BALTIMORE, MD – The New Light Church, named in 1957, moved into a church in 1999 that was then more than 130 years old. In Sept. 2007, the vacant structure was heavily damaged during from a fire that broke out after roof repairs. Although prized stained glass windows were lost, no one was injured, and during the rebuilding process, church leaders took the opportunity to include a new sound system. Connectivity Group LLC designed and installed the system, which includes Tannoy VQ 100, V8 and V6 loudspeakers.
More details from TC Group Americas (www.tannoy.com):
New Light Church outfitted with Tannoy VQ loudspeakers…
Initially established by Rev. Ellison Witherspoon and like-minded laity in 1957 as the New Light Baptist Church, the church officially changed its name to New Light Church: Ministry of St. Luke 4:18-19, Inc., in 1990. But although the church – now located in Baltimore MD's historic Highlandtown neighborhood – has altered its name and changed locations over time, their mandate of ministering to youth, particularly through music, remains at the very heart of their ministry.
Since its inception, the church has been known for the quality of its congregation's collective voice and with good reason. New Light's elders and congregation believe strongly that worship should always be dynamic and expressive, regardless of whether that worship involves the simple act of lifting hands in praise, the celebration of the gospel through a dramatic recitation of scripture, or through the musical performances of its choir and praise band.
Completed in mid-2009 and designed and installed by Adamstown, Maryland based, A/V system design/integrator, Connectivity Group LLC, the audio system now inhabiting New Light depends heavily on Tannoy loudspeakers to enable the church to continue to serve that mandate – in both speech and song – more effectively than ever.
The project, explains Connectivity Group's founder/owner John Saunders, who designed the system, was part of an overall rebuild made necessary by catastrophic damage from a recent fire. As a result, the project involved a complete replacement of New Light's A/V systems that, in keeping with New Light's emphasis on dynamic, multi-faceted worship, had to speak well to the reinforcement of speech and program music, a gospel choir and a full electric praise band.
"There really wasn't much in there before," Saunders says, "and I think they were looking at getting a new system before the fire." But while the church knew they wanted high quality audio reinforcement, they weren't entirely certain what type of system to install to meet their requirements and budget. Ultimately, Saunders specified one Tannoy VQ 100, one V8 and 2 V6s for the main system, as well as various third party products to provide onstage monitoring.
Initially the project also called for an extensive video component, including a variety of cameras and other infrastructure with broadcast/video editing capabilities, but that was pared down to a less complex video projection system.
Originally Saunders intended to use a VQ 60, but after EASE modeling the room found the coverage offered by a single VQ 100 – hung as a centre fill, 20' high, to cover the lion's share of the room – was preferable in this application. To fill out the coverage a single V8 was hung from the ceiling in the rear centre of the sanctuary to cover a small, approximately 12' deep balcony at the back of the room. The two V6s were mounted on columns located at either corner of the stage roughly 6' high, and angled slightly to the left and right to provide front/side fill.
The challenges that informed Saunders' choices were substantial. While not a huge space, he explains – estimating the capacity of the room at between two and three hundred people – it was a highly reverberant one. "It was all hard surfaces; with wooden pews, stained glass windows down the side and the whole back wall has a huge stained glass window. With the VQ, because of its pattern control, I could minimize what I was throwing at the back wall, and it's a clean looking box."
While the room didn't require an incredibly complex system, aesthetics were of key importance, and the VQ 100 allowed Saunders to cover the majority of the room with a single loudspeaker. The Dual Concentric design of the V series played into his decision as well, Saunders notes, as did his familiarity with Tannoy. "I've worked with the Tannoys before. I like the design, how they install and the look of them. They've also been a pretty responsive company and I like the rep, Charles Cassell, of Audio Associates."
The lack of budget for acoustic treatments also spoke to both Saunders choice of Tannoy and his overall design. "That was another reason I chose the VQ 100 and those smaller fill speakers. Rather than having one big cluster cover the whole room, I was able to cover the main seating area, and cover it so tight, that I could put in the V6s and V8 to fill in where the main speaker didn't quite hit."
"I like the wide coverage of the VQ," he continues, "and the fact that it's a three-way box so I can get clarity of speech. But it also provides a little bit of punch, with more low end that I typically can get from a two-way box." Additional low end, Saunders says, is provided via two dB Technologies Sub 15s.
Other system elements Saunders specified include three Crest CC1800 amplifiers, Sabine Navigator NAV360-SU DSP and an Allen & Heath ZED-436 console, placed at the rear of the main congregation seating area on the main floor. The amplifiers, a TASCAM CD player, a separate TASCAM CD recorder and DSP are all housed at that FOH position in an enclosure custom built by the church.
The church's mic package has also been substantially upgraded, and consists of a Shure ULXS wireless system with four SM58 handheld transmitters for soloists, a Shure ULXS body pack transmitter, three Shure SM81 condenser mics for the choir, one Shure WL185 lav mic and an MX218 gooseneck mic at the pulpit.
A dB Technologies Twin 128 is hung behind the VQ as an overall stage fill and is augmented by two EAW SM109z floor monitors and an Aviom system for the choir and band.
Connectivity Group's approach, in every case, says Saunders, is to provide maximum transparency in meeting their client's needs. An ethic served by working closely with their customers at each stage of a project to keep them informed of any variables that may affect their choices – with an eye to meeting their needs and budget and easing their minds about what is often a worryingly large purchase.
That ethic of customer service has been a part of Saunders' approach to his career from early on, when he began working in a music store while still very young. "I migrated to the pro audio side of the business rather than the guitars and instruments," he says, and by the time he left the store, four years on, he was managing their pro audio side and doing installs at local schools and churches.
He hadn't planned on opening his own company right away, he says, but after a brief stint as an installer at another local integrator in 2002, when a local church called him to help them out, he had to. Since then, Connectivity Group has grown consistently and continues to, serving the Maryland, D.C. and Virginia markets in virtually every sector of the install market; from houses of worship to educational, industrial, medical and corporate facilities, through to performing arts venues and private homes. Anywhere there's a need, as their site asserts.
"We really try to figure out what our client's needs are and what best suits them. We're very open. Everything we do is line-itemed and priced individually. My philosophy is that I wouldn't want to hire a company if I couldn't see exactly what they were putting in, and what they're going to charge to put it in."
While Connectivity Group doesn't play by sticking to one manufacturer, in this case the choice of Tannoy as part of the package was important, Saunders says. But that choice was always contingent on the customer's agreement and understanding of the benefits that Tannoy's loudspeakers offered; benefits that were made clear after the Tannoy rep Saunders dealt with brought the VQ to the church to demo it, suitably impressing them. "I had to push a bit to get the Tannoy VQ in there, because it was a little more expensive, but it was worth it."
