Spiritual Technicality

When someone thinks spiritual, being technical isn’t the first thing to come to mind.

Same goes in reverse. You wouldn’t think being technical is a very spiritual thing. It probably isn’t ; not in the conventional way. In the world I practically live in, I found that being technical is a very special way I outwork my spirituality.

When I mix – I am doing a lot of brain things (thinking) ; listening, analysing, processing and balancing. This definitely keeps my mind occupied, as I don’t allow my mind to slow down. Breaking it down, this is what my mind does whenever I’m building a mix/mixing actively.

  1. Managing gain structure
    • No surprise level changes from the band that will affect my processing (compression/de-essing etc)
    • Buss processing is impacted by how my gain structure is post channel compression/fader positions. How am I keeping an eye and managing that?
  2. Position in the mix
    • Levels – is everything I need to hear at a proper level in the mix? Is it contributing too much/too little to the mix?
  3. Stereo imaging
    • Is there any excitement I can create out of this mix?
    • Create space. I should hear everything separately, but yet all as one.
  4. EQ and frequencies management
    • Once again, sculpting space in the individual elements of the mix with the frequency spectrum they occupy.
    • Tonality of elements/mix. Avoiding flaccid tones, and minimising harsh ones.
  5. Loudness/Meters
    • Am I giving good dynamic range in the mix? Is there excitement to how I mix the loud and the softer bits? Music breathes. So should the mix.
    • Hearing protection is a real thing. Earplugs is one way. Mixing responsibly is even better.
    • Seeing as to FOH feeds the links and program record levels, I closely monitor my levels consistently to make sure I am mixing at an appropriate level.
  6. Musicality
    • Music isn’t something that drones on (I guess sometimes it does). What musical element am I highlighting in the moment?
    • Creative use of riding faders, plugins, effects, and any tool at my disposal to responsibly manipulate the mix.

All this is done on what feels like a never ending loop. In no particular order. It’s splendid. I love the technical side of what I do and how I do my best to almost.. “manage” a mix.

Then there’s the spiritual side of how I mix. It coincides with the very technical things I do. In fact, it almost just seems like I’m doing MORE technical things, but it stems from being in tune with what the Holy Spirit is doing.*

*if you didn’t guess it already, this post is dedicated to me in the mix position at church. I find I can also mix non-spiritually, and be spiritual in other technical aspects that is not behind a console.
  1. Reading
    • Room – even in rehearsals, there is an atmosphere to read. There’s something that God actively wants to say to us. It’s up to us to listen and follow.
    • Worship leaders/team – Where are they going to lead us to? Are we all on the same page? I’m one step ahead of this current second. Just as I’m sure the team is expectant and ready for the next moment, so am I.
  2. Leading
    • I might not be on a microphone, singing and inviting the congregation to worship alongside me and bringing an atmosphere of worship playing an instrument. I am however, leading by ensuring that each encouraging word, every melody that draws out worship from the hardest of hearts, is heard clearly.
    • I don’t just go for what sounds good. I make sure that I represent an inviting atmosphere and not interfere with it. It is after all, not a concert. Worship seeks to elevate not me, the worship team or the church.

There’s got to be more than being technical in this field. I am determined to get much more skilled at what I do technically. I will also be ensuring that my technical skill advancements do not get in the way of building my spirituality and how I outwork that in what I do.

What I find is that it is extremely hard to bring that spiritual aspect of it into play when you don’t get your technical side of things sorted. The last thing that needs to happen is a microphone to feedback because you were praying in the middle of a song. Now I know that is an extreme example, but I’d hate for the takeaway of this post to be that “I can mess up the technical side of things if I get my heart in the right place and be spiritual about things”.

No. Get your technical and very important creative decisions down to a tee. Practice it. Be incredibly talented in that regard and don’t drop the ball.

Then, build the capacity to be more than technical. It is so much more than pushing faders, twisting knobs and pressing buttons.

It’s worship.