Are you a young person passionate about using music and technology to enhance worship? or If you’re involved in behind-the-scenes ministry work, like running sound for your church, this article is for you!
On the Adventist Waves podcast, I had the privilege of interviewing Ernie Hernandez, a seasoned sound engineer and music ministry leader. Ernie’s journey is inspiring, but even more valuable are the practical tips he shared to help you elevate your church’s sound.
1. Invest in Quality Cables and Audio Interface
Ernie emphasizes the importance of investing in quality cables and an audio interface. While budget-friendly options might seem appealing, they often lead to noise and other issues during mixing. Remember, a good interface can make even a cheaper microphone sound better. It’s the foundation for a clean and professional sound.
2. Use Headphones Designed for Audio Editing
Ditch the consumer headphones and opt for ones specifically designed for mixing and editing audio. Ernie reveals that this simple switch made a world of difference in his ministry. Headphones tailored for audio work provide a more accurate representation of the sound, allowing you to make precise adjustments.
3. Practice, Practice, Practice!
Ernie’s advice to aspiring sound engineers is simple: practice relentlessly. Take on projects, experiment, and learn from your mistakes. The more you do, the better you’ll become. Embrace every opportunity to hone your skills, and remember that your expertise is needed in the church.
Before you go…
I really encourage you to check out Ernie’s podcast. His journey, from a young guitar enthusiast to a sought-after sound engineer, is inspiring to say the least.
Ready to take your music ministry’s message beyond the walls of your church?
At Blue Vineyard Audio, we specialize in creating high-quality podcasts for Adventist ministries. Let us help you share your worship music, sermons, or inspiring stories with a wider audience. Visit our website at https://bluevineyard.com/audio/ to learn more about our podcast production services and how we can help you amplify your ministry’s impact.
Podcast Transcript:
Welcome to Adventist Waves. Get ready to turn up the volume as we dive into the inspiring story of Ernie Hernandez, a sound engineer who found his calling in the heart of Music Ministry. Let’s roll. Ernie and his wife Laura write and produce music together. It’s their ministry. They even have an in-expensive homemade recording studio. Listen as he shares the secrets for this resourceful studio setup.
Sure yeah, so it came out of necessity. So for people that don’t know, me and my wife we do Music Ministry and she’s a singer. And I’m an audio engineer by trade because I went to college for audio engineering. So as we got together, as we got married, as we began our work together within the ministry, clearly the most important part of her side of the music is to record things like vocals and in the best environment possible. Of course, a lot of us people that know anything about music industry, we usually think of the old-timey ways of doing stuff. And what I mean by that is like people have the mentality that we have to go to a multi-million dollar music studio. Like it’s the only way to get quality recording. And I found through just through YouTube channels, through the schooling that I had, that building your own studio or a space where you can just do proper recordings, even though it’s not in the millions of dollars, you can actually get better results now because of the technology that has advanced in the last 20, 30 years. It’s actually way better than it was even 20, 30 years ago. So it’s just a matter of utilizing how to record correctly.
So yeah, I kind of built our own little sound booth and it’s taken on a few iterations, but we kind of settled on one that is now cost-effective, is a lot easier to move around. And yeah, it seems to be working for us right now. So how much did you actually spend on that thing? It’d definitely be less than $200 for sure. So the newer one we have built is just basically built out of the, I don’t know what to call it, styrofoam, but yeah, it’s like the insulation that you would buy at Home Depot. It’s like a big board that’s like eight foot. Then it has like some thickness to it because it’s basically for super insulating the house. And you use that as walls. And then I just cut up some, some basically some sound panels that I got from Amazon that I bought, you know, seven years ago or whatever. And then I filled it on, filled it in on the inside and it works pretty well.
And yeah, it just kind of gets us through before that, I like I built a whole box out of wood. And I built an actual box and that was just more expensive. And this was way easier to move around. If I need to take it down, I can literally like move it like it weighs almost nothing because it’s styrofoam and it sounds great. That’s awesome. I was also watching a video of, I think back in 2020, I think it was and you had like a little studio and your, before you began your, and then before you had your house there, you were recording in your, your wife’s parents’ home in their closet as well. And you just put some, some sound insulation on the back of the wall there and you were just recording into the closet, right? Yeah, that’s what we had to do.
And actually me and Laura, you know, when we were first traveling, we were still working on albums. So I recorded in multiple closets throughout the States here, like just because we needed to get those things done. And they all relatively sounded the same. So they worked out pretty well. I guess every closet is a closet, right? And some did. Yeah. As long as you just put the work in, like it, most people won’t notice. I notice now as I’m looking back on my work, but most people don’t care.
San Bernardino, Southern California is where Ernie’s passion for sound first took root. Journey back with us to his childhood, where Tinkerin with Legos and playing guitar ignited his lifelong love for music. Sure. Yeah. I grew up in Southern California in a really big county called San Bernardino County. There’s a little city there called Colton. That’s where I spent most of my adolescence into kind of adulthood or early adulthood and that kind of thing. So yeah, Southern California. It’s an interesting place. I’ll just say that, man. But I loved it down there. My family, you know, they moved down there many generations ago. I think they immigrated from, from somewhere down in Mexico. So, you know, here we are.
I think I’ve always been pretty articulate with things like, I like being hands on, I like physically doing something, something that takes patience, something that takes the time to do correctly, so that kind of stuff. So I mean, I can imagine as a kid, like I was really into Legos and Legos kind of led into like the beianicle thing, which was like, it was a whole thing. Some people don’t want to talk about it. That’s okay. But then it moved into other things as I got more articulate. I was like, oh, well, I would love to learn guitar. That seems technically hard, right? And it would take time to do that. And of course, I picked out music as a means to do that. And guitar playing was one of my biggest hobbies. So I think it just started when I was young. I like just like doing things with my hands and carried it into what I do now. And now I’m doing things with my ears though. So that’s kind of interesting.
Did you, do you have friends who are like that as well? Like you have a group of friends you were? No, see that, that’s a good question. And I don’t think I really had too many friends. I think throughout the years as I’m looking back on my life, I think in every period of my life, I had like one solid friend and I would just kind of cling on to that one friend. And I didn’t really need anybody else other than that one friend. So as I got older and then you know, you get high school ends and people go separate ways and you make new friends or whatever. Yeah, it was kind of that way up until I eventually moved out of California. But yeah, just, it wasn’t like that with other people. It was just, just me. Like that’s how I was doing. And even in, even getting into my adulthood, like I put down a guitar and I picked up like doing card magic because it was so hands on and I also was trying to quit smoking. So I just carried on through that and still in adulthood, I’m still doing too many hobbies that I don’t have time for.
Growing up, Ernie’s life wasn’t just about music. This unique family situation had a deep impact on his creative spirit. This set him on a path towards a very unique calling. Sure. Yeah, I would say my family’s home life was strained to say the least. So like I’m an adopted child. My mother was an addict. So I was adopted within the family. So it wasn’t like I went through foster care or anything. But that kind of really put into motion a lot of other problems in my life. But in general, I had a hard time coming to grips with who am I? What is my purpose? Why am I here? So when you go into primary school and you meet all these other kids that have both their father and mother and I don’t, and then even my skin complexion is much lighter than my adopted family, they left me with some pretty deep seated emotions and problems, if you will, trauma, I guess you want to say that. I could feel like the millennial would think to say trauma, but like that’s kind of what it was. So by the time I get into school and all that, I’m trying to integrate. I’m trying to have those social skills. You’re building those things as a kid, but I was still pretty reclusive. Now, ironically, I’m pretty extroverted. So I like people. I’ve been around people. I love talking and doing all that kind of stuff. But as a kid, I wasn’t. I wasn’t that way for a long time.
That really carried on into high school. And I did find a good score group of individuals and I had one decent friend in each of those periods of my life. But it was with other people that felt the same way. So a lot of other outcasts and that kind of thing. So I kind of followed. You would know this as an individual. I kind of went into kind of like the punk rock heavy metal scene, at least in my generation was more the millennial emo phase, if you will, if you want to get into the history of it all. But it all comes out of that anti-establishing aggression, angst, you know, that kind of stuff. And I found my solace there with my friends that all felt the same way and that kind of thing. So I still kept a lot of things back and I didn’t, I wasn’t very open as I am now in my adult life. But I just surrounded myself with other people that felt like me. And yeah. But yeah, but the circle rack around to your question, I’m sorry I didn’t answer it completely. My family life was strained because of those things. So feeling different, feeling like I don’t belong, you know, that really put a load of my family, especially towards my adopted mother, the one that took me in.
So we had a lot of conflict there and a lot of stuff wasn’t ever resolved because I was so young and I had a hard time articulating how it was feeling. She had a hard time understanding because, you know, she was only 18 when she took me. So she had no experience about this kind of stuff. So it just kind of festered and festered and got worse and worse. And I went deeper and deeper into my, you know, my thing here with all this, you know, rock and roll, punk and rock and heavy metal, all that kind of stuff. And she was trying to learn as an apparent and all that kind of stuff. So it really exploded by the time I got into my adulthood. And when I turned like 18 and I was about to graduate high school, actually got thrown out. So then I was completely on my own. Like, and that’s a whole other story. But yeah, so it was, it was kind of rough. Let me put it that way.
From childhood dreams to a defined career path, hear how a pivotal moment led Ernie to embrace the world of audio engineering and dedicate his life to perfecting sound. Let me give it to you shortly. I think I got into audio engineering because of my beginning with playing guitar, right? So starting with music. I had an older brother, my biological older brother. He picked up guitar. I think he played in a, like he played in the Sunday church. It was like a youth service and stuff in the morning. And I remember attending his church when I was like 11 or 12 or something. And it was cool to see him like on the stage, if you will, you know, playing guitar and all that kind of stuff. And I think that planted the seed to, hey, you know, maybe you want to be just like your brother and play guitar, that kind of thing. So I think that’s how it started.
And then I had a grandmother that, you know, wanted to encourage me in my interest and stuff. So when I mentioned it, she ended up buying me a guitar for when I was 13 and kind of stuff. So it kind of led from there. And as I moved into my adulthood, as I got into this type of music, that’s the kind of stuff I learned how to play. Eventually as I get into ending high school and going on this journey where it was kind of kicked out of the house, I was also surrounded by a bunch of other individuals that liked that kind of stuff. So I continued to play music. And then by the time I finally moved back home a little bit more in my adulthood, early life, I was like 2021. That’s all I had. I’ve longed to music most of my life and all that time. I put a lot of my emphasis there. So it just made sense to kind of get into music and audio engineering because they kind of go hand in hand. Although I did have a lot of dreams. I wanted to get into graphic design and do like video games and build that kind of stuff. But I wasn’t articulate enough in the sense that I didn’t like drawing, which ironically is what you would do if you’re a video game creator. You have to do all these kind of things. And it was a lot easier to get into music. So that’s a long story short. But yeah, I think it started with me playing guitar and here we are. I’m still doing music.
When Ernie was younger, his brother made a big impact in his life. But there was also a big development going on in the music industry in California at this time. This played a big role in influencing him to pursue a career in the music industry. Yeah, yeah. I think it was a little bit of, I mean, at least playing guitar. I know it was because of my brother. I want to be like your older brother. I want to be as cool as him and all that kind of stuff. So I definitely looked up to him, even though our relationship was strained and I didn’t see him very often. He wasn’t like a constant thing in my life. But the little moments I did have with him was that kind of stuff. At least for the music, I think that demographic of music, that genre focuses, I want to say solely and maybe correct me if I’m wrong or others that are kind of in this. But it focuses on those types of emotions, that aggression that you have, that emptiness that you have, this longing to feel like you belong somewhere, all that kind of stuff.
So the music I was taking in, especially in the early 2000s, there was quite a boom in just music making in general. You can see the literal shift in the music industry that was like, there was all these successful bands that record companies were taken care of and putting out to the masses and then simultaneously all these like at your home studio kind of things started popping up. And with the boom of the internet with things like social media just starting like MySpace, there were these brand new bands that were building off the building blocks from before them. So at least in my world, I clung to that music already and then that music went through this dramatic change because now it was transferred over to just individuals like myself, young people like myself, and they were making music and they were doing whatever they wanted to do and it was an amazing time to be listening to this kind of stuff because it was just happening all around you. So I think that’s why I clung to it. It got me when I was young, it was something I already had an interest in and then as I was growing, I just kept seeing it change and I was like, wow, this is just powerful, things are just happening so quickly.
Now we have subgenres, subgenres and these people are almost so close to touch and social media was the very first time. It’s like, wow, this band is only down the road, like they’re based out of here or this person’s over there and it was an interesting time. But I think that’s why I clung to music because it was so real and so attainable. Ernie was not a Christian at this point in time. He would give his heart to Christ when he was 22, but back when he was 21, he started to study audio production. Yeah, so I just turned 21 and I had to move back home, I exhausted all the places when I was homeless and I lost a job and I had nowhere else to go so I went back home. And so it was about 21 and I had rolled into a college down the road or down in San Bernardino so it’s a little farther. But yeah, they had an audio program and a million dollar studio and I was like, oh, I can do music, I play guitar, all that kind of stuff and they kind of sold me on the idea, you know, graduates from this college, they end up in million dollar studios or they end up doing live sound gigging, you know, they do big concerts and all that kind of stuff and it seemed too good to be true and I signed up for it and just kind of dove head first into learning production and what that looks like in this generation with the digital audio workstations, if you will. So what did you end up doing with that initially? Yeah, I didn’t do much. I was going through the motions in my life at this moment. Like, I had the interest in audio engineering but I was kind of doing it out of obligation.
One of my stipulations for coming back home after I turned 21 was like I needed a job or to get into college. So I did both of them so I had some security. So I kind of went into it a little blind and just kind of going to flow and just hoping that it kind of worked out. But as I was studying, I was realizing that this was intuitively creative, it challenges me, it’s quite difficult in some parts and I just love this. I love creating things. Like it was like this playground of whatever you can come up with, whatever you can physically record, whatever you can manipulate it to, you can just make it happen. And so as I’m going through school, I started to really like enjoy the process of recording and throwing sounds together and just being creative. All of a sudden now I can do something. It was like being introduced to Legos all over again. It’s just like, I can just building blocks, I can make something. So yeah, it led me down the path and I definitely wanted to get into recording but I was totally happy to get into live sound if all else failed. I would do geeking. That would be totally fine with me. What started off as a curiosity ended up being a lifelong passion. I only loved to use those creative energies to make stuff and record other people’s music. Yeah. Yeah, from there I got into recording other musicians and that kind of stuff, getting started with that and quite enjoyed it. I really enjoyed post-production with sound design and all that kind of stuff but it’s a field that is very competitive and it was actually a lot easier to record other musicians than try to be a sound design person but I still enjoy it quite a bit. Whenever I can do it I try to.
When Ernie crossed paths with his wife Laura, their connection wasn’t just about love, it was about a shared passion for music. Prepared to be inspired by their heartwarming love story and the powerful way their talents intertwined. Yeah, so I met her around the time I moved back home, so roughly 2021, that kind of thing. As I enrolled into college, one of my best friends at the time because I usually only have one core friend, he actually got a job next to this pizzeria and I was a big pot smoker. I was in the scene, man. I was in the world and he had this job at a smoke shop that was literally attached to this, I don’t know, triplex so all of the businesses were on one side of the building so it was a water place and there was a smoke shop and then it was this pizzeria and a barber. So what else do you need in life, right? Food and a good haircut and some hydro therapy. I don’t know.
But it turns out my wife, Laura, as a traveling musician, her brother, her half brother actually owned the pizzeria with him and his wife and she was on tour down there and she was working at the pizzeria one day and I happened to be at my friend’s smoke shop because it was his first day on the job and Laura comes outside and I saw her, she saw me and then she went back inside. I guess we were a little intimidating. But long story short, I ended up going in, getting a pizza, sort of talking to her. She had her own CD out on the front desk and she was selling CDs while she was in town and I was like, you sell CDs, you’re a musician. She was like, yeah, I do this. I’m a traveling missionary, I go to church to church and I was like, I’m an audio engineer. I’m in the school, like 20, 30 minutes down the road. If you need someone to record you, I could be that guy. There’s a million dollar studio, we can get that done. So I gave her my number, come to find out. She just threw it in the trash but what can you do? But that’s kind of how it started. I got to know her. I found out a friend of mine actually from high school was working at the pizzeria also. So my best friend was next door at the smoke shop. I had an old friend from high school in the pizzeria, Laura’s this musician and they were doing things all the time with the pizzeria so I just kept showing up and I became one with the family there and occasionally would work for them and that kind of stuff. That led to other things. I don’t know how far you want to go with the story but that’s how we met my wife.
Her partnership would develop after they recorded a track together. Ernie and Laura began by collaborating musically, creating beautiful harmonies together. Yeah, it did work out. As I was getting into finals week I needed to record an artist and I didn’t know anybody at the time that I could record any person that I did know they already had recorded with a different student. So I was like, who am I going to do? I was like, hey Laura, I really need you to do a solid like this is just for a grade. It doesn’t have to be perfect. I just need to record something and edit it. Would you mind doing that with me? She was like, sure, I would love to see what a studio looks like. It could be a good experience for her. It’d be good for me. So we went in and we actually did a cover of Hallelujah. I forget the original author but most of us know the one from Buck something. He plays guitar and it’s that big Hallelujah song. So I played it on acoustic guitar and then she sang right there in the vocal booth just like the first couple of verses in a chorus. So technically we have a recording in a million dollar studio together as a couple, as a team if you will. But no one’s ever heard it except for us. Yeah, yeah, more or less it was music oriented.
As I look back now I think it’s really similar to like Johnny Cash’s story when he met his wife. He was already doing music and his wife does music. He was like a bad boy from the world that had this conversion because of his wife and all that kind of stuff. So I think it’s pretty cool and how we travel and do it together, it’s powerful. Their music has taken them on incredible adventures. Get ready to travel alongside Ernie and Laura as they share stories of their music ministry journey. I can do it. I’ll give it to you short. It started as we got married. That’s the short answer. But you can imagine I went through a conversion experience because of certain circumstances and studying the Bible for myself. So that eventually led me to finish up my college. I got my degree. I got an associate’s degree in audio science. And then I made the very abrupt decision to leave California and move up to Washington with Laura and her family. And for about a year, maybe a year and a half, maybe a little less, me and her worked on two albums back to back.
So for that year, we were getting to know one another, we were thinking about the prospects of marriage, but we’re working on music together for almost a whole year. And at the end of that, we finished two albums. We did a duet album with a friend of hers that is a musician who plays guitar. His name is Darryl Sawyer. A fantastic guy. I love him. His music’s great. And then me and Laura finished up her first album that we did together called In the Garden. And then as we were like, she was going to go on tour again, which was going to be like nine months or something long. She was like, I can’t go on tour if we’re not married or together. Like we can’t do it together unless we’re an actual couple. And then we were like, wow, maybe we should just get married. Doesn’t that just make sense? If we’re going to continue to do this, let’s just do it now and get it done. So ironically, the family and me and Laura, we were thinking about getting married. We’re not sure if this is the right thing to do. What do you guys think about this? And they were like, well, I mean, that’s what you’ve been here to do, right? You’ve been spending time with us. You’ve gotten to know Laura. You’ve learned a lot as a new Christian. Let’s pray about it for a week. And then after that, we’ll see what happens. So we prayed Sabbath a Sabbath basically, so seven days straight. And by the time we got to that next Sabbath, everybody had a general consensus that this is exactly what the Lord wants. No one had any impressions that this wasn’t right or this wasn’t the right thing for us to do. So we made that decision then and there. Let’s get married. And we had about three months before she was going to go on tour. So we made the very first stop of the very first church, the place where we were going to get married. And so we got married Saturday. We did a concert there Sunday, and we just haven’t stopped doing concerts since.
So as soon as we got married, we got into ministry together, and we just continued to go on. And we sold those two records that we made together that whole year before we got married. So that’s how we began. And that’s, you know, here we are seven years later, and we’re still making records and doing music and traveling. From humble beginnings to a successful ministry, you’re going to discover how God’s provision has been woven into every step of their journey from acquiring equipment to reaching new people. Yeah. So how do I put this? So as Laura was touring before we were married and we were going to work on that album, she had done some fundraisers at her concerts. So she was like flying here and there and doing big events. And she saved enough money to just buy the essential, so an interface, a microphone, you know, cables and that kind of thing. And then I used a tax return that I had from working to buy a decent computer about like a 2015 MacBook. And it was perfect for what we needed. And so with that, we just kind of started recording. We used, we used scrap things around the house to build our first sound booth. And we bought some sound panels, some super cheap ones. And we just got recording. But as we got into ministry, there was other needs.
So as a traveling musician, you would definitely need some type of PA system, right, to perform and that kind of thing. So that was one of the bigger ones. We also needed a vehicle. So as we got married, we also, we took all the money that we didn’t really spend on our wedding because everybody was super cheap and the church was free and the people there were, that’s all a whole other story. But all the, you know, the gifts we got from that, we used that money to buy our first car together. And it was a bigger SUV and it was perfect for us. And then as we were traveling, we’re really needing to get a PA. And we went to a local church down in San Francisco and there happened to be an audio engineer there that also does piano music. So he’s like, he was trained in piano music, but he does a lot of audio stuff. I can’t remember because it was so many years ago. But as we were talking to him and we were mentioning what we’re trying to do with our ministry, you know, where we’re at right now, he was like, I have a bunch of PA systems that I don’t really use very often. I have a few different, you know, variations. I’ve used them for things in the church. Some churches, you know, helped me buy it and this event and that event. Would you mind, you know, would you want one of these things? And me and Laura was like, absolutely, like this would be perfect for us. We’ve been praying about this for weeks, weeks and months. And so our very first PA system was gifted to us by a fellow musician and we used that PA system for the next year and a half or so before we can save up enough to buy a better one if you will. And so it’s been a lot of that. It’s just like, Lord, we’re in need of this. It’s out of our control to obtain it. Please help us. And every step of the way, the Lord has made it very possible for us to obtain those things, whether it be microphones, whether it be other cars, whether it be equipment and, you know, monitors and computers, like all of that, the Lord has just opened up the way as needed for us.
And we just make good decisions that will last. Like we’re not buying the cheap stuff of it just to get by, but making quality purchases and they’ve carried us in the ministry and it’s been great. Seven years of marriage and ministry have brought countless blessings and achievements. Join Ernie as he reflects on some of the most significant milestones and moments that have shaped the path. The bigger things we have accomplished, I mean, me and Laura have put out, you know, nine records in seven years, which in and of ourselves, I mean, you ask any other musician that has been in crazy, crazy amount of content, if you will. Most musicians don’t do stuff like that. They put out, you know, a record every couple years. We’ve bumped more than one out almost every year, which is just nuts and crazy, I guess. But so that’s one of the bigger things we have accomplished. We’ve also really established ourselves as is more than just a music ministry, I think, especially now as we’re getting into the later years of our ministry. We still do music that is our sole focus is around music, but we have found ourselves throughout the years of going to churches and doing concerts, that the churches are in great need of uplifting music.
Yes, sometimes they’ll take home, something they’ll meditate upon. But when you do events like that, those in person events, it’s more of a time of reconciliation, not only with you and the audience, but people of the congregation are in need too. Also there’s a great need for reform in our churches and people’s lives. And then on top of all that, as we’ve traveled and met so many people, people are going through a lot. There’s a lot of tragedies. There’s a lot of difficulties, a lot of strife and whatever facet that comes in, whether it be, you know, personal things, family things, church oriented things, which happens quite a lot. It’s kind of those things we wanted to focus on as we do concerts. So I think as professionals, we’ve really realized the need of the music we produce and the reason we’re making these songs, they all have to have purpose and meaning behind them. It just can’t be a collection of songs that we like or we think that others are going to like. It has to have its own mission. So as me and Laura have made all these records, we’ve made it a great point to, every time we do an album, it has a purpose.
So as we moved from just doing music, we got into like one of our first big albums that we really focused this idea on is called Redeeming Love. And it goes through Desire of Ages with subsequently songs that tie into each of the chapters of the Desire of Ages. So you go from the crucifixion all the way down to, you know, the second coming of the Lord, right? And we had narrations of the Desire of Ages in between songs that are like all tied together. And then we finished that record, we moved on to another one. We were like, let’s make a children’s album, but not children’s music where it’s all hokey pokey, you know, like too kiddish. So let’s make something that’s mature enough that children will love, but it will be adult enough that they will also be able to grow up with it. So we moved this, we did this children’s album and that led us to our next album and our next album. So it’s, I think those are the big pivotal things we have achieved with our music. It went from just like being a hobby and like being popular songs into like the music itself is a mission. And what we do with this is a mission. And as long as we say mission minded, the Lord has opened up incredible opportunities to reach others with the gospel and with reconciliation and all these kinds of things. And that’s what we want to solely focus on, especially now as we’re getting into the later half of our music missionary journey, if you will.
Of course, no journey is without its share of laughter and learning experiences. Over the years, it has helped them realize the calling that God has for their lives. So many things have happened for us. I mean, from cars breaking down in the middle of nowhere and the Lord worked it out. And we got it fixed and moved on the way to albums we could not afford. Then a donation comes in that totally covers it. I mean, it just, the list goes on prayers that are answered. I had a lot of reservations as I got into the early years of our ministry. This is, you know, Laura’s thing. Laura has been doing, by the time I met her, she was doing this like for eight years straight. So as I come into working with her and also being married to one other, it was my purpose, or at least I thought it was my purpose, to just support her in her music the best I can. So anytime we went to a church, I ran PA systems. I helped the church like to fix audio. And I was just the guy behind the scenes. But I think the, as Laura would want it, and as she was realizing this, she wanted me to be more a part of the ministry. So we did something together and it wasn’t so much focused on her. So people are coming to see her because she is the musician and people love her music. You know what I mean? It’s only possible because we are working together.
So I think one of the biggest things that the Lord has done and it was, because Lord also prompted me. So I think the Lord worked through her is to bring me more, I don’t want to say upstage with her, but like to bring us in the same place where we’re actually a team. And it wasn’t just like one person’s the face. Now we’re doing it together. And because of that, that whole shift of me, you know, I thought I should just be the background person and run audio. But Laura and the Lord, I guess, they wanted to me to actually share my story. That’s when I think our ministry has taken the biggest turn towards the direction of being more effectual, if you will, because we’re sharing our story together. I’m sharing with other people what it’s like for me to be a convert. A lot of the churches, you know, they don’t think about these kinds of stuff. Or it’s been so long that they’ve had new converts come into the church. When I come in, it’s like, Oh, this is why we need to be a living church. This is why we have to, you know, actually spread the gospel for people like me that were so destitute and we’re going through all these things. And it just took, you know, Christian sharing the gospel with with a person like him and his whole life change, you know, kind of thing.
So I think that’s the by far the biggest thing that the Lord has done. I did make a YouTube video on one of the biggest stories, I guess, how the Lord kind of saved our house as we were built in a house. I would definitely encourage anybody that’s listening to go check that out. I think it is titled that how the Lord’s saved our house or something. Yeah, it’s a great video about impossible things that God set up like weeks before. And it’s that’s pretty cool. So I definitely check that out. Ernie had a passion for helping to improve the media of the church because he witnessed the change that has been taking place in the audio world. He wanted to help the church catch up to the technology, but he realized that God had another calling for his life. Yeah. Yeah. And it took some time to realize that. And I think I knew that as I became a convert and came into the church, I did see the church had a great need for dealing with media based stuff. Like it just seemed like they were behind the times or they just were not utilizing it. Like, you know what I mean? Like, like I started when we first started talking here, like I in my generation, I’ve seen how technology has literally changed in that course of those 10, 15 years from the internet, you know, into the digital age. And it seemed like the churches were only stuck in like 20 years ago, which is like, Hey, we’re you’re 20 years behind and so much has happened. And as an audio engineer, someone that deals with media stuff all day, you guys need to know this because it’s only going to get more important for you to understand this. So I thought I was doing a better job just being behind the scenes. And I thought I was doing good. And I was to tell you the truth. But as Lord has brought me forward, I think now people are really paying attention and seeing and as we as me and Laura continue to do media based things, it’s becoming more apparent. And the demographic that churches is changing to we have younger people coming in and some some of the older people are finally finally allowing things to change all that kind of stuff. So but that is a different topic.
Now it’s time for our tech corner break. Tech enthusiasts get ready. Ernie shares his favorite audio gear and tech essentials. Tune in for valuable insights and recommendations that can elevate your own music ministry. Yeah, I have like three answers here. Like my quality cables, like quality cables will last. I have had this one cable for seven years and it’s never given me any problems. I wrap it correctly. It has just lasted I beat this thing up and it still works and there’s no problems with it. So don’t buy cheap things because they will break on you and you’ll be replacing them and in the end you’ll spend more money. So by quality cables, when you get into music ministry, that kind of thing, I would aim to buy better audio interfaces. I know there are some that are less than $100 and it looks really appealing, but they’re noisy and they will give you other problems when you get into mixing, all that kind of stuff later. And though these converters and the audios and the kind of things are way better than it was 10, 20, 15 years ago, they still can sell you stuff that isn’t great. So again, kind of re-emphasizing by quality things. So get a really good interface. It doesn’t have to cost you too much, but if you get a really good interface and you have sort of a cheaper mic, it’ll sound better. If you get a really bad interface and you have a really expensive mic, well, that expensive mic’s not going to sound good because the interface is not good. So it’s kind of one of those things. So I think those two are probably the tech corner kind of side of stuff. Good quality cables and then a very good audio interface. And of course, as you round it out, by solid headphones that are actually meant for mixing audio or editing audio, don’t use consumer headphones like beats or AirPods or stuff that is only meant for listening to music. You need to get headphones that are dedicated to editing music. That is made the biggest change in our ministry and most people I talk to, that’s one of the first things I share with them. And it makes all the world a difference as you’re getting into this space.
Their music ministry continues to inspire many people around the globe. They are working on some interesting projects. So let’s explore some of them. Absolutely. Right now we’re currently in between three projects. The first one being the biggest project that I’ve ever worked on. So in my life as I’ve got into the media field, I actually picked up doing video editing, videography if you will. And that’s a whole story. I basically got into it because I thought it’d be cool to make vlogs and stuff for YouTube and my family because I’ve never traveled outside of California and all that kind of stuff. And then that eventually led into, hey, you can still use videos as it means a mission too. So that led me doing topical videos and led me to focusing on that kind of stuff. All that to say, right now in my project that I’m working on, this really big project, I’ve actually gone back and I’ve interviewed both my biological mom and my adopted family and my sister. And I’m putting together this four part or four episode series, a video series of my entire testimony. So there’s a lot of other moving factors in my life. Why was I adopted? What were the circumstances? What was going on in both of my mother’s lives? Why did you give me up? Or why did my adopted mother embrace me? And I got their stories and I learned a lot as I’m looking back on my life and hearing from them personally that there were so many unforeseen things that I didn’t know about. And I wish I would have known them when I was younger because it would have brought me a lot of understanding at the time. But because I was young and because they were trying to figure out life still and all that kind of stuff, it got pushed back and eventually that’s what led me down my path and whatever.
So I’m working on this huge project. It’s already been almost a year and two months and I’m still working on it. I have one episode left and I’m going to try to finish it this summer. So that’s our biggest project right now. And then for me, Laura, of course, we’re pumping out new albums. So we were secretly doing this, I guess it’s not so much a secret now, but we’re doing a Christmas album or a holiday album this year. It’s not necessarily a Christmas. I’m not supposed to say that. I always talk to Laura about that, but it’s focused around those kind of thematic things of the holidays, if you will. And so that’s a really big one. And then the next one immediately after that follows the lines of what I was talking about earlier with the redeeming love that was Desire of Ages and then Songs. Laura has had this idea that we should do the great controversy and then do a list of songs with that. So we’re going to go and put basically an album together, 10 to 13, 14 songs that tie together the whole great controversy and we’re going to get somebody to narrate it. We’re looking really high. We’re aiming really high. We have a pretty high list person we would like to hire. We don’t know how much they’re going to cost or if it’s going to be possible, but he would be a grade for us. If not, we have some other plans. So basically, yeah, That’s on the Horizon is a great controversy album and that’ll go through the whole story condensed, of course, and then have these corresponding songs that will tie together with the history of the great controversy, you know, the reformers and all that kind of stuff and how the Lord has led through the generations to the very end of time where we are right now. So those are our big three right now and we’re getting so close I can almost taste it, but it just takes time.
You know, this concept is time consuming over the past two years, he has been teaching audio engineering classes. He shares his experience. Yeah, so Heartland College reached out to me, I think three years ago. And from what I understand, they had someone that was teaching audio, but he had other obligations this one year and they were kind of scrambling to find an audio engineer. And it happened that I think a fellow musician, a friend of Laura’s that she’s worked with many years ago or has heard about her music. I’m not quite sure now had recommended, you know, me because he knew that I was an engineer. And so they reached out and I was like, yeah, I’d be more than willing to teach. You know, I enjoy doing audio. I’ve done a lot of teaching, traveling on the road, you know, I do a lot of live sound teaching because a lot of sound boards aren’t really set up correctly when you go to church. That’s a whole other story. But they’re, they looked at my resume, they saw, you know, I made at that point, you know, four or five records that my YouTube channel had a lot of videos and they, they felt like they knew me all that kind of stuff. So I took the job and it was fun. That first year was great. I put together a whole syllabus and it really regrounded me in my roots, you know, because as you get into a field of type of work, you kind of forget the basics. So as I was putting together my lesson plan, like, so as I was putting together my lesson plan, I actually was like reaffirming the things that I learned from school and putting it together also made me a better engineer because it was like going back to the fundamentals and kind of stuff.
So I’ve taught there two years now. I’ve just finished, like I think today was one of my last classes at Heartland for the, for the trimester or whatever. So I’ll probably teach then again there next year or the year after something like that. And it’s been good. I love teaching education. This is something the church needs. It’s something I’ve noticed a long time ago. Here was an opportunity to teach and I absolutely took it and I just try to teach as much as possible. So if anything else comes up like that, I will probably be very open to sharing what I can, what I can, you know. Not only does he want to help educate the church about audio engineering, but he also wants to explore the possibility of working on audio projects in the Seventh Day Adventist Church. Well, I’ll start by saying I don’t know if there is any huge audio based projects going on in the church right now. So maybe that’s on my end. I’m not looking close enough. But I think just because of something that I enjoy doing, I think I would love to do something post-production oriented with whatever film or short story or documentary that the church may be working on or something like that. I personally would wish that they were doing something more in the, like another digital space. Like so, like I said, I wanted to get into video game design. I think our message and the truth that had been passed down to us would translate very well if someone built like a Bible oriented game, a video game of some sorts. And I would love to be someone that’s a part of something like that, to do sound design for that kind of stuff. Or even if it wasn’t that, move into doing music with one of the more popular musicians in our church. I think doing a big project like that would be incredible to be a part of and all that kind of stuff.
But yeah, so I think one of those two, whether it be the sound design realm of post-production or getting into actually recording music, I think that’d be incredible. If they revamped recording, you know, the audio books for the conflict series and stuff, I would love to be a part of that job or doing testimonies or something. But as far as I know, I don’t know if the church is doing stuff like that right now. So yeah. Doors are opening for earning to get into public speaking. He and Laura have a passion for sharing their story with the youth in the church. They want to help people who struggle with the same problems that they have faced. He relates this to me. Right now, I think right now the Lord’s leading us to do more work, ironically, but kind of in the sense that as we’ve been traveling musicians, we focus primarily on doing concerts. But as I’ve come into being more upfront and getting more comfortable, I think the Lord is kind of leading me into the same kind of direction that Christian Riddall kind of went. I don’t know if you know anything about his ministry, but he kind of started as a musician and then transitioned to being a public speaker. And I think that’s definitely how the Lord is kind of leading us with our different backgrounds as I’m a convert, as Laura has grown up in the church. I think we can do a lot of good for generational Adventists or generational Christians and for people that are new to the church or people that are converts that this is their first time really being exposed to these things because both of those fields have pitfalls and trials and problems that only Lord can relate to or only I can relate to. And us together to put something together that’s more public speaking oriented or topical, I think would be very beneficial.
As the Lord is leading, I think that’s kind of the direction that we’re going. And especially as I finish up this DVD project or this four-part video series that probably leave into other family oriented ministry, there’s a lot of adopted parents out there that are looking for questions, have kids that are going through the same thing that I’m going through during my story and they need some guidance, they need some help and all that kind of stuff. So I think that’s where we’re headed. I don’t know. To be sure, ultimately things can change. I could just end up being overseas missionary if the Lord wants it. I don’t know. But that’s what it looks like right now. Are you considering to become a sound engineer? Ernie Shears the need of high quality engineers and ministry, whether you’re a seasoned pro or just starting out. You won’t want to miss his practical advice and heartfelt encouragement. Yeah, I would say go for it. There hasn’t been a time that it’s been more accessible, cheaper even. I would even go so far that it’s a cheaper field to get into. It’s just all about actually doing it. Just literally doing it. It’s going to be difficult in the beginning because you’re going to make mistakes and you don’t know, you don’t have that experience under your belt. I was there too, even getting out of college. I still didn’t feel very sure of myself as an engineer. But Laura needed albums done. We needed I was the person that was supposed to get it done, that kind of thing. So just practice, practice, practice, take on all the projects that you can. The reason why you don’t burn yourself out, that kind of thing. And just run with it.
It gets easier the more you do it. You learn what type of engineer or person you are or all that kind of stuff. The Lord will open up avenues for you if this is exactly what you need. I know and maybe you know also that there’s a need for individuals like us, especially in the audio world and even more so even in the video world. So if you can learn both or you have only an interest in audio, there is a place for you not only within the church but within the work of God and the working for people to be in the kingdom. And this is a field that is, it needs you. I need you. You know, the Lord needs you man. Yeah, I think what really encouraged me that I can see that it could be plausible in the beginning was I was introduced to Christian Bertol ironically and the first time I met him I was in Christian all that kind of stuff and I ended up talking to him and he’s a musician at heart but he had a media based background and from what I understand if you look at his testimony you know him as a person. He ran this video company where he would do like these events and he would be the guy like you know with these big rig cameras to do live shows and conferences and all these kind of like bigger kind of things and then as he went through his conversion because of an event that he did ironically he saw it that well hey I’m a pretty decent musician, I do theater, let me make you know Christian albums, Christian music and he made a bunch of albums and he did really well and then that led him into doing more media things like he wanted to do more videos so he started doing topical things, topical sermons, topical things and that led him to have a full-fledged ministry that not only was media based but also had that emphasis on music so when I was talking to him especially in the beginning of my career I can see that it is working like it was working for him to be a musician and to be a public speaker and for someone like me at the time I wasn’t a public speaker but I had a musician you know Laura was the musician of this and the music side was functioning just fine she just needed someone like me to continue to further her music because she could only take it so far as an individual and with my expertise in professional training we can take this to an evolution that is much better than where we are now so I would say be encouraged to understand that people like me, people like Christian Bredal, people like even yourself that are in this field it is working and we are you know some of us are overworked I know I have plenty of projects I can’t take on because I just don’t have that many hours in the day so it can be done, it has been done, it is working and if the Lord is calling you to it you shouldn’t have any fear in that because the Lord will take care of it right it is his mission, his ministry we are just instruments in his orchestra and if you want to play beautiful music that is the way to do it, it is with the Lord.
Hey man God is in charge of his work that is for sure and you know just wrapping up the conversation here it seems to me like this is going to be a medium which God is going to use mightily in order to continue to share his word with other people you know of course we need to balance it out with relationships and communities as well and kind of engage with communities and help them to access these technologies in order to really enhance the outreach of the church so I guess that is kind of why I am also reaching out with other churches and individuals as well and the church to really hear from them and see what their ministry is and learn from their ministries and I just really appreciate the lessons that you brought out today and I think you can learn a great lesson from your testimony just as a lay person is a new convert from the church coming into the church and coming into music ministry as you have done it really I think it opens windows of opportunities for what can be done for young people today so just really appreciate you man and may God bless you continue to use you amazing ways in the future you and your wife and just continue to keep you guys in prayer. I appreciate it brother it has been a journey you know I went traded for the world and we have had to learn we have learned a lot in these last couple of years but I have learned as we travel as we do what we do like it is only possible because the Lord has opened up the way he has made us able he has encouraged us even when we fail or we don’t do a great job he has lifted us up he has covered us from our mistakes all these kinds of things and it is really all because of him that I am even here that the Lord has even done ministry and you know the music that we get to produce together and make like how it affects people it is not us it is him he is the one working through us and you know the Lord has written songs that have come out of nowhere because the Lord needed a song for someone out there all this kind of stuff so yeah it has been a journey and the Lord has just all grace and power be to him and blessing be because of him and yeah so if anybody is in this field or wants to get in this field it can be done the Lord wants to use you don’t be afraid you know what the future might hold it doesn’t have to turn out the same way it did for me like as an engineer you don’t have to become a public speaker like you know that kind of thing it is okay but like you can encourage others like myself to be better public speakers better musicians have higher quality music and that starts with you and your expertise and just you and your practice and your experience and that can start today it can start a year ago it can be right now you know what I mean so continue on keep keeping on I guess and I will do the same and we’ll be in the kingdom together God willing of course that’s Ernie Hernandez a sound engineer who’s using his talents to make a big difference in the world and thank you for tuning in to Adventist Waves we hope this episode of Adventist Waves has given you a fresh perspective on how media can be a powerful tool for ministry if you enjoy today’s conversation don’t forget to subscribe leave a review and connect with us on social media you can also support our work directly by becoming a patron at patreon.com forward slash Adventist underscore waves your generosity enables us to produce more high quality content and reach a wider audience special thanks to our production team at Blue Vineyard Audio and our producer editor mixer and sound designer Khan Elmer’s we’ll see you next week as we continue to explore the art of sharing the gospel through sound Adventist Waves.
