I learned so many things from Bill Porter, my teacher in college. His "Shoot it Before it Multiplies" approach to mixing is one of them. You know the phrase. It comes from those old "B" science fiction movies where the monsters are attacking the city. The truth is that you can make your vocalists sound even better by keeping a watchful ear on their performance. If something sounds amiss, if someone's intonation is off, or if someone's time or rhythm gets out of line, tuck it back into the mix so it doesn't cause a distraction or make the song's performance less than excellent.

Sometimes the best singers and musicians have problems in performance or rehearsal. Maybe the only reason they're singing off key is because they've got a lousy monitor mix. Maybe they're missing words in the songs because they've got some major problem from home or their job on their mind. Maybe they didn't have time to listen to and practice with the song before they came to rehearsal, or maybe they're just out of their comfort zone on that one song. Or maybe they just can't sing. It happens.

As sound mixer, you're not lord and master of the worship team. You're a part of the worship team. At least in God's eyes, you're an equal member of the team. Never forget that. As a team player, one of your goals should be to favor the other person, looking for ways in which you can make their job easier or somehow help them deliver a better performance. In keeping with that goal, your conscious decision to keep a particular vocalist or instrumentalist tucked back inside the mix should be for the reason of making the team sound good, done out of professional courtesy.

But don't forget to bring them back up in the mix after the problem has been resolved. It's important that you keep that watchful ear open for great performances as well as for problem ones. How would you feel if you were up on that platform, leading others into worship of the God of the Universe with all your heart, and found out later that your mic wasn't even on in the house mix!?! Don't get mixed up and create enemies as you mix your friends.

Okay, I've just given the sound engineer liberty to make some pretty important decisions. Of course, you know what that implies ­ that the person making those decisions has enough of a musical ear to be able to evaluate every element quickly, and make spot decisions, and that the worship leader and other team members trust the sound engineer's ability to make those decision. Oh, my! I think I've hit another soft spot. Before we get too serious, remember that those decisions don't affect the fate of the world, but they clearly can affect a person's life. This conversation assumes that your musicians generally play quite well, and your singers generally sing well and in tune.

Mixing is a dynamic process. Anyone who suggests that the engineer find a mix that everyone agrees is good, and then epoxy those faders into that position, simply doesn't understand the realities of the mix process. There are a myriad of reasons that the fader positions need to change. If two songs played back to back are of a similar style, it would probably be best if the instruments were played at similar volumes. Yet often those levels change. Vocalists who find their part outside of their comfortable vocal range may not be able to deliver a consistent volume at the mic. They might also be unsure of their part or unsure of the words at a certain section of the song, and naturally soften their voice to avoid embarrassing themselves and others by allowing the problem to be heard. They might just be insecure of their gift, and deliver erratic vocal levels depending on their emotions at the moment. The good engineer will recognize the difference, and deal with it accordingly. By simply using the SOLO feature (also called PFL or CUE) on the house console, the engineer can easily and efficiently do spot checks to confirm that a problem does or does not exist.

The worship teams that I've worked with know that I will "hide" any part of their performance that is questionable. I've worked with them long enough that they trust me with those decisions, and with my intent. I'm not trying to horse the mix around. It's not an ego thing. I want the mix to sound like an album mix. You wouldn't allow a poor performance on a recording, would you? Why should we ask any less of a live performance?

Please try to include this as a standard operating procedure. But don't let it get out of balance. And remember the words "professional courtesy".