"IT'S TOO LOUD IN MY CHURCH" by Phillip Carter

My dear Aunt Helen said to me last week that she has to stand in the lobby of her church when the music and the preaching is going on because she says its too loud for her in the sanctuary. I was singing with my group this past weekend, at a church where I serve,  and my wife comes in the sanctuary and waves at me to inform me that its too loud so I immediately told the house guy to bring the overall volume of the house down which was the right thing to do since I could not access, from where I was standing, if there was any one particular thing peaking out in the audience. All of us have our opinions as to when something is too loud or not and all of us think we're right so I am going to approach this from a technical perspective later on in this blog. It's a fact that listening to loud music for long periods of time can and will damage your hearing. Many of you reading this blog go to church on a regular basis and most of our churches are probably projecting our sound systems at high levels not realizing that our hearing is being damaged in the process. I am very guilty, as I am writing to you, of demanding more volume as I play or sing on Sunday morning due to the intensity of the music that I sing and/or play partly because I have trouble hearing myself. Gospel Music is demanding and when the energy comes so does the loudness.

When preachers, especially in the black church, get excited and raise their voices  they tend to get closer to the mic instead of backing away from it because of the excitement and intensity of their preaching. That's a normal thing but it can be harmful as well if the sound tech at your church does not take the necessary steps to control the volume. Many of our churches do not invest in people who have the knowledge to run audio equipment efficiently but we are quick to hire people to do other jobs, in our churches,which require competency. Audio Engineering is a skill which requires a lot of training. It's amazing to me that we entrust our ears to Deacon and Trustee so-and so on the sound board.  Are we that ignorant?  Whether you are in a small or a large church we must protect our ears while being able to hear everything we want to hear at the same time.

Technically anything above 75 decibels is considered loud and anything above 100 decibels is getting dangerous for long periods of time. If the noise gets to 200 decibels for any amount of time then loss of hearing takes place immediately.  It is true that all of us have our own noise thresholds. Its not too loud all of the time. Let's be honest. Some of us make those claims partly due to the fact that we don't necessarily enjoy the type of noise being made whether its music or the preached word. I remember growing up in church and every time I played a gospel song it was too loud but every time I would play a hymn (at the same volume) it was heavenly.lololololol.   The same old saints were talking out of two sides of their mouths.

IT IS possible to be intense and for the levels to be controlled at the same time. It's not always the musicians fault if the music is too loud. Your church might have an incompetent sound technician especially if your church has everything miked up. Your instruments might be placed incorrectly in the sanctuary. There are a number of reasons why things may be too loud in your church. Stop assuming and seek answers that make sense to the church and to the musicians. On the other hand, musicians should try to exercise some wisdom when dealing with their own volume levels, in church, especially if you are in total control of your volume. We must not let our personal liking's overshadow what may or may not be going on in our houses of worship. We must seek and implement solutions because there are millions of Christians who maybe suffering from hearing loss due to the Saturday or Sunday morning worship experience. 

You can refer to this table below from http://www.abelard.org/hear/hear.php to give to your sound techs and your Pastors at your church as a reference.

Peace,
Phillip Carter

HOW LOUD IS LOUD? Common Noise Levels and Typical Reactions

Activity	Noise Level [dB(A)]	Apparent Loudness	Typical Physical Response	new:quadratic equations, model answers part of how to teach your child number arithmetic mathematics advertising disclaimer
Rocket launching	180		Danger level
Threshold of pain Gunshot Jet engine taking off	140		Danger level
Military jet Air raid siren Shotgun Hydraulic press (3 m away)	130	512 times as loud	Limited ability to hear amplified speech. Noise may cause pain. Can damage hearingafter  3.75 minutes exposure per day
Car horn Propeller aircraft Air-raid siren	120	256 times as loud	Can damage hearingafter  7.5 minutes exposure per day
Sand-blasting Squealing pigs Inboard motorboat Typical night club Unsilenced motorcycle (7m away)	110	Over 128 times as loud!!	Maximum vocal effort. Can damage hearingafter  30 minutes exposure per day
Amplified Rock Music	110-130	Over 128 to 512 times as loud!!	Can damage hearingafter 3.75 – 30 minutes exposure per day
Helicopter Motorised/power mower	105		Can damage hearingafter 1 hour exposure per day
Jet takeoff @ 500m Train horn @ 30m Diesel truck Pneumatic drill/jackhammer	100	64 times as loud	Can damage hearingafter 2 hours exposure per day
Heavy truck @ 15m Busy city street passing motorcycle Lawn mower Loud shout Screaming child	90	32 times as loud	Very annoying. Can damage hearingafter 8 hours exposure per day
Average factory Electric shaver	85
Busy traffic intersection Motorway construction site Outboard motor Alarm clock (with bell) Freight train (15m away) /td>	80	16 times as loud	Annoying.
Motorway traffic @ 15m Roadside traffic Train horn @ 500m Vacuum cleaner Mixer electric sewing machine Noisy restaurant Conversation in a loud voice	70	8 times as loud	Telephone use difficult.
Washing machine/dishwasher	65
Light car traffic @ 15m City or commercial areas Noisy office Normal conversation Clothes dryer Background music	60	4 times as loud	Intrusive.
Quiet office	50	2 times as loud	Speech interference.
Refrigerator	45
Quiet residential area Kitchen/bathroom Public library	40	Arbitrary Base  Reference Level	Quiet.
Leaves rustling Very soft music Recording studio Living/dining/bedroom	30	1/2 as loud	Very quiet.
Threshold of sound perception	10	1/8 as loud	Just audible.
Threshold of hearing	0	N/A	Not audible.