The 5-Minute Soundcheck Method That Changed Everything for Our Church Sound Teams

If you've ever felt stressed during soundcheck—watching the clock tick down while you're still wrestling with gain staging and the worship leader is giving you "the look"—this post is for you.

After training hundreds of church sound volunteers over the past few years, I've discovered that most soundcheck frustration comes from not having a clear system. We're winging it, reacting to problems, and hoping everything comes together before the service starts.

What if I told you that with a little practice, you could have a solid, balanced mix ready in about 5 minutes?

That's not hype. It's what happens when you follow a proven process. Let me walk you through the exact soundcheck method I teach in our on-site training weekends.

Before the Band Even Shows Up: The Line Check

This is the step most people skip, and it costs them later.

Before musicians arrive, I do a quick line check. The goal? Make sure every microphone and instrument input is talking to the soundboard correctly—no phantom power issues, no noisy cables, no surprises.

If I'm working alone, I grab an iPad and a mic I know works (usually a Shure SM57). I plug it into each line, tap it, and verify I'm seeing signal at the console. Takes maybe 10 minutes, but it saves you from that embarrassing moment mid-rehearsal when you realize the acoustic guitar isn't even plugged in.

As musicians start arriving and plugging in their instruments, I set their input gain to a general ballpark level. We'll dial it in precisely in a minute.

Step One: Get the Monitors Right First

Here's something I always tell worship teams: turn up your crowd mics first in your in-ear monitors.

Why? Because it breaks down that "glass wall" feeling on stage. When you can hear the room, you feel connected to the congregation. It also discourages people from pulling out one earbud (which damages your hearing and kills your stereo panning), and it adds natural ambiance to your mix.

Pro tip: Put a high-pass filter on those crowd mics to cut out the low-end rumble and reduce PA bleed.

And here's the other thing I'm constantly coaching musicians on: keep your in-ear monitor levels quiet. If you're cranking them, you're going to have problems—both with your hearing and with your ability to hear what's actually happening in the room.

Step Two: Loop a Chorus and Build the Mix

This is where the magic happens.

I have the worship leader pick a song everyone knows and loop the chorus. Yeah, the first time you do this, it might take 10-15 minutes. But once your team gets used to it, you're looking at 2-3 minutes, tops.

Why a chorus? Because it's consistent, it hits medium-high levels, and it represents what the band will actually sound like when they're really playing. This lets us set our preamps and faders for near-maximum performance, which gives us crucial headroom—that buffer against clipping that keeps your mix clean.

Getting Your Console Settings Right

Here's where a lot of people get confused: preamp (gain) vs. fader.

• Master fader: Keep this around 0 dB. If your speakers are screaming, drop it to -5 or -10, but honestly, that's a sign you need a proper speaker calibration.
• Preamp (gain): This controls the input level. You want to see signal hitting the "green to yellow" range on your meters. That's a healthy signal.
• Channel fader: This controls how much of that signal you're sending to the main mix. Aim for your faders to sit between -10 and 0 dB (ideally -5 to 0 dB). Why? Because the fader scale is logarithmic—if your fader is down at -20, you've lost a ton of fine-tuning resolution.

Here's the critical part: Once you set your preamps, don't touch them without warning the band. If you change someone's preamp mid-rehearsal, you've just wrecked every monitor mix on stage. Use your talkback mic if you need to make adjustments.

Step Three: Layer Your Instruments in Order

This is where you avoid what I call "ratcheting"—where you keep turning everything up louder and louder until the whole mix is out of control.

1. Start with the Worship Leader

Begin with the primary instrument and lead vocal. Use your imagination here—picture them playing in your living room. How would they sound naturally balanced? Spend 30 seconds getting this right. This is your foundation.

2. Add the Bass Guitar

Bring in the bass to fill out the low end. This is where you decide how "full" you want the mix to be.

3. Build Your Drums One at a Time

• Kick drum: Balance it with the bass. The kick gives you punch, the bass gives you sustain. This low-end foundation is the groove—it's what makes your mix feel powerful without being loud.
• Snare: This is your backbeat. Balance it with the kick. Push it up, pull it back, and find that "Goldilocks spot" where it sits just right.
• Cymbals/overheads: Go easy here. Leave room for them to get louder during the service.
• Toms: Mix these last. You might even need to ask the drummer for some tom fills, since they won't show up much in a looped chorus.

4. Everything Else (Without Ratcheting)

For each remaining instrument—guitars, keys, whatever—turn it up until you can clearly identify it, then pull it back slightly so it sits just behind the primary instrument and vocal.

This is the secret sauce. By keeping everything just behind the lead, you maintain control of your mix and you keep the focus where it belongs: on the voice. People follow the voice.

5. Background Vocals Last

Bring these in after all your instruments are mixed. Give your singers a minute to warm up and adjust their monitor mixes. Do a quick gain check (aiming for green-to-yellow), then let them dial in their personal levels.

Keep in mind that vocal levels can be all over the place during early morning rehearsals. People's voices need time to wake up.

Step Four: Final Checks

After everything's in the mix, double-check your lead vocal level. Now that the full band is playing, it might need a slight nudge up to cut through.

Then—and this is important—walk the room. Step away from the sound booth and listen with fresh ears. You'll pick up on harshness or imbalances that you just can't hear from behind the console.

During Service: Notes That Keep You Ahead of the Mix

Once your foundation is set (and trust me, with practice this whole process takes about 5 minutes), transition to rehearsing the actual songs.

I highly recommend keeping notes on paper for your set list:

• Vocalists: Who sings lead on each song? Any mid-song vocal changes?
• Instrumentals: Mark sections where a particular instrument is featured
• Effects: Note where to use tapped delay or other effects on specific words
• Dynamics: Identify quiet sections so you can proactively pull down faders for contrast
• Speaking parts: Remember to duck your vocal effects during prayers for a more natural sound

The goal is to stay ahead of the mix instead of constantly reacting.

The Bottom Line

Sound check doesn't have to be stressful. When you have a systematic approach—line check, monitors first, loop a chorus, layer your instruments thoughtfully—you can achieve a balanced, professional mix in just a few minutes.

That frees you up to focus on what really matters: serving your church well and helping create a distraction-free worship experience where people can actually encounter God.

Want to dive deeper into these techniques? I walk through all of this (and more) inside Attaway Audio Academy, where we have full courses on mixing foundations, training your team, and dialing in every part of your church's sound system.

Keep mixing with excellence,
James Attaway