Audio Reflections

I have been given some opportunities that I would never have imagined to be possible. For example, the title “Road Manager” should never have been associated with the name “Shaun Hall”. In all reality, the title really just meant something a lot more similar to “Roadie” than “Road Manager”, but I’ll take what I can get.

Last weekend I was given a sweet opportunity to manage all things audio for my friends in Woods End (shameless plug – @Woods_End_Min) at a youth conference in Estes Park, Colorado. That’s nuts. Here’s why:

For one, I had never been to Colorado except for a weeklong camp last summer. For two (is that a saying?), I had never even looked at a mixer (sound board… we’ll learn the lingo together, don’t worry) before this semester. For three (again, maybe not a real thing), I was so humbled when I was asked to be a part of the team.

Running sound is 50 percent science and 60 percent art. I realize that is more than the standard 100 percent allocated to all things pertaining to percentages, but for this description I will stretch the rules on math. Life is bigger than math and all the rules that people make up. So there.

Back to sound. Disclaimer: Manipulating a live sound board to hear something palatable is hard. Really hard. This conference was quite the inaugural event for this “Road Manager”. First, the band and I had to set up the entire sound system. Next, I had to do the part I call (and most people call) “trial and error”. That involved turning knobs and pushing flashing lights until a sound pleasing to the ear was emitted from the huge speakers suspended from the vaulted ceiling. Honestly, I know a small fraction about what each knob does when I spin it either direction, but it was enough to get me through. Once my amigos and I got the mix sounding alright without anyone else listening, it was time for the third and most exciting part: Performance.

Let’s recap – I was asked to run sound for a ministry collective (read: worship band) in Colorado even though I had started learning audio-related things only two months prior.

Now that we’re all caught up, let’s get into it.

The band is experienced. At some point, every one of the people on stage had traveled with a summer worship band sponsored by the admissions department of my university. Every one of the people on stage had practiced long hours; long enough to find their current musical limits. Every one of the people on stage has mastered their craft in relation to my greenhorn perspective on all things audio. That being said, it is easy to make people who are good at what they do look good. The performance side of the conference was more about what they could do musically than what I did in the sound booth.

All though it was a total “less of me, more of them” moment, I did not get off scot-free. There were issues I had to overcome. One of them was the “muddiness” of the pianist’s voice. If you heard something that was muddy, you would know exactly what I’m talking about. A muddy sound is a combination of too much body and not enough clarity; a sound that gets lost in the mix. The pianist had a voice that I had no idea how to solve – I couldn’t maintain the integrity of his raw voice and fix the issue.

Finally, I came to a realization: there may not be a solution that I can find. There may not be a way I can fix this issue with my limited knowledge and experience. The “muddiness” of the sound was and is so similar to the current state of my heart. I am incapable EQing (fancy word for turning knobs and pushing flashing lights) my soul to tune out the “muddiness” I so am accustomed to living with. The mix of my life is unmanageable when I am the only one running sound.

Luckily, I believe that there is a Sound Man much more experienced than myself. Yes, this is an awkward metaphor, but humor me for a second: maybe I can manage one conference (“road manager”, remember?), but my life is another story. I am at a place in my life where bad decisions and worse reactions are commonplace, but the “muddiness” of my heart is not my identity. The poor choices I have made do not define me. Instead, I am defined by the One I let manage my life.

This realization came to me only when I desired to be a better sound guy. I only started to move towards this perspective when I acknowledged my own faults and bad habits already forming from behind the mixer. Similarly, the only way growth will happen is if we realize our wrongs and desire something better for our lives.

“Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount, I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.”

-Shaun, The Life Authentic