DWR Distribution extends an enormous thank you to the churches and freelancers who joined our Lighting and Audio Training Workshop in November 2021 at our offices in Johannesburg.

The sessions, hosted free of charge, included a two-day lighting workshop presented by

Michael Taylor-Broderick and a two-day Audio Training presented by Jaco Beukes. Each workshop was attended by over 20 delegates, eager to learn, and it was wonderful to have new life in the office!

The DWR demo became a learning environment with seating surrounding the small stage. The set-up lent itself to an open floor discussion where delegates felt comfortable interacting with the presenters on stage.

The aim was to educate church staff and volunteers with advice that ranged from the placing and use of equipment to recognizing the basic principles used for lighting and audio.

“Lighting is instrumental in how a story is presented and received by an audience,” explained Michael Taylor-Broderick. “Regarding places of worship, the Bible story is often referred to as the greatest story ever told and that that places it right in the heart of what I know, namely theatre, arguably the oldest story telling platform. Realistically speaking, I have found that churches are forever wanting to change things up, to stay ahead of others, and very often I’m asked for advice on how lighting can be made more interesting. The honest answer, as you well know, doesn’t really lie with the lighting but the subject and the subject matter. That said, a well-focused lighting rig, with lighting fixtures hung in the best possible position, at the best possible angle, in the right colour, at the right intensity and sensitively controlled will make a huge difference to the end result.” Michael’s training included a practical insight as he integrated MA Lighting’s dot2 console to its 3D Visualiser to demonstrate some lighting examples.

Jaco Beukes really enjoyed the training especially with the session focussed on a church crowd. “I was able to concentrate on systems particularly pertaining to houses of worship and I think everyone learnt something new,” said Jaco.  “More than anything I hope students walked away with the heartfelt challenge to be more engaging with the band and to better understand the purpose of a sound engineer – it’s all about serving the worship team and serving the audience.”