Many people ask us for the magic volume that we need to mix our services that keeps everyone happy. We find that decibel levels can be a bit deceiving so we try and use slightly different guidelines to determine some levels. More relative and outcomes based.

Lets take a step back from just looking at the volume of a service and look at the bigger picture of a congregation members journey from the street to their seat and back again. Our job starts from the moment congregation step into our location. The journey through the corridors and foyers and into the auditorium.

As people entre, we want to take them from the ambient noise level they were experiencing outside, and gradually bring them up to the level that the band will be so the first song doesn’t knock them over. Key point is that we want people to be able to have a conversation over the background music before service when they walk in. The reason we don’t put a decibel guide to this is because it is more about clarity within the space than it is about volume. 

As I am sure you have experienced, a tiled foyer area is a lot harder to have a conversation in than a carpeted cinema for example, therefore in a loud space you would run the background music quieter to make conversation easier. In a well treated room with a nice PA, you can have music louder and still hear each other fine. 

On a Sunday morning, we start the music nice and quiet as people have come from their quiet cars. At the start of our 5 min countdown before service we want to start to get peoples attention and move them into the auditorium. So we ramp up the volume gradually over 5 min, with the last minute being around the same volume of the band.

For worship we do have a decibel guideline. We like to hover around the 94dB (C Weighted) mark for the “louder” songs. The majority of worship would then sit between 88dB to 94dB. Peaks such as big moments in worship can go over this for brief periods but not stay up there. Again, clarity and tonality are more important than volume though. You can have a very harsh mix with to much bass and a cracking snare drum get you noise complaints at 90dB, but a well balanced mix that is very clear sit at 100dB and no one complains. So while we use the dB as a guideline, we focus a lot more on balance and tonality than dB.

As for after service, we are back the mentality of pre service. Conversation is key and trumps all. If the service has finished with the band a full volume, the background music comes in at a similar volume then fades back down after a few minutes as people start to file out. If we finish on a quiet moment, we fade the music in accordingly.

We also often have two post service playlist ready to go. Our standard is something with a bit of a beat, but we also have some softer worship music ready at all times in case we are coming out of a more sensitive moment.

Only other consideration is the transition from auditorium to foyer. This is a personal flavour thing. We often leave the music in our foyer area in the control of our café / welcome teams. Often independent of what’s happening in the auditorium. They are the ones in the space, knowing the ambient level of conversation and vibe of the room so we give them control of their music and volume so they control their own atmosphere.

Other spaces.

To add to this, no spaces are silent. If we are hosting people in a space, we need to set the atmosphere of that space. Background music is key. Prepare some well thought out playlists to set the atmosphere you want in that space. This could be instrument worship tracks, the latest album, or pop / dance vibes. Whatever the situation calls for. 

Be smart about your speaker systems. While you don’t necessarily have to spend a lot of money, buy the right speaker system for the right application.

Having one very loud speaker in the corner of a room, blasting everyone who stands near it so it can be heard at the other end of the room is counter productive. The better your coverage by utilising multiple speakers closer to the listeners, the lower you can run your volume while still being heard clearly. This also helps reduce the amount of unnecessary noise being bounced around the room. This is why ceiling speakers are such a popular solution in public spaces. They’re cost efficient and give great coverage when designed well.

The next step up would be intelligent systems that use reference microphones to automatically adjust the volume of the background music relative to the ambient noise in the room. Room fills up, music gradually turns up accordingly. Room empties out, music comes down so they space doesn’t turn into an echoey, nasty space. These systems can also manage audio distribution across your rooms so ensure everyone is hearing the same uninterrupted sound as they move from space to space. Even flick over the a live freed from the auditorium if you like.

If your sound is coming from a TV, such as a mother’s room, green room or maybe foyer, look into getting a soundbar or similar rather than using the TV speakers. TV speakers face rearwards and are designed to bounce off the wall behind them. This does not provide efficient coverage and often not very clear. An inexpensive soundbar will make a world of difference.

Remember, like the worship mix, quality sound is less abrasive and much more conducive to setting a good atmosphere, so whatever price point solution you choose, make sure it still sounds good.