Audio Production Standards · Production Hub

Who Owns What

Central and campus.

Central Production Leadership

Sets the mixing philosophy, standards, and training curriculum for all campuses.
Owns the volunteer onboarding process: interviews, auditions, onboarding, and classification (A2, A1, A1T).
Approves all Grace Church-specific training material and standard operating procedures before publication.
Hosts monthly virtual sound check workshops and quarterly worship & production collaboration workshops.
Maintains the Line Check / Sound Check / Rehearsal standard operating procedures to keep every campus consistent.
Shares responsibility with Southern Pines campus audio engineers for ensuring the broadcast is mixed to standard and translates across a wide variety of speaker systems.

Campus Audio Engineers

Facilitate main weekend services at their campus.
Carry the Grace Church mixing philosophy and standards while stewarding the acoustic character and needs of their own room.
Own and maintain their campus-specific input list, show file, and SPL targets built around their room’s unique instrumentation and setup.
Own and maintain their own FOH checklists, procedures, and troubleshooting guides specific to their campus workflow.
During pre-service, the FOH engineer serving leads Line Check and Sound Check, while the Worship Leader leads rehearsal. Production and Worship coordinate closely as one team.
Southern Pines campus audio engineers share responsibility with Central Production for broadcast quality and sonic translation.

Mixing Standards & Philosophy

The numbers.

These standards guide every mix, at every campus, regardless of band, room, or moment.

Target	Value
Live worship sets (SP)	Average 88 dB(A)
Announcements & sermons (SP)	Average 72 dB(A)
Live worship sets (7L)	To be set
Announcements & sermons (7L)	To be set
Live worship sets (CG)	To be set
Announcements & sermons (CG)	To be set
Special events	FOH engineer’s discretion; never exceed 102 dB(A) (safety cap)
Instruments & vocals gain staging	Average −12 dBFS
Drum gain staging	Transient never exceeds −4 dBFS (no clipping on dLive meters)
Post-processing metering	Within ±6 dBFS of post-preamp metering

Special-event example: a SEEK GOD event could average below 88 dB(A), while a night of worship could run upwards of 95 dB(A) depending on the room and moment, always at the FOH engineer’s discretion and capped at 102 dB(A).

Mix Behaviors

What applies everywhere.

All inputs are mixed into groups before hitting the main outputs, except playback and speaking microphones.
Group DCAs sit at or around unity during worship sets.
Vocals are mixed at the front, or “on top,” of the mix.
We prioritize balanced instrumentation: all inputs working together for a smooth, cohesive sound.
We prioritize a clear, natural sound over a heavily processed one.
Effects create space and stereo width; they are not intended to be featured or forward in the mix.
The speaker sits on top of the mix when speaking over the worship team during transitions.
Engineers know where and when to feature instruments during the worship set (an instrumental hook, a drum breakdown).
Engineers listen and pay attention to the worship leader during spontaneous moments, making proactive mixing decisions in response.
Every campus production team maintains an up-to-date input list, base show file, and SPL targets for their FOH desk, backed up on an external storage device. The backup show file and input list are updated monthly.

Onboarding & Classification

From audition to A1T.

Every new audio engineer completes an interview and a Virtual Sound Check audition to determine their track: Accelerated (4 weeks) or Conventional. Onboarding follows a weekly rhythm of instructional videos, in-person discussion, and hands-on training during rehearsal.

FOH Onboarding Overview

Rank	What it means
A2 — Audio Engineer in Training	Can run FOH with active oversight. Still building reps and needs more practice.
A1 — Audio Engineer	Understands and executes all fundamentals of live sound. Can run a Line Check, Sound Check, RXL, and live FOH for a service with minimal oversight from an A1T.
A1T — Audio Engineer & Trainer	Understands and executes all fundamentals plus common problem-solving and advanced mixing techniques. Able to teach A2s audio fundamentals and problem-solving.