LITTLE ROCK, AR — The Fellowship Bible Church of Little Rock used EAW’s array of sound system products for its digitally connected, multi-venue worship facility. Using the system, a single pastor can reach four thematically distinct worship venues, allowing over 3,000 faithful to hear his message but also enjoy four different worship music styles.
The goal for the project was to deliver clear, articulate sound for the spoken word and for music in each of these four distinct worship venues. All systems were designed by Acoustic Dimensions of Dallas, Texas, and installed by American Audio, Inc. of Ruston, La., with Mission Service of West Monroe, La. providing video integration.
The four venues include the main Worship Center, with seating of 1,400 and from which the pastor leads the service; the Warehouse venue that provides the "Edge" worship format, an alternative style of music geared toward the "young at heart;" the Chapel venue, which provides a more traditional worship setting; and the Fellowship Student Ministries, the youth worship venue designed for high-school students, pictured here.
In addition, eight separate spaces within the worship facility are designed as Fellowship Kids mini-venues, "themed" meeting rooms for faith education. These areas are connected within nearly 200,000 square feet of space by over 50 miles of audio wire used to connect more than 230 speaker cabinets, five large-format digital consoles and seven digital AV mixers, powered by over 165,000 Watts.
Three discrete fiber optic AV networks were installed to route audio, video and control at distances approaching 1,000 feet between rooms. Each of these discrete venues had different sound requirements, requiring a specific EAW solution.
The main Worship Center has a stereo sound system that includes 12 EAW KF730 compact line array modules, four flown EAW SB730 compact line array subwoofers and four sidefill EAW AX396 arrayable install loudspeakers. A ring of delay speakers is added to fill out the upper level seats, and recessed frontfills are used to enhance the sound for the front rows. A 96-channel Digidesign Venue digital audio console is used for control.
The Warehouse's sound system includes 12 KF730s and three flown SB730s with two rings of delay speakers added for filling out the "shed" areas in the rear. Frontfills are recessed with the subwoofers under the stage lip for enhancement of the front seating. The church's existing Yamaha DM2000 digital audio console is used to control over 72 inputs from this room.
The Chapel also presented unique challenges, as its audio systems needed to blend into the space's elegant surroundings. Two front clusters of EAW MQV VA4 three-way full range array modules and EAW MK series compact 2-way installation modules, operated in stereo, are the primary speakers for this room. Three sets of delay speakers were added for filling out the lower ceiling areas and the rear gallery seats. Frontfills and additional subs are recessed under the stage steps for discrete use. One of church's existing Yamaha DM2000 digital audio consoles was used to control over 50 inputs from this room.
A simple yet effective concert-level system was required for the Fellowship Student Ministries venue, which hosts numerous traveling music artists along with its schedule of worship services. Four front clusters of EAW MQV and MV series modules are operated in stereo. Six volumetrically loaded F315 subs and frontfills are recessed under the stage to provide the impact and nearfill quality desired in this venue. A Yamaha M7CL-48 digital audio console was chosen for this space.
In the various Fellowship Kids spaces, each room has its own EAW speaker system controlled by the church's existing Sony digital AV mixers. All venue entry areas and spaces such as the bookstore, café and meeting areas are also covered by discrete, remote controlled zoned sound audio systems, allowing either facility or local music program to be broadcast.
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