I went to a jazz concert with my wife Friday night. It was a fantastic show of quartet jazz put on by very experienced musicians who were in tune with each other. I began to reflect on my musical past and how it differed from what I was listening to.
I have an extensive classical music performance background. In classical music there is not any improvisation (at least not intentionally). Orchestral music is a large, complex tapestry of threads created by different instruments that is written or designed by the composer and carefully woven by the conductor. As one of those threads you know what you should play. You have to listen to understand your relationship to the other threads. You also have to read the composer’s marks to interpret your particular thread. This seems to be one end of the spectrum.
On the other end of the spectrum you find jazz; where the music is truly a musical conversation. The tune is the topic of conversation, but all of the players have their own thoughts and expressions of their thoughts. They openly share their thoughts and appreciate what the other musicians have to say. However, over time those thoughts change and so do the expressions.
Watching the players, I began to wonder what part the mixing engineer played in the conversation. How did he relate to what was going on stage?
I further began to ask where contemporary church music landed on that continuum between classical and great jazz.
How should we as technical ministers relate to what is happening in our worship services?
What do you think?
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I've always felt that audio engineers have a very vital role in the shaping of a performance. The way sound is mixed can really define the style of a performance. While we shouldn't see to clash with what the musical team is trying to do, the fact is that good mixing has a huge impact on the ultimate performance.
ReplyDeleteIn some sense the role of an audio engineer is not unlike that of a conductor. We can't influence the tempo, but almost everything else is under our control.
That has been my biggest struggle transitioning to lighting - I'd like to have the same kind of impact on the worship ministry but it is a much bigger challenge doing it with light. I just detest the thought of just running transitions during the service and otherwise sitting back and watching the service. I just have to find a way to impact the service in a positive way. (Hmm - now all we need is some fog and some simple geometric gobos :) ).
I think one of the biggest dangers in the control for audio engineers is that we like to become control freaks. Mixing ultimately becomes about the relationship to the performers. How well do you understand those who are on stage? How well can you anticipate the changes and fluctuations in the music? How connected are you to the music? Is it just a plug and play or set and forget mix? Or is it a dynamic, breathing entity with a unique life of its own? I would submit that it is dynamic and can change even from soundcheck to live.
ReplyDeleteLighting is a whole different beast. People have to be influenced visually, but they are more easily distracted in general. Trying to find the balance is hard. Personally, I find that if I am trying to force an effect to work then I'm probably going to distract someone or several people from worship. The hard part is that effects are not just a push a button. You have put in time in advance planning and programming what you think might work. My best counsel is to not be afraid. If you are feeling something or seeing something mentally, try to express it with light. If you go live and you aren't feeling it anymore then don't use the effect. Am I making sense or running in circles?