delivered all of it at largely the same (shouting) pitch. But those who heard both said the second one, with the mic, had less energy. The mic had indeed mellowed me.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top