Is This Thing On? Tossing the Tap

Most of us in music ministry use a simple technique to determine if the microphone and the sound system is ‘On’.  How many times have you seen someone tap on a microphone to see if it and the sound system are working?  It is a simple, quick test. 

But did you know that it could cause damage?

Depending upon the type of microphone it can shorten microphone life, cause quality problems, and promote fidelity loss.  Tapping on the microphone is like punching the internal, sensitive diaphragm.  Try this simple test.  Lift your typical tapping finger next to your ear, and tap the ear canal opening.  You can feel the painful thud deep in your ear.  I find this to be not so pleasant, and so do our microphones.  

So, what to do?  How do we safely test to see if the microphone and sound system are working?  Here is a simple tip.


Of course, it is best to check the microphone and sound system before service or during practice.  If this is the case see the previous post on “Testing1-2-3“.



But many times in church having open access to test the sound system is not a luxury available to us.  Like the Body of Christ the church is composed of many varied groups and activities.  Often these groups or activities will need exclusive access to the church, sometimes just before service.  How many times have you and your group been in this situation?  Perhaps a wedding scenario or pre-service prayer?  Most times, we just turn the sound system power on and lightly tap on the microphone to check.  But here is a simple tip to help give confidence in the sound system without hurting the microphone.

In big churches with a sound person, a hand signal could be used to have the system turned down for a quick check in the headphones. 

For small churches I have found this trick to be useful.  I lightly make the ‘b’ sound into the mic.  This sound nicely blends into most background noise (assuming there is background noise), but can be detected by the discerning listener.  If there isn’t ANY background noise and there is a need to be discrete (perhaps a formal wedding), I will usually wait a few moments for the inevitable cough, sneeze, or other noise blurt.  At that moment, blend the ‘b’ to the blurt!

Will this work for your church?  Do you have other helpful tricks for these moments?  Please share with the rest of us in the music ministry community!  Add your comments to this post.

Related Posts
Unfolding Testing 1-2-3
Microphone Technique for Church Singers: Cozy Up to the Mic
Microphone in Music Ministry:  Technique for Angle
Which Microphone is Best for You?

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