Churches Sound Systems in Uganda

This subject is on my mind for a very long time…

In Uganda so many churches don’t really have any sound systems BUT noise generation systems.

The reason for that is simply exposure and education of both the admin team and the “sound man” / “sound technicians”

The reason i added the ” ” to the titles is simply because 90% of “sound man” / “sound technicians” in churches were never trained by a professional sound person. most of those guys were trained by a mzee (older person) that was trained by another mzee that was never trained by any one.

The work of a sound man is more then just setting up the sound and make it work –

How many sound people in Uganda knows what is the impedance of their speakers and amps?

how many sound people know what is microphone polar Patten?

How many sound man know to identify a frequency of sound to kill feedback in a sec?

Lastly – how many sound people know to stand in to their pastors and admin team of the church and tell them NO! this is wrong!

On each of those topics / questions i will publish in future an article – BUT – for now lets go back to the main topic – Sound Systems.

It is sad that in so many churches in Uganda the sound is actually NOT sound BUT loud NOISE!

The speakers many churches use are too big – made for outdoor concerts but also many are just fake speakers and when they are bought no one knows to look into the specs of the speakers – what frequency doe the speaker offer? how intelligible is the speaker?

What is intelligible? that is – How Clear the sound of the speaker is! yes this is measureless and very key when you buy speakers.

If you think about it – how many times you simply could not understand what you hear from the speakers? mmmmm

Now in Uganda everyone like BIG – the bigger they think is the better… this is WRONG!

if you have ever traveled to churches around the world you notice that you NEVER seen speakers…. how come? simple Churches are built in a way that acoustics are difficult to manage so one of the best ways to manage this is by using as many small speakers so sound does not come from one main speakers set and bounce ll over.

People come to church for 2 things as far as i know listen to word of wisdom and enjoy the gospel – NOT coming to a live concert / night club…

If you agree with me – how come you cant really hear clearly the words of wisdom from the priests or your pastors?

another problem is that many have been preaching for many years without sound systems and when they finally get a microphone – they still keep on shouting to it… this surely also does not help.

Do you know that most people – singers, politicians, public speakers all are trained how to hold and use a microphone and sound system?

I am not sure if the “sound man” in churches know how to train any one and if so – have they tried doing so?

The bottom line is – in churches it should not be about how loud it can get BUT how audible is the sound system in your church.

And am not saying it should not be loud or not have sub woofers BUT a church does not need sub woofers in the size of 2 big people (my size) a church can have good audible sound that everyone enjoy and understand every word in it.

Some churches bought good sound systems but then again managing them, setting them up not to mention that a sound system is a SYSTEM – everything must be in sync.

So – if you have great original speakers and amps but your “sound man” is not great – the sound wont be great.

if you have great original speakers, amps and good “sound man” but the microphones are the wrong mics for the application or the cables are fake or the connectors are fake and so on … there will always be issues in the service.

It is SAD that our local market – where they sell speakers and sound systems – sell in most cases fake or locally assembled speakers BUT more important to me – no one in the shops knows to explain any one how to chose equipment and what to look at when selling equipment.

They just want to sell – and the results – everyone comes to buy equipment so often as the gear does not last or not perform properly.

Let me ask – if you drive a car and you looking for parts – yes you look for cost effective but i think at some point if the part is not performing – you will go for original – which is a bit more costly – BUT – you know it would last.

So – why people don’t get it yet that – CHEAP is EXPENSIVE!

When a church buys speakers 3-4 times a year and they keep on blasting or not serving you well – why dont they invest once – it would sure cost less then going 3 times to the market.

Another problem churches have is “corruption” yes sadly enough in Uganda even some churches are corrupt, in a sense that i might come to consult the church and the following day other “advisors” who know nothing about sound will pretend they know BUT they main agenda is get something out of the deal…

i think in Uganda we are maybe 5+ people who actually know to design sound systems for churches.

We offer FREE training to churches so they could have the right tools when they look for sound systems and be able to look and compare between various systems in the right way.

I believe – and i have seen it in many cases so far when people come to me and want big speakers or speakers of 5000watts and after i teach them few things and demo to them – 1st they get confused but then they agree that they have not known all this before and that it is right.

i hope that in few years from today – churches in Uganda will have the right sound systems and people will appreciate and demand better sound NOT only in churches but everywhere … schools, weddings, parties, night clubs etc…