How Loud is Too Loud? How to Properly Deal with Volume Issues
By Chris Huff, Behind the Mixer
Standing in my living room and staring at the ceiling, I yell at my daughter “IT’S TOO LOUD! TURN IT DOWN!” Sitting at a popular restaurant, I shake my head at the ridiculously loud music coming from the ceiling speakers. Driving down the interstate, I’m blasting out music as loud as possible. Let’s face it, “loud” is a subjective word.
Working as a church sound guy, I can say each person in the sanctuary has their own definition of “loud.” I find out about it when the service is “too loud” by their standards. I used to think to myself “if it’s too loud, then they’re too old.” But, attaining the proper sound level isn’t about my age, it’s about providing an environment conductive for worship.
A worship band plays specific songs during a service to evoke specific thoughts and emotions. Their arrangement and tempo choice effect how the song is perceived by people in the congregation. Then, there is the matter of volume.
Realizing a song is too soft to hear is easy. People aren’t singing along very well, you might get some heads turned your way, and if it’s really soft, the band members might give you signals like jumping up and down. Realizing a song is too loud is, well, more a matter of opinion.
Properly dealing with volume issues can be done through testing. There are two times in which the sound level “loudness” can be tested – during a worship service and after.
Testing volume during a band’s performance, in a worship service or otherwise, can be accomplished in five easy steps.
- Start with the overall house volume around where it’s typically run. Use a sound meter for a few weeks to determine an average decibel range. Just make sure the weight and sampling rate are the same. For example, always record at a ‘C’ weighting and a slow sample rate.
- During the song in which the congregation sings along, slowly bring up the overall volume level. Now watch the congregation. Are more people singing? Are more people raising their hands in the air? Do people appear more energized? Or do you see the opposite, where hands go down, people stop singing, and there is less enthusiasm?
- Lower the house volume during the song from the elevated point and watch people. Again, look at their behavior.
- Once you have found the point where people are more energized, check your sound meter reading and record it.
- Try running around this level for a few weeks and modify as necessary.
It should be noted that a service that is focused on a somber topic might benefit from a lowered house volume. I know, there is no magic decibel level that’s perfect all the time. Welcome to running sound.
Testing for “loudness,” or as I like to call it “too loud-ness,” can also be done after the service. “Yes, Mrs. Jefferson, I understand that it was too loud for you. I’ll see what I can do next week.” You know what I’m talking about. The service is over and before you can even leave the booth, someone walks up and mentions the music was too loud.
There are a few schools of thought regarding how to respond and they can be summed up like this: ignore them, cater to them, or find out more. The last one is the best for resolving the problem. Start by asking them a few questions: where were you sitting? What part of the service was too loud? (The music or maybe a video or even the preacher/pastor might be their answer.) Exactly what was too loud?
Asking these questions provides the answers for determining how to treat the issue. For example, maybe the place they sit is the loudest point in the room. Maybe after blasting the music portion, I ran the video too loud. Maybe they say the electric guitar was too loud. And maybe they are the third person to say that in three weeks.
Every sanctuary has a range of volume levels at different points in the room. Knowing the bad spots means standing in these locations during the band’s practice and determining if you need to alter the house volume to compensate for the issue or if you can EQ your way out of it. And maybe, just maybe, you’ve always loved the electric guitar and tend to push its volume a little more than necessary.
Properly dealing with volume issues starts with acknowledging that there is no perfect decibel level for every event. Testing volume changes against a baseline helps to determine what volume is best at that time. Lastly, when a person says “the music was too loud,” accept the fact that they might be right and find out what can be done to fix it.
Chris Huff loves running church sound and has been doing it for over 12 years. In addition to running sound for Franklin Community Church in Indiana, he writes the blog Behind the Mixer, where he talks about audio technology for churches.
Are you running sound for your church? Don’t forget to check out the Technologies for Worship Pavilion at the 2010 NAB Show!
