Mixing for the Online World

Part 1 : Presence

They say you should always start with why. Why are we webcasting services and events?

• Reach attendees that can’t be present
• Expand our reach to people who wouldn’t attend a physical church
• Let people ‘test drive’ our church before they commit to a visit

Then there is the big one, lockdowns and lockouts because of fear of pandemic. This took webcasting from a gee whiz trendy thing to how many churches are staying together in the face of limitations or bans on gathering in person.

Do we really understand what?

I think everyone understands the why at this point, but I see a lot of conflicting ideas on what we are trying to do. It is more than just sending the mixer output to Facebook. It is not the same mix as the auditorium the church normally meets in. It is not an album. It isn’t studio work.

For me, the what is recreating what it feels like to be IN THE ROOM. Third row center. This means hearing everything that you normally don’t think about and certainly isn’t in the front of house mix. We need to hear the size of the room, the response of the crowd, really FEEL what it is like to be there. Suspension of disbelief. Let the medium fade away and let the experience be front and center. Present in the moment.

Presence

A good example of what I mean is the band Delirious? I was never too impressed. I heard their songs and appreciated the lyrics and the music, but it never clicked with me. Then I saw their DVD ‘Now is the Time’. It was recorded live at Willow Creek in Chicago. From the first moment, I was captured. The sound had life. The response from the crowd was part of the mix and the technology of watching on a screen faded away and I was in the room. This is what should happen every time we broadcast. Even if your church is traditional and in no way like a concert, you still want your online audience to hear everything that happens.

One of the requirements to accomplish this goal is the use of crowd mics and that is what we will explore next week!

Thanks for reading this blog!

If you have questions or comments, I really want to hear from you!