Free Cheat Sheet

Feedback squealing. A mic that's just... dead. Doors open in 10 minutes.

Grab a practical cheat sheet for the moment a sound problem shows up. It gives you a clear order to check before you start turning knobs at random.

1 page, print-ready Quick to scan at the booth

Free PDF

What's Inside

One page. Five sound problems. Start at the source.

1
The 3 questions to ask before you touch anything
2
The signal path from source to output
3
No sound at all, with the checks in the right order
4
Feedback, hum, and distortion, with a clear first move
5
Wireless mic dropouts, batteries, antennas, and frequency conflicts
6
A few good booth habits worth keeping

You already know the feeling. Something's wrong with the sound, people are starting to file in, and every second you spend guessing is a second closer to doing it live, in front of everyone.

This is not a course or a gear list. It is a practical troubleshooting order for no sound, feedback, hum, distortion, and wireless issues, broken down so you can scan it standing at the booth and find your next check instead of turning random knobs and hoping.

I've been doing church sound for 23 years, starting back when I was 12 logging timecodes for my dad's TV program. I've rebuilt full systems from the ground up, and I've also been the person standing at a board on a random Sunday with ten minutes and a problem. This sheet is built for that second version of the job, because that is most Sundays for most of us.

Nikki, Founder of Small Church Media, running the production switcher