BIRMINGHAM – Gary Boackle, president of audio contractor Clear Solutions Inc., noted that the recently-upgraded 350-capacity St. Elias Maronite Church, while visually appealing, came at an acoustic price. "The reverb time in the sanctuary went from just under two seconds to over six seconds."
Prior to the remodel and installation of the Tannoy system the entire ceiling was covered in aging acoustic tile. "The ceiling had been patched where they'd had some water leakage. There were tiles that were different colors because some were newer than others, and some were missing entirely. We knew the ceiling tiles were affecting the acoustics in the room, but we did not know to what extent."
The scope of this current remodel – the first since 1970 – was intentionally broad, and included an upgrade of the building overall, as well as an overhaul of the lighting, audio and air conditioning systems. Work at the church began in summer 2009 and was completed by November – coinciding with the celebration of the parish's centennial.
The remodel included the refurbishment of woodwork in the rear of the church, new porcelain and marble flooring and the restoration of the ceiling to a smooth, more reflective surface. The result is stunning, a blend of modern and traditional architectural elements that reveals the graceful arch of the ceiling and provides an beautiful setting for nineteen stained glass windows that line the narthex, nave and apse.
While there was a core gain in terms of aesthetics and the added grandeur the livelier space afforded the choir and organ, the acoustics of the church were still a problem. "I've heard multiple people say it's the best the choir has ever sounded," Boackle says, "much fuller and more blended. It sounds like you're in a big cathedral now. That's one of the positives." On the negative side, however, anyone trying to be heard, unamplified, was going to have trouble getting their message across.
"Sound in St. Elias was never optimal," added James Boohaker, another parishioner and owner of Boohaker and Associates, a local contracting firm, "it was a 60-year project."
For Boohaker the project was personal. The church relocated to its current building sixty years ago after the initial building had fallen into disrepair and was to be closed by the diocese.
"I was the first one baptized here in this church. My father just died as this started, and I was going to back out, but before he passed away, he said ‘you've got to stay with the church.' I'm glad I did. He was in charge of choosing the architect and contractor then, so it's full circle that I'd work with the architect and contractor that would finish it."
Although Birmingham-based Rives Construction was the contractor on the build, Boohaker was heavily involved as part of the committee overseeing the remodel, along with fellow parishioner, David Elkourie, who was instrumental in keeping the committee on track and moving forward.
"The church just reached a point where we needed to do a major renovation," says Elkourie. "We started the remodel over two and a half years ago, but the hang up was always the ceiling, until we found the sound system that would allow us to do what we wanted to the ceiling and still get the sound we wanted."
Boohaker approached Boackle with the hopes of looking at the problem from another angle. When Boackle learned the church planned to pull out pre-existing carpets from the aisles, take down the ceiling and replace a number of other surfaces, he explained that the acoustics would be altered dramatically. To address the problem Boackle suggested a cutting edge technological solution that was able to direct sound to the congregation while not detracting from the traditional aesthetics of the sanctuary; Tannoy's innovative, self-powered, digitally steerable QFlex array, paired with two Tannoy VS10 BP subs.
The prime objective of this install was to finally overcome the architectural issues that made the room so challenging; speaking to both the need for intelligible speech reinforcement as well as a desire on the part of many in the congregation for the room to sound more reverberant. The initial architect on the build suggested several options, but each involved an acoustically treated ceiling that was expensive and highly difficult to maintain. "Until Gary came along," says Elkourie, "we didn't know there was another option."
After a new architect was hired, John Carraway of Birmingham's Carraway and Associates, Boackle arranged a demonstration using a single QFlex 32. For Boohaker it was a revelation. "Who would have thought that technology would allow us to do that? I didn't even know you could control sound in that way." Carraway also saw the benefit of the QFlex solution, Boohaker adds. "It freed him up to deal with the ceiling and restore the church to what it was always intended to be."
Though he has used Tannoy product previously, this was Boackle's first use of QFlex and he relied heavily on Griffith Sales representative Richard Hembree and his knowledge of the array. "This is one of the toughest acoustic environments into which I have been asked to place a system," says Hembree. He stresses the effect that removing the existing carpeting and redoing the floor in slate and marble had on the room. He also explains that the arched ceiling continued to work against them, focusing all of the sonic energy back at the parishioners and the wooden pews. "Pretty much every surface is hard and reflective, short of the people who walk in. It is virtually impossible to carry on a conversation with someone standing more than 30 feet away. However, when you step behind the microphones, every word is delivered to the room clearly."
In the end a pair of QFlex 40's were mounted to either side of the altar roughly six feet up the wall. "Even though acoustical problems were created in the church by the renovation, we were confident we could provide a solution that kept the intelligibility high," says Boackle. "We steered one beam across the entire congregation and ended about seven feet up the back wall, so if someone was standing they could hear. A second beam of sound went up to the choir loft. A different approach to the sound system simply wouldn't have addressed the acoustical problems in the room, as well as the Tannoy QFlex system has done. We wouldn't have been able to achieve solid gain before feedback and the intelligibility would have suffered." For low frequency support two VS10 BP subs were placed behind a side altar.
Clear Solutions also specified a suite of Audix microphones to be placed in key locations throughout the sanctuary, on the pulpit, lectern and altar, and in the choir loft. The latter, two Audix MB5055-HC Microbooms, are used to pipe the choir to exterior third party speakers employed during special services and processions.
Automatic mixing, routing and processing are handled by two Biamp Nexia CS DSPs controlled remotely via one AMX touchpanel and two AMX keypads, allowing users to manipulate the system for mass, or for guided public tours of St. Elias' collection of stained glass windows during an annual spring festival that draws large numbers of visitors from the surrounding community and beyond.
The resulting sound is far more in keeping with St. Elias traditional worship services. Unamplified it takes on the gloriously reverberant character of a cathedral, while transmitting spoken word with a level of clarity previously unimaginable to the congregation. "It accomplished every goal that we had in terms of both budget and performance," Boohaker says.
Elkourie agrees, "It's a wonderful, full sound. We're pleased and the church is better for it. It will take us into the next fifty years."
For more information, please visit www.tannoy.com.
