I’m not sure how to take this…

So check this out. Yesterday I mixed in our east auditorium(the two auditorium thing explanation really is coming soon…). I guess on Monday, leadership types get together to evaluate our services and then relevant feedback gets filtered to the appropriate people. After the evaluations this morning there was some audio specific feedback my boss delivered to me.

Now, I have never received a comment before like what was given to me today. I’ve been involved in audio for 16 years including all my amateur stuff, and this was a total first so I’m dwelling on this a bit. If you know me and have ever sat in on a rehearsal I was mixing, you’ll have a chuckle over this.

Today, I was told my mix on Sunday…

(wait for it….)

(wait for it….)

wasn’t loud enough.

I don’t know if I should be happy or hurt. I am befuddled. Seriously, think about this. The sound guy who played in rock bands for like ten years didn’t have a loud enough mix at his church staff gig. It wasn’t loud enough. They want it louder. Rock the house. Turn it up. My boss told me he has full confidence that I can rise to their standards.

What’s funny to me is that yesterday I was thinking about writing an entry about SPL meters and how some people set these hard dB limits which are kind of silly because loudness is a perception thing that depends on a lot of different factors blah blah blah. It was going to be almost a rant about SPL police…did I ever talk about the time I was physically assaulted…maybe some other time…and how you need to make sure your meters are calibrated because they can be a nice little speedometer thing sometimes… And now this.

The blog is “Going to 11”. It’s about making church sound “louder”. And today I feel as if I have let you down. I will try harder next time. I guess I was watching my speedometer a little too closely.

And if you’re wondering how loud wasn’t loud enough, someday you’ll just have to come visit. Yesterday was “1” less than what you’ll hear on that day.