-
-
-
- Thread: How Loud is Your Worship
Service?
-
- On average, how loud are you running your worship services?
At the church I
- used to work at we would typically run anywhere from
85 dBA to 95 dBA, depending
- on the type of music. That is to say, a calm ballad would
average peaks of 88 dBA,
- while a rock & roll song or a fast tempo praise song
could hit 95 dBA (or hotter)
- without trying hard. But that was in a charismaniac church.
And yet the Baptist
- church that Jeanna and I belong to uses both traditional
hymns and praise and
- worship choruses, and it's not uncommon to see low 90's
there either. I know
- of a music pastor in North Carolina who "demands"
105 dB during his worship
- service. (Oh, my!)
-
- If you can find a moment during the worship service this
weekend, please take
- some sound pressure level measurements. I'm curious to
see what your average
- levels are for your worship service, and I'm also curious
to see what your
- average levels are during your pastor's sermon.
-
- So that we can all compare apples to apples, I'd encourage
you to take your
- measurements with the "A" weighting scale,
and with the SLOW averaging mode.
- If you can, try to get an average reading at (1) the
house mix console,
- (2) a "typical" good listening seat in the
congregation, and (3) if you're
- brave enough, sneak a reading up in the front row near
where your pastor sits.
-
- Another location I'm especially curious to see your readings
from is at the
- worship leader's location on stage. I think everyone
on this list would like
- to know how loud his/her monitors are running. Of course,
you really can't
- grab that reading during the worship service, but you
could grab it during
- the soundcheck before the service (you are doing soundchecks,
aren't you!?!),
- or during rehearsal earlier in the week (you are attending
rehearsals, aren't
- you!?!). (That's a whole other thread of it's own.)
-
- If you'd like to take it a step further, you could also
take some readings
- in the FAST mode, which will give us a better idea of
the peak levels. And
- if you really want to scare everyone, take those readings
in FAST mode with
- the "C" scale. Yipes!
-
- I hope you'll take time to do this exercise, and then
share your results
- with everyone on the list. Let us know if your church
is a quiet, reserved,
- mainline denomination church, or if it's a foot-stomping,
running in the
- aisles, charismaniac church. I think this will be fun
for everyone. I'll be
- glad to post a summary of the results. I'll be looking
forward to hearing
- from you next week.
-
- Blessings!
-
- Curt Taipale (Taipale Media Systems, Inc.)
-
- P.S. If you don't have an SPL meter, I'd encourage you
to get one. You can
- buy a reasonably good quality SPL meter from Radio Shack
for just $30. Using
- it can be very educational. When I mix, I always prop
my trusty Radio Shack
- SPL meter up on the meter bridge right in front of me.
I don't stare at it
- all the time, but it does help remind me if I'm getting
a little carried away.
- And it's my defense if I get a complaint that the service
was too loud, because
- I know a quantitative figure of how loud it really was.
-
- Besides, it'll look like you're doing something really
important! (An answer for
- all those people who wonder what it is the sound guy
does during the service anyway!)
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- I too use a SPL meter in every service. I set it up on
the front rail of my sound
- booth (so everyone can see it?). I can tell you know
that our services on average
- run in the high 80s. That is to say when the choir, piano,
organ, bass, drums,
- guitar, praise and worship leader, and four praise and
worship singers, and the
- full congregation are singing and playing we run about
89 dB with peaks to 93 or
- so. Our preaching is done at about 65 to 70 dB.
-
- Calvin Wilson (Garland, TX)
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Here's some SPL readings from my home church (sound 'area'
(not really a booth!)
- just off-center in the balcony, about 50' from platform
area.)
-
- An Evangelical Free church. This Sunday we had the following:
6 praise vocals,
- 1 piano, 3 keyboards, 1 drum kit, 1 Bass, 1 Electric
Guitar, 1 Acoustic Guitar,
- 4 flutes, 2 clarinets, 2 trombones, 3 trumpets, 1 French
Horn, 1 violin, 2 sax,
- and 1 bassoon.
-
- With no one in the sanctuary, the noise floor was 38
dBA
-
- With the sanctuary filled (400), noise floor was 43 dBA
-
- Music:
- From the house mix position: 89 dBA
- From a typical seat: 90 dBA
- From the first pew: 92 dBA
- From on the stage: 92 dBA
-
- Speech:
- From the house mix position: peaked at 68 dBA, avg. 56
dBA [speech is best
- understood 20 to 25 dB over the noise floor]
-
- Remember, SPL readings don't differentiate between the
direct sound and
- reflected sound. The readings include EVERYTHING. Also,
loud sound does not mean
- the sound is intelligible/clear. (A speaker running at
5W in distortion sounds
- louder than a speaker running at 50W with no distortion.)
-
- My rule? Simple--if you can hear it, it's loud enough.
-
- What's the purpose of a sound reinforcement system? To
_reinforce_ the
- *natural* sound. It all boils down to that simple rule--if
you can hear it,
- it's loud enough.
-
- Blake Engel (Chicago, IL)
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Hi, Curt
-
- Emmanuel Pentecostal Church in Mesquite TX is around
95 dB A-weighted slow for
- worship and 80 to 85 for the word. That's the hottest
spot in the building and
- there is no more than a 3 dB difference anywhere. The
speakers are very smooth
- so it doesn't sound loud.I have a dynamic filter set
at 4 kHz on the Omni Drive.
-
- Tom Pullin (Garland, TX)
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- 'A' weighted slow at the sound booth runs ~70 to 74 dB
for music and slightly
- less for speech. The rest of the church is within about
4 dB of that figure
- except for the back corners. I don't have a level for
the platform - the design
- created a 'quiet' zone that includes most of the platform.
-
- Thanks,
-
- Robert Martin (Warner Robins, GA)
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Curt,
-
- I read your article, from your web site, titled "Hearing
is Priceless - How Loud
- is Too Loud?". In it you mention how the manager
of Grand Funk discovered the
- euphoric results from exposing people to extended periods
of high sound levels.
- Has there been any research on this and if so do you
know how I could get the
- results. I would be interested in the details.
-
- Thanks,
-
- Steve Burge (McAllen, TX)
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Steve,
-
- It's been several years since I read that comment, and
I don't recall where it was.
- I'll do some checking. In the meantime, does anyone else
on the list know about any
- studies regarding the physiological effects of high sound
pressure levels on the
- body (beyond hearing damage)?
-
- Curt Taipale (Taipale Media Systems, Inc.)
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- I don't have the actual study, but here's something for
ya:
-
- An article by David Clark in the spring 1995 issue of
Professional Sound has the
- following to say about loud music.
-
- "It turns out that loud sounds directly affect our
autonomic nervous system (also
- called involuntary-it controls the body functions that
you hope never stop, like
- breathing and digestion), in a way similar to many stimulant
drugs. Adrenaline is
- released, the heart rate speeds up, the guts tighten
up and move. This is the rush
- you get from loud music-it's real and it's beyond your
conscious control. Sounds
- addicting, doesn't it?"
-
- This is especially true of the low frequencies, as your
body cavity begins to
- vibrate at 7 or 8 Hz (One of those ear-testing people
told me that--what are
- they called?!)
-
- Blake Engel (Chicago, IL)
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Blake/all,
-
- What do they mean by "loud"? Do they give any
levels or exposure times for the
- effect to be noticeable? Scripture says to "shout"
unto God, and to make a "loud"
- noise. I'm sure these are meant to be *intermittent*
and not sustained, but perhaps
- certain portions of these responses are God's design
for good, and not just negatives?
-
- Randy Starkey (Pevely, MO)
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Randy,
-
- I posted this message a few weeks ago, but I decided
to send it out again as a
- partial answer to your question. Also, I have an article
on our web site that
- delves into this issue a bit more. If you haven't already
read it, I'd encourage
- you to take a look at it. The title is "How Loud
is Too Loud?". Anyway, here's
- my message from a few weeks ago:
-
- ****************************************************************
-
- Since we've been talking about how loud our worship services
are, I thought
- it might be interesting to note some of the sound levels
that the US government
- has determined are a concern.
-
- Remember that an individual's susceptibility to noise-induced
hearing loss can
- vary considerably from person to person. Everyone hears
things a little differently,
- and we all have slightly different sensitivity. The scary
thing about that is that
- one person, in the presence of a loud enough noise, may
permanently and totally
- lose their hearing, while their friend standing next
to them may suffer only a
- partial hearing loss and may develop tinnitus.
-
- But nearly everyone will experience some hearing loss
if exposed to sufficiently
- intense noise for a sufficient length of time. The last
known OSHA guidelines
- that I'm aware of are as follows (dB SPL, 'A' scale,
slow response):
-
- The first figure is the acceptable "Duration per
Day". The second figure is the
- corresponding sound level.
- 8 hrs .......... 90 dBA
- 6 hrs .......... 92 dBA
- 4 hrs .......... 95 dBA
- 3 hrs .......... 97 dBA
- 2 hrs ......... 100 dBA
- 1 hr .......... 105 dBA
- 30 min ........ 110 dBA
- 15 min .........115 dBA
-
- Of course, technically we're supposed to switch to the
'C' scale when we measure
- over about 90 dB, because of the Fletcher-Munson equal
loudness curves. (Anybody
- know why the gov't kept to the 'A' scale for this study?)
If I were you, I'd
- measure these kinds of levels with the 'C' scale; if
nothing else, it will give
- you an extra margin of safety.
-
- Now, you may notice that if your worship service is running
even at 110 dBA for
- 30 minutes, that technically your congregation is "safe"
- according to OSHA.
- However, how about YOUR ears? How about the ears of your
worship team who, in
- many churches with contemporary worship music, is hearing
the energy at much
- hotter levels (thanks to their ever louder monitors)
than the congregation? If
- you're doing soundchecks and rehearsals, you're exposed
to significantly greater
- risk because you're exposed to that energy for a much
longer time period than
- your congregation.
-
- I'm not preaching - just hoping that you're thinking
about it. And, if you're the
- person with their hands on the faders, I pray that you're
being a good steward
- of both your ears and those of your congregation.
-
- ****************************************************************
-
- Curt Taipale (Taipale Media Systems, Inc.)
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- At 11:24 AM 11/12/97 -0500, Blake wrote:
- >>"One of those ear-testing people told me
that--what are they called?!"
- Audiologists.
-
- Barry Birdwell (Nashville, TN)
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Randy,
-
- That's an interesting view. I'll have to admit I've never
thought of it that way.
- The Word also teaches balance and stewardship. Too loud
for too long has been
- proven to damage the human ear. It's our responsibility
because we are the ones
- holding the controls. But everyone knows this, so I'll
stop.
-
- Calvin Wilson (Garland, TX)
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Curt,
-
- I read that message and fully agree. I'll grab your article
also. What I was
- wondering about however, if there is any data available,
is about the other
- physiological effects that Blake and Calvin were discussing.
I wonder how
- those relate to the SPL's of your chart, and if they
are necessarily all bad?
- There is no question about the hearing loss cautions.
That's a given. But they
- were talking about (I think) some other more subtle effects
of loud music
- (the 1995 article about adrenaline etc.). Some of this
sort of gets into the
- question of the "rock beat" and volume that
is often associated with Africa,
- and it's effects on the human body/psyche. I was just
wondering if any actual
- studies (unbiased) had been done.
-
- Randy Starkey (Pevely, MO)
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Calvin,
-
- Yup I agree on the too loud for too long. I was just
curious if there is any
- data on SPL/time to produce those effects, and perhaps
the increase of those
- effects as time/level goes on/up. Could be sort of like
a glass of wine. One
- at a special meal is great, three and you're in big trouble
<G>.
-
- The reason I mentioned the other angle, is because some
folks think anything
- louder than 75 dB and faster than 4/4 time couldn't possibly
be God...<G>.
-
- Randy Starkey (Pevely, MO)
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Randy,
-
- We're still looking for some scientific studies on this
phenomenon. One friend
- of mine wrote to say "When the high SPL source was
no longer in effect the
- attendees' ears experienced great relief, which manifested
itself as a look
- of euphoria on their faces."
-
- By comparison, consider that the majority of rock concerts
- Christian or
- otherwise - typically run in the 105 dB range, at least
at the house mix
- position. There are some that run even hotter than that.
And I've worked
- in recording studios where producers wanted to monitor
at 110 dB to 115 dB!
- Talk about stupid, er, counterproductive. As a member
of the sound team or
- the worship team, your exposure is significantly more
of a concern because
- you add soundchecks and rehearsals to the worship set
- the congregation
- only has to go through it once.
-
- By publishing those OSHA standards, my concern is that
some churches will
- view that as license to crank it up. "Well, our
worship services only go
- for thirty minutes, so we can really push it." All
I can say is that it's
- unlikely that I'll bring my family to worship at that
church. I don't want
- my children exposed to that kind of SPL. Not to mention
the fact that I
- make my living, in part, from my ability to listen and
identify minute
- differences in the sound. I endeavor to stay away from
an environment that
- puts my hearing at risk. In fact, I regularly carry my
$130 ER earplugs with
- me whenever we go visit a church for the first time.
They've saved my hearing
- many times over.
-
- Please, I implore everyone on this list who is serving
in a local church that
- is running hot levels in your worship service - contact
the House Ear Institute
- (www.hei.org) and order their videotape. Sit down with
the pastoral staff, the
- worship team and the sound team and watch it. Then discuss
the levels that
- you're currently running both in the house and at various
monitor positions on
- stage. Your congregations will thank you for it.
-
- Curt Taipale (Taipale Media Systems, Inc.)
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- My own experience/preference is to try for 95 dBA as
measured at the console
- using an SLM set to the slow response time. Regardless
of how appropriate it is
- to use the A-weighting function at this SPL, we are more
or less stuck with it
- because our good-old semi-guided government has written
this into their
- occupational noise standards. Anyway, it's my experience,
based on mixing in
- public spaces, that most people consider 95 dBA to be
loud.
-
- I find that using A-weighting is actually an advantage
here, as it makes the
- meter most sensitive to the speech range, which corresponds
to our hearing
- sensitivity. The good news is that with the A-weighting
curve, you can make the
- bass instruments loud and punchy, which gives the music
drive and helps even the
- musically/rhythmically challenged to 'feel' the music,
without really hurting
- them. Since the HF is also somewhat rolled off, cymbals
don't really contribute
- to the reading which helps if you have a drummer who
likes to keep time on the
- ride cymbal.
-
- Finally, let me recommend the lowly Radio Shack SPL meter.
I prefer the one with
- the analog meter movement over the digital one as the
meter can follow musical
- signals and your eyes can follow them. You can't do this
with the digital meter.
- Why should you mix using an SPL meter? Because the meter
won't get tired over time,
- which you and your ears will. The meter is consistent,
and as the day/night wears
- on, will always tell you where you're at. If you mix
loud music, your ears will
- get tired and the SPL will climb. Although it may not
be as 'exciting' to mix,
- your listeners will appreciate the consistency.
-
- I've checked the calibration of the RS meter, and it's
level accuracy is just fine
- for the application. No, it's not a Gen-Rad or a Bruel
& Kjaer, but it's a whole
- lot less money. Don't leave home without it.
-
- Rick Chinn (Redmond, WA)
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- An interesting thread. I've been studying this phenomena
in my venue and have
- wondered if there was some magic number that we could
identify that would allow
- for a good blend of both unreinforced congregational
singing and the reinforced
- mix from stage that would allow for enhanced congregational
involvement.
-
- In other words. Have you gentlepeople had an opportunity
to measure your
- congregation singing without other program material (from
the system). I have
- wondered, if that number was. . .say 70 dBA slow, then
would an appropriate
- target level for program material from the system (stage)
be 80 dBA slow?
- This level, allowing for the congregation to hear program,
and themselves?
- If it's true, that a 10 dB increase is perceived as twice
as loud, then this
- scenario might be out of line. Maybe we should only run
our systems 5 dB hotter
- than our congregations can sing.
-
- I do not have any numbers yet, because we seldom sing
acappella, and certainly
- not without an amplified leader on stage, but if I can
get away with it someday,
- I want to try it out.
-
- Jimmy Moore (Ocala, FL)
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Jimmy,
-
- Your comment made me remember a rule-of-thumb I've always
used--that is that
- (in general) when a sound reinforcement system amplifies
sound 25 dB over the
- noise floor, you've reached the optimum level so everyone
can hear and understand
- clearly. How this fits into how much louder you would
run the system than the
- congregations singing, I don't know. It probably doesn't
fit in too well!
-
- Next time you have a chance, measure your rooms noise
floor (with heating or AC
- on, lights on, fans on (if you have overhead fans)--and
now measure the SPL when
- your pastor is speaking (in a normal voice) during his
sermon. I've done this
- in several churches and it never ceases to amaze me that
the level is very close
- to being 25 dB over the noise floor! Interesting...
-
- Again, how this applies to your comments, I guess I don't
know!
-
- Blake Engel (Chicago, IL)
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Blake -
-
- "Next time you have a chance, measure your rooms
noise floor (with heating or
- AC on, lights on, fans on (if you have overhead fans)--and
now measure the SPL
- when your pastor is speaking (in a normal voice) during
his sermon."
-
- Very good idea! To be totally accurate however you would
have to include the
- noise level of a "quiet" congregation, taken
perhaps during a moment of silent
- prayer.
-
- Ray Rayburn (Boulder, CO)
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Yes Blake,
-
- That rule of thumb bears quite well in my room as well.
25 dB above noise floor
- seems to be a minimum for ease of intelligibility.
-
- I hope however that the congregational singing isn't
figured into the noise floor,
- but rather is actually the primary focus of what is happening
at the time, not what
- is happening on stage (even though that gets turned around
all too often). If this
- is the case, I am guilty each Sunday of moving the focus
to the stage and away from
- the people's attempt to praise and worship Him.
-
- I will continue to observe this situation in my venue
and share those observations
- as time permits.
-
- Jimmy Moore (Ocala, FL)
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Calvin,
-
- You right on with your thinking!
-
- I tell my technical volunteers that their goal as operators
is to help the church
- keep focused on worshipping Christ unhindered during
the service. It is an awesome
- responsibility. This involves having the right equipment
to do the job well, having
- trained operators who know what they are doing with the
equipment, and also having
- volunteers who are alert at all times to whatever is
happening on the platform.
- Above all else they should have the sensitivity to the
Holy Spirit moving in the
- service. Unity with those ministering on the platform
is another consideration
- as well.
-
- Arthur Skudra (Olympia, WA)
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Hi, y'all!
-
- The 25 dB above the noise floor is a classic design figure
for intelligibility
- when you're talking about a pastor's sermon, for example.
But be careful not
- to assume that the same is important for music. Trying
to get the worship set
- 25 dB above the congregation's singing is virtual ear
and/or job suicide, and
- unnecessary. In that case, a simple 6 dB is plenty.
-
- Do I watch my SPL meter to note the difference? No. I
use my ears because it's
- simpler and faster and more applicable to the situation.
(And because the SPL
- meter can't differentiate between the congregation and
the house system.)
-
- And yes, tests show that an increase of 10 dB is perceived
by most people as
- though "the sound got twice as loud".
-