CMU School of Drama


Tuesday, October 13, 2026

The FOH Engineer's Guide to Better Rehearsals

Church Production Magazine: The rehearsal has barely begun when someone raises a hand. "I don't have any guitar." A few minutes later someone notices a keyboard isn't passing signal, a monitor mix needs attention, or the worship leader pauses to work through an unexpected issue. None of these interruptions are unusual, but together they can keep a rehearsal from accomplishing what it was intended to do.

1 comment:

Octavio Sutton said...

I think this article hits on a really important point. That the more you prepare and check that everything is working solidly, the less you will have to deal with later when you are doing 100 other things. I also appreciate that they highlighted planning times to check in with people or relay communication. It is really important to know the show you are mixing and how each person talks during the performance. Because being prepared for everything means that you can spend less time fixing problems, you will ultimately have a smoother performance, rehearsal, or tech. I think this is a really important lessons to hold on to in a lot of different areas, not just in sound. The whole idea of check twice before you do something is this kind of sentiment. I think it’s what sets apart really good technicians from the rest. Being able to anticipate and understand all elements of you system means you are making everyone’s life easier.