Sound Engineers produce, balance and adjust sound sources for recordings or live performances. Audio engineers work on the technical aspect of recording—the placing of microphones, pre-amp knobs, the setting of levels.
I've been audio mixing for many years at my church. I wouldn't consider myself to be an professional but I'd like to share my two cents to those who wan to learn and improve. In the early years of my audio mixing journey; without a proper teacher and guidance I've never been able to figure out what was happening and what I was arranging with the audio system. All I used to do was to make sure there are sounds coming out of the system.
Fortunately, I was able to attend a short professional training my church provided along my journey. Then only was I able to grow properly as a soundman to serve God. I'm still learning and I have a long way to go, but at least my basics are much more solid after that training.
I hope to share the knowledge I've learned through my training with people on the internet just in case there are some people that is same as me, stuck for many years without proper guidance.
Trust me, I understand how hard it is to do what you love but still not getting better while you hear people's complains and frustrations.
Communication
Talk to your Emcee, host, singer or musicians. Make sure to communicate properly what they want, need and what they can hear during practice. If they can't hear themselves during live they can't play properly and it will jeopardize the service or recording.
Set-up
The set-up of your instruments and microphone also affect the overall quality of your sound produced. For example, don't put your singer near your drums or bassist who has an amplifier. It will pick up mixed in signal that you do not want.
Gain Check
The root of all good sound is checking the input signals. Communicate with your musicians and singers to ask them play and sing the loudest they can (but not shout). Then you can proceed to turn the knob of their individual pre-amp and check their PAFL signal. Keep their signals to between +3dB< and -3dB>. The reason being you want a signal that is strong enough to reach 0dB for the best output but not a peaking signal that lead to sound distortion. Also, make sure to turn off all effects, EQ and compressor when you do this in order to get a clean sound that you can mix with.
Audio Mixing is a mix of creative and technical process. Once you nail down the technical process such as gain checking. Then you can work on the creative process and its all up to your ears to mix. Learning sound mixing is a long process that can take years depending on talent. Audio Mixing is much more fun when there is lesser guess work and knowing what is going on with what you are mixing.
When the service is good, you can feel people's strong emotion as they sing and worship in church. It is very satisfying and happy to contribute to a great team and service.
