With a decade of experience in the music industry, Grammy-award winning audio engineer and producer Darius Fong has noticed a growing shift over the years. The focus has changed from sales to streaming, and music has been reduced to algorithms that translate songs into Internet radio. Though data scientists have meticulously categorized songs by style and sound, Fong believes music has been fragmented and we’ve lost one of its most important elements: creativity and collaboration.
That’s why he created weeSPIN, the musically-driven app that constantly evolves around your social life. weeSPIN brings the emotion and creativity Fong experiences in the production studio right into the app so that users, their friends and their social community become the curators. Plus, weeSPIN incorporates popular music services to make playlist creation streamlined and simple. For the first time, users can take one playlist from their Spotify library, another from their Soundcloud library and throw in a few songs from iTunes to create an entirely new weeSPIN playlist.
Fong’s ultimate vision for weeSPIN is an app that’s dynamic and personal. Unlike services such as Pandora, which suggest sounds you may like, weeSPIN actually sounds like you.
q: Darius Fong in one sentence:
a: Award winning record producer-engineer and founder of weeSPIN.
q: What motivates you to do what you do?
a: I’m motivated by people around me. By both culture and communities. I care about how we connect and relate to each other. I love music. But I care more about how music brings people closer together.
q: What got you started?
a: My piano teacher survived the cultural revolution in China. He’s my inspiration. He instilled in me a passion for music that went beyond piano.
q: What differentiates you/your company/brand from others?
a: I’m a musician with a strong desire to communicate visually. I’m very technically inclined and have a deep understanding of technology and equipment. But i treat gear more like paint brushes.
q: How does music influence your work?
a: Regardless what I’m doing, whether directly related to music production, listening to music always seems to keep me honest, and true to what I’m communicating or designing.
q: What’s your favorite piece of work?
a: My favorite works are a wide spectrum of things I use and experience daily. I’m a huge fan of Bar Nine Collective, ex-Handsome Coffee and Hex bags and briefcases. I love things that inspire me to focus on what really matters: people.
q: A song on your current playlist & hashtag to describe your mood
a: Hands, Be Still by Olafur Arnalds (#morning #love) Listen here.
Debtcibel Preview 1/4: Sound is Your Partner in Ministry
A preview of Debtcibel which is available on Amazon now.
Sound is Your Partner in Ministry
People fall asleep in church. It is a fact. We have all seen the heads bobbing back and forth during a sermon. Perhaps even you have fallen asleep during a service. Different people have different excuses. They worked too late, the preacher is too dry, the sanctuary is too hot, whatever.
Have you ever suspected that the sound of a preacher's voice could also be the culprit? I am not referring to the natural tone but to the sonic quality of the preacher’s voice when projected through the sound system.
Imagine yourself reading a book at home. The power in your area goes out, and you have no choice but to light a few candles. As you continue reading your book, your eyelids feel heavier and heavier. Before you know it you are fast asleep, your book is on the floor and your jaw open wide. A sermon that is poorly projected sonically can have the same effect as reading a book in dim lighting. Your brain is working overtime to make out what the preacher is saying and before you know it, you are struggling to stay awake.
Excellent sound, however, achieves much more than keeping people awake. Sound is crucial in almost all areas of ministry. Sound finds its way into sanctuaries, patios, childcare rooms, recording devices, radio broadcasts and more. Sound teams interact not only with pastors and musicians but also with church members. They are involved with every part of the church service, setting up, tearing down, as well as the service itself.
I am not trying to put sound on a pedestal by giving it more attention than it deserves. I am simply demonstrating how sound holds together many parts of your ministry and plays an essential role in churches today.
An Epidemic of Overspending
As crucial as sound is, it is also widely misunderstood. Sound is like a cloud of mystery that hovers over churches. Through numerous conversations with church members, pastors and musicians, I have had the chance to clear up a lot of misconceptions they have about sound. Still, many of these misconceptions exist in churches today.
Many churches attempt to fix their sound problems by purchasing more equipment, when their problems are actually caused by poorly designed acoustics or a lack of operating skills and knowledge. Obscured by poor understanding of sound, churches are not able to focus on purchasing the right equipment that would fit their needs. Instead they buy gear that cannot be easily expanded upon as they grow in size, and they install brand new systems without taking into account the acoustics of their worship space.
Many churches wrongly think that digital mixing boards can solve all problems, so they rebuild entire systems around them only to find that they have invested a lot of money with no evident improvement.
Often times, churches do not understand basic principles of sound. They lack the vision to properly establish budgets to guide them through different phases of growth and expansion. They lack trained ears to help them maximize on equipment they already have and to focus on the real needs of the church. Consequently, their misconceptions have caused them to repeatedly overspend on sound.
To overcome overspending would require efforts beyond making fewer purchases. It is about strategically and purposefully allocating funds. But what is the difference?
Sound is expensive, and there is no way around it. From purchasing speakers, mixing consoles, and microphones to doing acoustic treatments and wiring, sound is one of the most expensive investments churches have to make. Every major step of growth is benchmarked with more spending. If the financial burden is further increased by misconceptions about sound and bad spending strategies, then overspending is not only due to the price of sound. Simply making spending reductions on sound will not solve the problem of overspending. To really get to the root, it will require a good understanding of how to spend, when to spend, and who to spend it on.
You may think ‘epidemic’ is too strong a word to describe this problem of overspending, but it alludes to the very widespread sound-related problems affecting churches today.
If you understand how far and wide this problem has really spread, to use the word epidemic would be no exaggeration at all. Millions of dollars have already been wasted, and churches do not even know where to begin when facing these investment decisions.
Overspending on sound is not a problem that can be solved one church at a time. To fight this epidemic, we must do it together. I wrote this book for the church, focusing not on the technical aspects of sound but on how to plan and budget for it with relentless dedication to godly stewardship, which is our calling.
Let’s stop overspending.
Your Stewardship is Put to the Test
No matter how big or how small the amount is, the credibility of churches is at stake in the handling of our funds (John F. MacArthur, Whose Money Is It Anyway?). Many churches after spending close to one million dollars are taken by surprise when they realize that they have not acquired the system they needed, nor do they have people with enough skills to run it. I have witnessed budget cuts half way into a full sound system installation to save money, only to realize that fixing partially executed work at a later date comes at a price. And it is often expensive.
Measures can be taken to solve this epidemic. The sound ministry is where your church's true stewardship can be put to the test. How you allocate your budget and how you plan for phases of expansion reflect your ability as God’s steward and your desire to pursue excellence.
Reversal of Priorities
In 2010, I was kindly asked to consult for a church in Florida. Upon my arrival, I was immediately brought into a meeting where the church administrators, the worship pastor, the musicians and the volunteers were all present. With no time wasted, they began to express their concerns and questions.
They had recently upgraded their system. They hired a sound contracting company for design and installation, but when it was finally finished, they found themselves dissatisfied with the results. They had already made a significant investment and could not afford to make any more mistakes. They contacted me, intending that I would help them make the right equipment purchases to solve their problems. They wanted to know what they should buy to fix their problems. Are you also asking these same questions?
Churches usually begin making sound-related investments with equipment purchases, which seems logical since investing almost always involves buying something. But it is safe to say that when it comes to church sound, purchasing more equipment in most cases does not provide the ultimate solution. In fact, buying more gear to fix problems almost always leads to overspending. The most common misconception is that good sound can be achieved simply by purchasing good equipment.
Churches might each have their own unique challenges, but they are all struggling with the same fundamental problem. Churches have completely reversed their priorities when investing in sound. Instead they must first take into consideration the acoustics of their worship spaces and the realistic skill level of their teams. Investing in sound should not begin with equipment purchases.
Starting with Good Sound
Good sound begins with good acoustics. To understand this, you need to first understand that sound is a physical property that cannot be seen, but it is very real. It can generate enough force to shatter objects like glass or be used as a weapon to destroy. Sound is limited by other physical objects, and it is controlled by the space it lives within.
A space can be a sonic black hole, causing sound to project poorly regardless of what you do or what equipment you use, and a different space could act like a concert hall, accentuating and beautifying every audible frequency.
Acoustics should take first priority in shaping your thinking about sound. Even if you are not currently in the position to correct your acoustics, understanding your limits with poor acoustics will help guide your thinking when making future sound investments.
Your Gear is as Good as the Operator
Having observed many world-class sound engineers, I can tell you that great sounding records do not always come from the best equipment. Of course, great equipment can contribute to sonic quality, but only when it is operated by the right people. I have heard the best sound engineers make magic with mediocre equipment. Trust me. It is possible.
When I was ten, I wanted to be a painter. My mother, as encouraging as she always was, went to the art store and bought me the best supplies she could find. I had all the brushes, paints and colors I could ever want. I was excited to prove myself as a painter. I sat next to the window and painted everyday. A month went by, and not only did I not see any improvements, I could not even make out what I was painting from looking at my own work.
Sadly, all the best and plentiful supplies did not make me a painter, but it helped me realize what I was not. It is similar in the world of sound. Just as the supplies are only as good as the painter who uses them, sound gear is only as good as the operator. Purchasing great gear without a team of skilled sound operators to run it would still produce sound that is mediocre.
The church in Florida intended for me to help them make equipment purchases that would improve their sound quality, but after my initial interaction with them, I quickly realized that nobody there had ever been trained to run sound. Volunteers were ready and eager to serve, but nobody had the real world knowledge or experience to operate the equipment. Instead of helping them with purchase orders, I decided to focus on training. Within a couple months, they were giving each other listening assignments and critiquing each other’s mixes. Some even enrolled in online audio courses. They were helping each other grow in their ability to listen more critically. I could not have been more thrilled.
This church was already growing in size and would eventually move into a bigger building. Allocating funds towards retrofitting the current building would have only been a waste. Focusing on training not only improved the sound quality in their current worship space, it also better prepared them for when they finally transition to the next building.
The Three Musketeers of Sound
Without the skills and proper understanding to use the equipment, investing in sound gear will only yield diminishing returns. Prioritizing investments does not mean neglecting one thing for another. All churches need equipment in order to run their services. Do not confuse adjusting your priority of thinking with holding out on purchases until the last possible moment. The important thing is to know what, why and when to buy. When assessing equipment that you already have or something that you are considering buying, you must understand the limitations and inter-dependability of acoustics, skill level and lastly, equipment. They are, as I call them, the three musketeers of sound.
Great audio gear is capable of delivering superb sonic quality as well as additional features that will grant operators more flexibility. But with more flexibility also comes greater responsibility. The added features often mean more work for the operator. There are more channels to monitor, more sources to connect and more components to control.
You need trained men to operate your gear and make the most of your investments. Your purchase cannot be maximized until your sound team understands how they are benefiting from it. They have to be able to hear the difference.
Making Sound Invisible
Sound is undoubtedly one of the most crucial aspects of your ministry, but it should not be the focus of your worship service. Sound should be invisible. It should never draw attention to itself or be a distraction during your service. It should enhance your message without being noticed. Sound becomes a distraction when it is poorly projected or overly amplified, because people are struggling to hear.
Sound is also a distraction when churches mishandle thousands of dollars on the wrong sound system, when they should be setting examples of good stewardship. For sound to be truly invisible and serving the Body of Christ, churches must strive to establish a clear vision to which they can be held accountable.
This is a big picture moment. You need to take a big step back to discern all your needs. Examine previous measures that have already been taken, and go back to the drawing board to establish a vision that will guide your church through future phases of growth and expansion.
There is not a standard that blanketly applies to all churches when it comes to sound. People attend church each with their own set of expectations, and experienced or not, they are extremely opinionated when it comes to sound in churches. In order for you to guide your church through important sound decisions and stop overspending, you need less technical knowledge of sound and more pastoral discernment.
To engage sound as your partner in ministry, you must employ creativity when making budget decisions and be able to foresee future phases of expansion. You need to get rid of any common misconceptions, observe your church from every angle and focus on the right strategies. You must be able to use discernment, which only comes from God.
You are not alone in this, as many churches are struggling with the same problems of overspending. Sound should not be a barrier for your church. It should be your partner in ministry to bring the gospel to people with clarity and strength.
An excerpt from our book Debtcibel (now available!) :
We Stand Divided
We live in an age when everyone seems to be an expert. A quick browse on Yelp dot com, a popular restaurant review site, will reveal that everyone has contradicting tastes and opinions. Like musical preferences, these opinions can also be very deceiving. Almost every restaurant with the highest ratings is also accompanied by bad reviews.
Preferences reveal inconsistencies and can jade one’s opinions and feelings. Reading a review of an Indian restaurant written by someone who hates Indian food is hardly fair. When there is bitterness towards certain styles of music, the comfort level of your congregation will cease to be an accurate indicator of sonics. Complaints about sound in churches are often not at all about sound, they are simply an expression of likes and dislikes toward certain styles of music.
We are all familiar with the division over music styles in churches today, and it is a real problem that should not be taken lightly. For some churches, it is revealed through attitudes in the congregation, for others it is revealed through church splits. Some churches design their music program based on public vote, and some people even choose their church based upon the style of music used in the worship service. Members and sometimes worship pastors leave their churches over a difference of opinions on music styles. People are opinionated when it comes to sound within a church, but they are often driven by discontentment and personal preferences. No church should be bound by one particular style of music, but many are bound by the congregation's personal preference of music. Musical styles affect how a sound operator mixes and in some cases how a sound system is setup.
We should not stand divided. If this is indeed a hurdle that your church must overcome, investing in a better sound system will not solve your problems. It is necessary to focus your congregation back onto the right things and not to let sound or music become a stumbling block to their worship.
