ATASCADERO CA – The main sanctuary at Atascadero Bible Church, like many others, combines visual beauty with acoustic challenges. Joey Halderman, technical director of student ministries, has been overcoming those challenges with Countryman E6i microphones' "terrific" gain before feedback.
Both the back of the stage – all the way to the top of the 25-foot-high ceiling – and the ceiling itself are lined with acoustically-untreated California redwood. The back wall, composed of drywall with no acoustic paneling, is also 60 feet beyond the front of the stage, and it angles inwards at the sides, posing additional feedback risks.
Each Sunday, the non-denominational church offers three live worship services plus a video "overflow" service that features a live worship team. While the first service each week is traditional in nature and serves a congregation of roughly 170 people, the remaining services are contemporary and serve upwards of 1,500 worshippers.
For all services, Halderman uses the Countryman E6i Omni earset microphone, and musical instruments feed the house audio system via Countryman Type 10 direct boxes.
In addition to training and managing a team of volunteers, Halderman oversees all AV equipment and technical aspects related to the student ministries, including sound, lighting, and video. He is also the primary student ministries worship leader.
"The main worship center area fans out from the stage with approximately a 120-degree spread at a distance of 60 feet from the stage," Halderman noted. "To cover this area, we have two 15-inch, 2-way loudspeaker clusters flown on each side of the stage. This layout can be prone to feedback issues with lower quality microphones, but the Countryman E6i provides terrific gain before feedback-enabling us to achieve the levels we require."
Several E6i earset microphones are used each week in the worship center – two for the junior high and high school services and four E6i earset microphones in the church's multiuse room.
"Both our senior and youth pastors wear the E6i and love it," Halderman noted. "Its small size is very discreet, and the secure fit instills confidence. There's nothing more distracting than an earset mic that moves about while you're trying to focus on the message.
"Over the years," Halderman continued, "our church has tried many different microphones, with some models yielding better results than others. None have worked as well as our Countryman microphones. Their sound quality, clarity, and ability to deliver the levels we need in any situation have made Countryman the microphone of choice for every application."
Patching musical instruments such as guitar, bass, or keyboards into a production console can easily be another live sound challenge. If not managed properly, the Hi-Z unbalanced to Lo-Z balanced conversion process creates distortion and other audible anomalies.
To address these matters, Halderman relies on Countryman Type 10 direct boxes. "We have three Type 10 direct boxes that we use each week," said Halderman, calling them "amazing." He added that, "as our budget allows, I will be replacing every direct box in our facility with these. They are really clean and don't tweak the sound quality in any way. You get the pure, unaltered tone coming from your instrument."
Countryman microphones and direct boxes have been in use at the church for the past four years. "We've encountered very few issues with any of our Countryman products," Halderman said, but "whenever we've required assistance, Countryman's customer and technical support services have been terrific. The company has consistently been very supportive and responsive."
For more information, please visit www.countryman.com and www.abcchurch.org.
