Tips On Sound Volume With Pedal

Perhaps the band needs to be quieter rather than you being louder? Just a different perspective.

 

Usually the problem with patches on those multi effect units is that the volume levels are all over the board from the manufacturer. If you have a dB meter (if not, you can download one for free from the App Store), you could go through all your patches and make sure all of them are around the same volume when you click them on.

Next, I would suggest turning the output level higher than you need on your unit, and back the volume knob off on your guitar. That way when you need another gear (chorus/bridge/solo) it’s right at the tips of your fingers. Crank the volume knob full when you need to, and back it off when you need to fall back in the mix. You will have total control using the volume knob on your guitar.

 

Maybe use an overdrive pedal as a clean boost to help cut through the mix?

 

Hire a soundman.

One of the local churches I've worked with has a really great room and a very competent *paid* band.
The worship leader told me once that if the budget got tight, the last person he would stop paying was the soundman. Absolutely crucial.

The church my wife and I have been going to is usually led by one guy who plays a cool guild acoustic, backed up by the best bassist I've heard in this town (who also sings harmony). Both of them are great musicians and they compliment the songs and each other very well. Lead fills on a fretless on Sunday morning is so cool! It's a real pleasure - EXCEPT that the mix is always wrong. It's almost painful at times.

All you need is someone with an ear, a respect for what's going on and a heart to help facilitate it. Sometimes that heart to help facilitate is pay enough. You just gotta find the right person. What goes on in the tech booth has, in my opinion, the greatest potential to help or harm what's going on.

 

You should be able to set the output volume of your effects presets. Go in and set them all to max. Then they'll all be pretty well matched up. Once you've done that, you need to work your volume from your guitar. Also, more reverb results in being farther back in the mix. If you're using factory presets, these are generally not set up for stage use. You might need to go in and adjust some parameters.

 

Well , everything you adjust , can and probably will effect everything else. I use Line 6 POD XT live and later a HD500 board and adjusting preamps, overdrives and even switching from single coil to Humbuckers changed output volumes in the chain. Set up for your tone and sound first , and then level out volume.

 

Delay ambience is fitting early in the song but as the tune builds it will get lost in the mix, that's just the nature of the genre. It's common for worship tunes to start quiet with acoustic and slowly build to full raging overdrive by the end. You just have to switch your tone, effects, and volume as you process thru the tune.

Using the guitar volume knob will likely rob you of tone. Also, decreasing input volume will starve (clean up) your overdrive if you're using it. I use a volume pedal but it's in my chain after the compressor and overdrive.

BTW, we have a subforum "Worship Service Players" here also.

 

Couple of thoughts:

the bigger and more reverb-y the room itself is - the dryer your sound needs to be.

the more bass or low end in your sound, the more it disappears into the band. Guitar lives in the mid range sonically speaking. Verbs tend to react strongly to bass.

treble cuts through. Think of a tambourine- you don’t even need to mic them and they can be heard over the loudest bands. Add some treble instead of overall volume, but not enough to make it shrill