Hybrid Church

The Mix and the Speakers

A strange new chapter of online church is upon us – where some members of our church members are attending church in person and others are livestreaming at home.

Let’s call it ‘hybrid church’.This presents challenges for how we think about what ‘the church’ is and how we demonstrate our unity. But it also creates some extra work for tech teams: we now need to create sound mixes for both the church building (front of house or ‘FOH’ mix) and also our streaming (or broadcast) mix.

The Mix

These two mixes need to be quite different. The particularities of a room’s acoustic will influence how we shape our FOH mix. What’s more, everyone hearing the mix is in the room – so we can walk around and gauge how the mix might be sounding and ‘feeling’ in different parts of the room.

A broadcast mix, however, is different – everyone is hearing it through a device at home, not in different places in the room. Even though congregations may not realise it, a good audio signal and mix is far more important than the video signal for audience engagement. So we need to do our work on the mix.

The end product will, however, be heard through a range of speakers. Some people will listen on studio quality headphones, others will listen through a surround sound home setup, and others will listen through their laptop or phone speakers or small earphones. (More on this below!) 

Mixing for broadcast therefore requires a ‘common denominator’ mix that will be satisfactory through all these kinds of speakers. For example, it should have a compressor or limiter on the signal at the end of the chain. This will minimise peaks or dips in the audio level, keeping the volume at a more consistent level – something that is pleasing to our ears, especially with speech.

There may also be some ambient/room mics blended in to the mix to create the illusion of the viewer actually being in the room. These mics allow us to hear what the preacher or band sound like from the congregation’s perspective in the room. Without these mics added in, a broadcast mix can often sound sterile or artificial, and people will be slightly unsettled by the mix without knowing quite why. You probably won’t notice the room mics in the mix – but you would absolutely notice their absence. (There are, of course, many more differences between FOH and broadcast mixes – too many to cover in this brief post.)

The Speakers

But it’s not all about the mix. Our church in Melbourne is still meeting solely online, and has been since mid-March. Music-wise, we’ve primarily had vocals, acoustic guitar, and keyboards – but recently added a cello. 

As I was enjoying the livestream mix on my studio headphones on a recent Sunday morning (and thinking how great the cello sounded!) in came a bunch of comments from people not being able to hear the cello! The issue? It wasn’t the mix.

My headphones indicated that the mix was excellent. The issue was people’s choice of speakers. People were, quite understandably, listening on laptop or phone speakers, which will not normally communicate low-end instruments (like cello) well. These smaller speakers will typically emphasise trebles and mids. In simple terms, the smaller the speaker, the less information it can communicate.

Have you informed your congregation that their choice of speakers will affect their experience? Perhaps they might like to use good headphones or connect to some nice speakers. Even a Bluetooth speaker would do a good job. Laptop speakers or earbuds will simply not communicate all the goodness of a well-crafted mix. 

Further, if the video is an embedded YouTube Live video (or similar), it’s important to inform people of the volume control on YouTube videos (bottom left) in addition to their device or speakers’ volume. As we know from gain structure, the better the volume of the source video, the better our speakers will sound. 

Some of these points may seem basic to those with experience in sound. But online church is a joint effort between those mixing/producing and those listening. We need to help each other. The goal is not simply an enjoyable consumer experience – it’s far higher than that. Each Sunday, we are seeking to engage with God, and to meet with his people to love and encourage them. In pursuing the best possible audio experience, we are helping to minimise distractions and increase joy as we share this significant season in our church lives. 

Greg Cooper
Turramurra Music Church Training; Gatherings
Music Pastor at St Judes Anglican Church in Melbourne