Everybody’s a Critic
I have a couple longer posts in the works, but here’s a quick one. Perry Noble did a great post the other day on dealing with criticism. I find it somewhat relevant this week because last Sunday was the first time I received a complaint here from an audience member that it was too loud. I hear we get letters all the time, but this was the first time someone got rubbed enough to actually tell it to my face. This kind of situation can be tough sometimes. Fortunately, I have a great leadership team here and have learned over the years when to pay attention to criticism and when to quite simply say “Thanks” and leave it at that.
So, of course, some of you might be wondering how loud was “too loud” last week. Loud enough that the leadership over me stopped asking me to turn it up and started commenting on how it was “good and loud”.
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Thank you so much for your post. It was right on time. Someone once told me (in the world of Sound Teching) that you cant please everyone, and that there will always been a person who thinks its too loud, too “this” and not enough “that.”
Case in point my senior pastor just came to me this past week and said that we (the sound ppl) have not been running the system loud enough (for what it can handle). Well, as you know the word “loud” is abstractly vague based on position, seating, song type and mood. Its always been audible and clear, and I think thats the key. However, during practice the other night I PUMPED IT UP! so much so that one of the 4 subwoofers (set under the stage) recessed itself 6 inches under the stage.
Oh, trust me – You could feel the “THUMP”. But it wasnt offensive. It gave me an idea on how much is too much.
Anyway. Thanks for the link. Perry Noble’s hit the nail on the head there, and we can all apply it to every aspect of our life.
Thanks for sharing!
Wow, great post! Thank you!
The comments/complaints have picked up for me in the last month or so. I find it interesting that most of the complaints I receive are passed through the leadership then on to me. Many of the compliments are given directly to me. In a way, I wish that the folks with complaints would also come directly to me, so that I could try to get details about what was bothering them. By the time I usually receive any criticism from the leadership it is really vague.
Mixing for a lot of people isn’t easy by any means, but figuring out whether a complaint (especially a vague one) is really valid is a lot more difficult!
This post got me to thinking about how blessed that I have been the last couple of years. I have put a ton of work into the sound system of one venue that we are using more and more and the compliments are flowing like milk and honey. I still don’t think it sounds that good but I’m a perfectionist.