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[Bob Leonard]

Mark,
You outline the keys to success a number of times. Having the hardware ready and tested, and keeping the band in the loop as a priority. Not wasting the performers time with system problems and keeping the sound check to a minimum are only possible if you do your homework, something the OP needs to add to his never ending list. The meet and greet is a critical part of the formula which is often overlooked or taken too casually.

[Scott Helmke]

Too much control freakery in the original proposal. No noodling? How do the amp-using musicians get their own personal "sound check" with their effects and amps done? Does the drummer quietly tune his/her drums backstage and then carry them out for the soundcheck?

Over the years I've ended up with an approach that's basically the same as Dave Rat's. Get the vocals into the wedges long before the band arrives, spend the musician setup/noodling time doing any remaining line checks, and get them playing as a group ASAP.  I'll often say something like "I don't usually spend the first ten minutes on the kick drum, let's just play a song and then sort out any changes to the monitors".

[Tommy Peel]

Lots of good stuff here. I'll add that if this is a church situation then most likely the stage and some of the gear stays in place all the time. If you have set musicians coming in regularly then you should be able to have presets saved on a digital board for each person or if it's analog take pics of the channel strips. At one of the church setups I mix at regularly they have a drum set, electric guitar amp, bass amp, and keyboard setup there all the time. Once we got the initial sound check done(something similar to what Mark outlined) on a non-service day it's a simple matter to have the band come in, plug in, and run a couple of songs for a line check/quick sound check. Because the rig is already pretty much dialed in we just have to make sure everything is working and fine tuned every week then we're ready to go. It takes 10-15 minutes, maybe 30+ if the band wants to practice a new song or two. It also helps that I arrive early and get everything turned on, put batteries in the wireless mics, adjust the board presets for the different musicians, and do a basic line check with what is already there. If only I could get the band to arrive on time and have their set list figured out....

[Mike Barker]

...The meet and greet is a critical part of the formula which is often overlooked or taken too casually.

Point well-taken.  Yes.  A proactive sound engineer managing the flow of operations is an underlying point of emphasis.

[Josh Hana]

This is how I run soundchecks at my church:
Myself and my A2 set up the mains (stacked JBL VRX)
I run my 4 spools of AES50 while the A2 wires the stage and mics the band
We usually finish about the same time, I hop back to the board and do a very quick line check as musicians start noodling/playing.
^ This is usually unannounced. I don't call for an instrument unless the band is all ready to play a song and I haven't heard someone yet. If it's drums I just have the drummer play thew full kit. I don't spend more than 5 seconds on an instrument, it's just to ensure the signal is there and not noisy or missing.

Then I tell the worship leader that I'm all set and I have them go into their first song. The WL likes to run the full set as a second "rehearsal" so I don't interrupt them unless there is a big issue that cannot wait until the end of a song. If I'm missing an overhead mic or something, my A2 can run back to the stage, or I'll sort it out between songs. Sometimes the WL will ask my opinion regarding the tone or mic position of an instrument, but I rarely need to interject myself into the soundcheck. The band does their thing, and I do my thing.

Unless you are paid staff as "Technical Director" and it's stated that you have authority over the Worship Leader (and band) (which is VERY unlikely), there's no need to be a dictator during soundcheck.

Unless there's a catastrophic equipment failure, you should be able to start soundcheck with settings dialed in from the week before. Assuming you spend 3-5 seconds for each input to make sure everything is coming into the board as intended, you should be able to immediately kick into the first song. You don't need to spend 30 seconds hitting each drum. Ever. Just don't do it.

[Tim McCulloch]

You don't need to spend 30 seconds hitting each drum. Ever. Just don't do it.

Only 30 seconds per drum?  What fantasy world do you live in?  I've sat through drum checks that took 30 minutes just for the snare drum...

/reality outside HoW.

[Tommy Peel]

Only 30 seconds per drum?  What fantasy world do you live in?  I've sat through drum checks that took 30 minutes just for the snare drum...

/reality outside HoW.

I've spent some time adjusting drums at church, but it's always when me and the drummer have time to do so when outside of normal rehearsal time. Once the EQ, dynamics, and EFX sends are set I rarely have to touch them. I can definitely see spending 30 minutes getting a snare drum sounding perfect. I will say that I've spent a fair amount of time "turd polishing" bad sounding drums from the board; it takes much less time to get a good sounding drum to sound great than a bad sounding drum to sound decent.

[Bob Leonard]

Why does this thread, and another just like it still exist.

[g'bye, Dick Rees]

Why does this thread, and another just like it still exist.

Beats me like the playground bully...

[Robert Piascik]

Why does this thread, and another just like it still exist.

I couldn't agree more

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