Curt Taipale
Our Mission
Communicating Technical Excellence to the Church has always been our goal, both as individuals and a company.
Our Journey
1987: Taught my first class to a group of thirty church sound techs. I covered all the major components of a sound system. I thought that I had done a good job with that presentation and was thankful to hear their applause at the end. As my students were walking out, one gentlemen said to me “Hey, that was great. But what I really wanted to learn was where is the On switch.” In each of the 100+ classes that I’ve taught since that day, I’ve walked away telling myself that I need to keep things simple. That's possible, but not easy.
1988 - 1990: Launched a pioneering magazine for church tech support teams, initially named Clarity Magazine, later rebranded as Soundcheck Magazine. We proudly published sixteen issues, creating the first national platform for church technology.
1990 - 1994: Worked alongside producer Tom Brooks as his recording engineer for several of the early Integrity Hosanna! projects, and later toured with Worship International for their worship music conferences, teaching audio classes and doing live sound for Integrity artists including Ron Kenoly, Marty Nystrom, Eugene & Joy Greco, and several others.
1997: ChurchSoundcheck.com was born. This platform allowed us to continue sharing impactful articles originally featured in our magazine.
2014 - 2020: Created the Church Sound Boot Camp series of in-person classes held in host churches around the country. Attendance was roughly 1100 students per year.
2020: Transformed recordings of those in-person classes into an online course, both as a self-guided version and as a six-week instructor-led version of the Church Sound Boot Camp.
2024: The
Church Tech Family: Concurrent with launching our website, we introduced the CSC Discussion Group—a community email listserv founded on the joy of receiving meaningful communication from friends. We rebranded the group in 2024 as the Church Tech Family where members continue to compare notes, learn, support, and pray for each other.
Community and Learning
Church Tech Family: Evolved from our email listserv, now an essential online community. We maintain a "mythology-free" zone—a welcoming, safe space to learn and ask questions. Our members range from seasoned tech veterans to newly involved volunteers.
Join Us: Experience this unique community crafted by ChurchSoundcheck members.
About Curt Taipale
Experience: With over 45 years in pro audio, Curt Taipale offers extensive expertise as a church tech team leader, recording and live sound engineer, consultant, AVL system designer, integrator, educator, author, and professional musician.
Author and Educator: Creator of ChurchSoundcheck.com, author of The Heart of Technical Excellence, and a contributor to Yamaha’s Guide to Sound Systems for Worship. Curt delivers church sound training through his online course, the Church Sound Boot Camp. Over the years his passion for writing has led to contributions in leading trade magazines like Technologies for Worship, Live Sound International, and Church Production, and online at ProSoundWeb.
Professional Background: A professional musician for 12 years, Curt holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Engineering from the University of Miami. His career spans roles as Audio Director and Technical Director across three churches and a sought after freelance sound engineer. Through his consulting firm—Taipale Media Systems—Curt designs and optimizes sound systems and room acoustics for churches and Christian schools nationwide, bringing a deep well of knowledge and unique insights to every project he designs and workshop he teaches.