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The Sound of Southern Gospel August, 2003

Okay, here it comes. The mother of all topics. People have written letters to editors and even discussed it on a recent message board on this very website. Yes, I'm talking about southern gospel concert audio levels. Too loud? Not loud enough? What is an average level? Does quality matter? I'm about to unveil my experience in this area.

Over the years I have read articles and message boards about this topic and have chosen to stay out of it. I've decided it's time to get in it. Just this once, though. This topic is heavily opinionated and we all know how opinions go. So you can take mine for what you want.

First let's talk about average SPL ratings and what an organization like OSHA has to say about SPL's. Some of you may be saying what is SPL? SPL stands for Sound Pressure Level. You can look on OSHA's website for up to date information on any safety standards. You can also get SPL ratings when you purchase your SPL meter. So for instance let's say that an organization says that a person can withstand 90db for 2.5 hours on "A" scale slow. When looking at these ratings keep in mind that most of the time these ratings are based on continuous levels. This means that the audio level would have to continuously stay at or above 90db for the entire duration of the 2.5 hours. Which in the world of live audio almost never happens because you have talking between songs, intermission, softer parts of songs, etc. So just because you do a 4 hour concert averaging 90 db, it doesn't mean you're breaking that 2.5 hour "rule."

Let's talk about what makes a system loud. If you're a fan reading this, pay attention to where you sit. The closer you sit to the speakers the louder it will be. It's just the way it is. For you groups, get your speakers up! They make taller speaker stands for a reason! Are you ready for some math? Suppose your front row is 10 feet from the source speaker. We'll call this distance A. Let's say that distance B is the distance from the floor to the speaker and that this is 7 feet. Finally let's say that distance C is the distance from the speaker to the last row and that this distance is 50 feet. Here's the neat part. By increasing distance B you reduce the difference in distance A and C. Email me and I'll send you a drawing of what I mean. The closer in distance A and C are from the source speaker the less difference in loudness from front to back.

Another factor influencing the volume is the mix position. As an audio engineer, my mix position is not always in a good place to mix for the entire audience. Ideally the mix position would be about 2/3 or ¾ of the way back from the performance platform in relation to the listening area. An engineer needs to hear everything at a certain level to accurately mix. If the mix position is too far back, more of the seats will have a higher SPL than the mix position. If too far forward, more of the seats will have a lower SPL than the mix position. The exception for this is in a room that is very small.

If the group has a band this can cause more stage noise. The audio engineer may need to compensate for this stage noise by increasing the volume in the seating area. Along with this is In Ear Monitors or IEM's. I've read where some fans don't like to see artists using these. Well, let me tell you they help keep stage noise down helping avoid the above mentioned problem, but caused by stage monitors. If there are a bunch of stage monitors cranked up and the house is not at a certain level, the sound will appear muddy or muffled.

And now there's quality. The quality of the mix can make a huge difference as to whether or not the mix "appears" loud or not. Not creating or not knowing how to create a good mix can allow for little frequency peaks that are displeasing and make us think it's louder than what it really is. Now, you take an incredible mix, which takes a good engineer and great equipment and you can crank it up pretty loud and never feel like it's too loud. The problem is, in this industry, whether it's due to lack of knowledge or budget restraints, groups don't spend the money needed to get the high end equipment to pull this off. Also, besides good equipment, it takes a little more power. By the time you EQ a bunch of "bad" frequencies out you could have lost 6db or more of gain and then you realize, "oops now I'm clipping my amps." This is one reason you always slightly over power your speakers with amplifier power. Take this simple challenge. With a microphone, mixer, speakers and a 31 band EQ flatten everything out. Increase 3 kHz to 6.3 kHz by about 6db on your EQ. Now talk. Then do just the opposite. Take those frequencies into the negative about 6db. Now how loud can you crank it up before it hurts?

Alright, now here's my personal doings. I feel comfortable with an average SPL of 90 on "A" scale slow. For a pastor in a church I like to average 70db which is considered to be approximately what the db level is when you hold a conversation with someone else directly across from you. In this scenario, musical peaks in a concert would be anywhere from 96db to 98db. This is assuming a very good mix. I also utilize compressors. This is very important especially for vocals. There are even frequency agile compressors that work extremely well.

After all of that remember this. In other industries people are fighting engineers to come down from 120db levels. Everybody had a different perception of loud. ALWAYS use a db meter. If you do long concerts your ears will get tired and you'll keep trying to push the level. However, you and everybody else won't notice you're pushing it. Oh, and don't judge if the sound is too loud by whether or not you can talk to your neighbor. If you go to a concert to be blessed and have a good time then you will. If you go worried about the sound then you'll find something wrong with it. Remember this music is to focus on what's right not what's wrong. Finally go easy on the audio engineers out there. They do 150 to 200 concerts a year in churches, auditoriums, gyms, amphitheaters, race tracks, barns, and anywhere else God leads them to go. They don't always have ideal conditions to make the sound perfect. But they try night after night for YOU the FAN! They want the sound to sound good too. Be appreciative that some groups are able and willing to have audio engineers to keep some kind of control over the mix at all. They want everyone there to be focused on GOD and not what's going wrong with the sound. I've always said that if no one notices me back there running sound, then I've done my job well. If you do notice us, just remember we're in pursuit of the same thing you are. Oh, and being introduced from stage doesn't count as "being noticed."

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