All churches share the common goal of spreading the message. Some have a greater emphasis on spoken word; others rely more on music in any variety of styles, from liturgical to flat-out rock ‘n’ roll. Yet all houses of worship need a sound system that provides clarity, intelligibility and musicality. With that in mind, we looked at some recent installation projects.
Calvary Church, Clearwater, FL
After studying areas of improvement, Calvary Baptist Church determined its audio system did not meet the needs of the church. Issues in the wide, fan-shaped auditorium included poor coverage, significant bandwidth drop-offs, comb filtering artifacts and poor intelligibility of spoken word and band vocals.
Washington Professional Systems (WPS) of Wheaton, MD was selected to assist designing a new system to improve audio performance and the connection and engagement to parishioners using d&b audiotechnik’s Soundscape as an enabling technology throughout the 2,000-seat sanctuary.
Soundscape increases spatial detail and headroom beyond a traditional system, automatically optimizing each speaker to handle a different mix of signals, adjusting both level and delay. The audience receives accurate localization, and adding surrounds can elevate the capabilities even further.
“After exploring different audio solutions, the church implemented d&b’s Soundscape system to individually time-align input sources to each speaker within each of the system arrays,” states Keith Neubert of Washington Professional. “Using the DS100 Signal Engine, combined with the En-Scene algorithm and d&b loudspeakers, listeners seated in any location of the sanctuary receive an accurate audio picture with Soundscape, reducing phase cancellation and increasing clarity throughout the frequency range, giving excellent intelligibility of spoken word and band vocals from the stage.”
“We liked how user-friendly the Soundscape system is and that it can be controlled from the platform or from front of house,” states lead pastor Thomas Price. “The cost-to-value made purchasing Soundscape and the A-Series speakers the right call for us. The audio clarity was significantly and noticeably improved the first Sunday the new system was commissioned. People who never commented about the poor quality of sound of the older system realized they’d become accustomed to it. With Soundscape, they could hear how far from quality audio we had drifted.” Deployable in vertical or horizontal arrays with adjustable splay angles, d&b’s A-Series augmented array extends flexibility beyond its usual limits and is ideal for mid-size venues.
The complete d&b configuration includes: 20 Ali60 loudspeakers in five horizontal arrays of four cabinets each, two KSLi-SUB and two 21S SUBs, seven 44S flush mount speakers, four 40D and two 10D amplifiers, a DS10 audio network bridge and a DS100 Signal Engine with En-Scene.
“In addition to congregants, church staff noticed an immediate difference with the immersive quality of the d&b Soundscape audio system and its ability to deliver a natural, realistic experience for the entire congregation,” adds Neubert. “For speakers, vocalists and performers, stage monitoring quality has also improved significantly, allowing them to hear themselves without intrusive feedback, echoes or phase cancelling.”
Calvary Church
- Capacity: 2,000
- Key Components: d&b Ali60 mains, Soundscape
- Integrator: WPS
Broadmoor Baptist Church, Madison, MS
Founded with the expansion of Jackson, MS after World War II, Broadmoor now has a 35-acre multi-structure campus. Music has always been key to its worship experience, with four to eight vocalists and up to 10 musicians onstage.
With that many musical participants, a more sophisticated and personalizable IEM system was needed. The choice was two KLANG:vokal immersive in-ear monitor mix processors, one each to the band and singers, matched with a dozen KLANG:kontroller personal monitor controllers onstage, supplied by Stage Center Lighting.
“We began using in-ear monitoring in 2009 when we opened this worship center and it served us well, but audio technologies and quality have improved in that time,” says media and communications pastor Michael Bowen. “It was time to move up.”
The church had already invested in DiGiCo SD8 consoles for FOH and broadcast, sharing an Optocore network, so the easy integration with the KLANG systems made perfect sense, with the two KLANG:vokals connected to the FOH console via MADI.
“The KLANG systems’ 3D aspect is especially great, particularly with people for whom in-ear monitoring is new,” says Bowen. “They can place instruments and vocalists in their monitors the same way they’re positioned onstage, which makes the adjustment to IEMs easier. And the entire KLANG system is easily managed from the FOH console, where our house engineer can help anyone onstage make adjustments by pulling up parameters on the touchscreen and hearing what they hear,” he adds. “With all those advantages, it was a no-brainer,”
Brian Hilburn, who mixes both FOH and monitors from the house console, concurs, noting that “KLANG’s immersive mixing provides previously unattainable control and isolation, allowing for much greater sonic space and overall lower listening levels.”
Onstage, the perspective is just as positive. “For the first time ever, I could hear music and other vocalists at the same time,” comments vocalist Kyle Cammack. “The KLANG system truly gave me the ability to get the perfect mix.”
Whitley Tassin, another Broadmoor vocalist, is equally enthusiastic. “I love it. The sound is so much clearer, and I can adjust and customize what I hear much more efficiently. Having the option to place instrumentalists and vocalists as I would naturally hear them has been wonderful. Being able to fine-tune everything has improved my ability to hear on stage and feel more free to worship.”
Looking forward, pastor Bowen points out that having the DiGiCo and Optocore infrastructure in place made it easier to integrate the new KLANG products, and having KLANG in place will streamline replacing the church’s SD8 FOH desk with a DiGiCo Quantum console, a move currently in motion for the sanctuary. “And that paves the way for us to implement KLANG and Quantum in our other venues, such as the fellowship hall and student spaces,” he says. “We know a good thing when we hear one.”
Broadmoor Baptist Church
- Capacity: 2,500
- Key Components: KLANG:vokal, DiGiCo Quantum
- Integrator: Stage Center Lighting
Grace Church, Des Moines, IA
Grace Church, whose lively worship ministry is based around bands, choirs and orchestras, recently upgraded with the constant curvature technology of Martin Audio’s TORUS array, supplied by Conference Technologies Inc. (CTI).
Problems with the previous system included inconsistent coverage across its 1,200-seat fan-shaped sanctuary and visually obstructive ground subs. “We were looking for a line array that would provide even coverage everywhere, and would enable the subs to be flown,” says worship pastor Michael Hoskinson.
CTI’s Tim Wright, who masterminded the integration, discussed his requirements with Martin Audio North America. “Expectations leaned towards TORUS, and I knew that solution was spot-on,” he says. “Sonically, I have always been impressed with Martin Audio’s vocal quality, and TORUS is a level beyond that. I tested it with a CD and the clarity was fantastic; for the price point Martin Audio hits, this is second to none.”
TORUS’ constant curvature array is designed for applications that typically require an optimum throw between 15-30 meters and is particularly valued where a full-blown line array or point source solution might not be appropriate. The T1230 offers a vertical pattern of 30° while T1215 offers 15° and both have a horizontal pattern that’s manually adjustable between 90°, 60° or an asymmetrical 75°.
The Grace Church project did present installation challenges, including locating three hang points in a confined workspace above a hard-deck ceiling. An LCR system was implemented, with a combination of two TORUS T1215 and a T1230 underneath, backed by two SXCF118 cardioid subs on each hang, driven by four iKON iK42 Dante-supporting amplifiers. A pair of Martin Audio’s high-powered XD12 12” point-source speakers were deployed as corner fills along with seven of the company’s ultra-compact DD6 6.5” speakers for close front fills.
The end result, according to pastor Hoskinson: Congregants are now satisfied and enjoy the new array.
Grace Church
- Capacity: 1,200
- Key Components: Martin Audio TORUS
- Integrator: CTI
