by Andy Barnhill

Console Tape and Sharpies

Two things every audio engineer should have with them at all times are console tape and a Sharpie. This can be super handy for the volunteer audio engineer in a house of worship. Why console tape? There's a few reasons:

It's whiter than masking tape, so there is better contrast between the black marker and the white tape. This is especially helpful in low-light situations. Blue painters tape can work in a pinch, but the contrast between the tape and the ink is terrible. Note that I emphasized "can" and "in a pinch." Blue tape isn't the best option.
It (typically) doesn't leave residue on the console, or remove the paint. I say typically, because if you do leave the tape on the mixer for a long period of time, it can gum up a little. I will also add that one Sunday, the tape did pull some of the gray paint off of the console in the picture above.
It's a really great way to develop rapport with the worship team. You might be asking yourself, "how is this so?"

I typically use 3/4" tape, often two strips just below the faders. On our console, we already have a strip of tape above the faders that label the inputs with things such as "Lead Vox," BG Vox 1," BG Vox 2," "AG 1," (For Acoustic Guitar) and other inputs.

What I like to do is put the persons name below the fader. This can be especially helpful when there are new members in the worship team, or even different members each week. It gives me a reminder of the person's name at each position in the band. I don't have to think about it, I can just look down. I could ask, "Hey, backing vocalist, would you mind singing a little louder?" On the other hand, if I have the person's name under their input, I can make a more personal connection, for example, "Jake, would you mind turning the output on your acoustic up a little bit?"

It keeps me from having to stop and ask something, like, "Hey, I'm sorry, what's your name? Oh yeah, well could you ...." Any time you can connect with the worship team on a personal level, it helps create unity between the band and the technical team.

Think about it like this: are you more prone to respond positively to someone asking you to do something by name, or if someone asks," Hey, sound guy, umm can you turn up my monitors?"