No matter what faith or style of service, all churches share a common goal — that of spreading the message. Some have a greater emphasis on spoken word; others rely more on music in any variety of styles, whether it be folk, liturgical, gospel or flat-out rock and roll. But these days, one thing that is common to all houses of worship is a need for a sound system that provides clarity to all worshippers, in terms of both intelligibility and musicality.
With that in mind, we present six recent installation projects, ranging from whole system to incremental upgrades. Each of these took a different route in their approach, proving there are numerous solutions to any audio problem — large or small — for any sanctuary.
Woodlands Methodist Church, The Woodlands, TX
With 14,000+ members, The Woodlands Methodist Church is one of the largest in Texas. Just prior to staging the church’s annual Christmas stage production last December, Idibri and LD Systems updated the church sound, designing and installing an L-ISA immersive system using L-Acoustics A Series loudspeakers.
Music at the church ranges from contemporary to blended to traditional choir and orchestra. Idibri senior consultant Ryan Knox commented on the project. “The bid request they had ready to go last year was for a stereo system, and we were concerned that could de-emphasize the center for speech. So we recommended L-Acoustics L-ISA technology, which would take the church into an entirely new and immersive place for audio.”
Integrated by LD Systems, the new setup comprises a Scene system with five hangs of five A15 loudspeakers each, flanked on either side of the proscenium stage by two hangs of three A10 each, with a center array of eight KS21 subwoofers hidden behind a color-matched grill cloth. Front fills are 13 X4i enclosures in the stage lip, with 11 X8’s as under-balcony fills. All are powered by LA4X and LA2X amplified controllers and managed by dual L-ISA Processors interfaced with the church’s DiGiCo SD10 console.
Cabling infrastructure for the L-ISA setup was accomplished under time pressures to be ready for the church’s annual Christmas production. “Soundvision is such a reliable and accurate prediction software that we were able to verify the performance of the model matched reality almost as soon as it was installed,” notes LD Systems’ Kevin Broussard.
The church’s technical director, Jonathan Gentry, says the church leadership was apprehensive about making the leap from a conventional sound system to immersive; that it would be overly complex, that its components would interfere with the auditorium’s visual aesthetics, and would be cost-prohibitive. But he was reassured on all three counts.
Surprisingly, the system’s cost was in line with that of a conventional modern line array setup. After Gentry saw architectural renderings of how the system would look like in place, he realized that L-ISA would not only bring immersive sound but also a host of other significant benefits to the church. “The way that the A Series speakers are configured up high, allowed us to move the side video screens in toward the center more, which created a more balanced look,” he explains. “It worked with our larger design goals to keep them more focused on the stage.”
The L-ISA technology takes worship engagement to another level, feels production manager Steven Rector. “Compared to a typical left/right line array, L-ISA makes worship so much more intimate, even in a very large room,” he says. “Once you experience it, you realize how much it enhances the worship experience — the clarity and the spatial effect is remarkable.”
The Woodlands Methodist Church
- Capacity: 2,200
- Key Components: L-Acoustics L-ISA and A Series Speakers
- Designer: Idibri
- Integrator: LD Systems
Seacoast Church, Mount Pleasant, SC
A pioneer in the field of church propagation, Seacoast Church has a dozen physical locations, as well as an online presence as one of the largest churches in the Eastern United States. Recently, the church installed a DiGiCo Quantum338 FOH console in its 2,500 seat main sanctuary, ordered a Quantum225 console for its 1,300-seat Student Center auditorium and plans to add a Quantum225 for its 800-seat Warehouse space.
The Quantum338 is complemented with a pair of SD-Racks for a total of 96 inputs and 48 analog outs, with 32-bit “Ultimate Stadius” mic preamps. All of the DiGiCo desks will be fitted with DMI-KLANG and DMI-Dante cards to support the church’s Shure PSM 1000 and 900 IEM monitoring systems.
“The sonic experience is very important at Seacoast Church,” says Preston Russ of WAVE, the design and integration firm that installed the DiGiCo products. “The music is contemporary Christian and high energy, so the sound has to be great. DiGiCo assures that.”
As important, though, was the desire to create a new and future-proof workflow ecosystem at the church, to start at the Mount Pleasant location, and be rolled out throughout the Seacoast community of church plants. “As important as the sound quality was, they were also looking for ease of use, reliability, and stability,” says Russ.
Seacoast’s main mix engineer Mike Ward adds, the new console acquisitions are strategic. “The goal is to have unified console platforms and software in all three of the worship spaces on the campus. That way, our musicians can be familiar and comfortable with the same monitoring in every room, our mixers can also be familiar and comfortable using the same worksurfaces and workflow in every space, and they’ll be able to take and use show files from room to room, which will give workflow and sound-quality consistency throughout the entire campus.”
The DiGiCo decision has produced economic benefits: Implementing DMI-KLANG card and the 16 discrete stereo mixes it offers for their Shure IEM system meant that the church could do without the dedicated monitor console it had been using. But as has always been the case with Seacoast Church, the future is the real goal, says Russ. “This will be the hub of a larger and very efficient audio-production environment that can take the church into the future.”
Seacoast Church
- Capacity: 2,500 (main sanctuary)
- Key Components: DiGiCo Quantum338, Quantum 225
- Designer/Integrator: WAVE
Winter Haven Worship Center, Winter Haven, FL
Winter Haven Worship Center installed a new Adamson P.A. system in its 1,000-seat sanctuary. The new system features a main stereo hang of nine IS10b sub-compact line array cabinets on each side, along with four IS10pb full-range, point-source cabinets for outside and center fill. Eight PC5i ultra-compact coaxial loudspeakers were incorporated for front row near-field coverage. Low-frequency reinforcement is handled by an under-stage arc with eight IS119b subwoofers.
MABE, a faith-based AV production and installation company based in Florida, completed the installation with the help of Adamson territory rep Griffith Sales. While there were many challenges with the prior P.A., the installation team was able to make use of some existing equipment racks and power distribution to keep the costs down for the client.
“The previous system lacked clarity and dynamics,” explained MABE’s lead engineer Richard Vaughan. “It did not cover the entire listening area, was aging, and had some bad components. The system was not capable of reproducing the church’s high-energy worship style without getting very harsh, which resulted in listener fatigue.”
The pre-installation process for the IS-Series system required 3D CAD drawings and several site visits to verify the precise location of each loudspeaker. Incorporating a large-format line array into the space called for plenty of planning to leave the aesthetics and sightlines unaffected. The MABE design team redesigned the stage cavities to make room for the new Adamson IS119 subwoofers and PC5i front fills so they could be heard clearly without being seen. The final P.A. design allowed for variation of only 3 dB throughout the room.
Worship pastor Brandon Collins, remarked, “After hearing a few other systems, we preferred the warmth and presence of the Adamson boxes, and MABE was incredible to work with. They had everything planned and were very organized.”
MABE account manager Steve Griner, explained, “The Adamson system covered the room so well and gave such a warm sound. The Adamson, overall, is a very smooth-sounding box that even at higher SPL doesn’t give you the ear fatigue you get with a lot of other systems. We demoed and reviewed some other systems with the client, but it was clear that Adamson was the winner in coverage, sound quality and bottom-line cost.”
With strategic planning and thorough technical preparation, the outcome was a system that blends well into the environment. “The client is extremely happy with the result,” mentioned Vaughan.
Winter Haven Worship Center
- Capacity: 1,000
- Key Components: Adamson IS Series Line Array
- Designer/Integrator: MABE and Griffin Sales
Harvest Christian Fellowship, Riverside, CA
Founded in 1973 by Greg Laurie, Harvest Christian Fellowship is a large multi-site church with over 20,000 in its congregation and is the eighth largest church in America and third largest in California. As well as being the launching pad for the International Harvest Crusades, Harvest is known for its music-inspired contemporary worship.
Recently, E2i Design of Brighton, MI, (with support from d&b audiotechnik US) designed and installed a d&b audiotechnik system with Y-Series main loudspeakers and E6 under balcony speakers for its 2,500-seat campus in Riverside, CA. The Y-Series is small-format, high performance 2-way passive line array system capable of extended low-frequency response down to 54 Hz. The E6 is a versatile 2-way compact coaxial loudspeaker with an extensive range of accessories for easy deployment in almost any situation.
“We had a 15-year-old d&b Q-Series system so it was time for an upgrade,” says the church’s production supervisor Christopher Eguizabal. d&b’s Zach Brady and Mark Rush were involved in the design and implementation of the system. “We carefully planned and configured the systems in ArrayCalc and determined we should use ArrayProcessing in the room.”
“Given that the room has a main floor and a balcony, ArrayProcessing lets us contour the tonality and level loss for these two vastly different listening planes, in other words, one mechanical array shape can provide very even tonality and coverage front to back of both main parts of the room,” states Brady. “This is key to assuring that no matter where you sit, you get as close to the same experience as possible.”
Brady added that given the room’s deep balcony they employed under-balcony fills so congregants seated underneath had coverage and intelligibility. “This is where ArrayCalc simulation software really come into play because we can take the real-world positions available for speakers and find the appropriate loudspeaker type and dispersion to reach our coverage goals. For the low-end reinforcement, we used two flown triple-21” cardioid SL-SUBs and four 21S subs on the ground.”
The Sunday contemporary worship service has a full band including drums, bass, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, keys/synth, and up to five vocalists with guest artists on a regular basis performing various styles of music.
E2i Design’s Evan Hamilton, the project’s systems engineer stated, “We knew the d&b Y-Series with ArrayProcessing would provide a system with the impact and the technology to last for many years, and one that will serve a dynamic and changing ministry as they continue to move their incredible mission forward.”
Harvest Christian Fellowship
- Capacity: 2,500
- Key Components: d&b audiotechnik Y-Series
- Designer/Integrator: E2i Design
Antioch Baptist Church North, Atlanta, GA
Since 1877, the Antioch Baptist Church North has stood in Atlanta as a beacon of hope and a place of refuge. As part of the full remodel of the historic house of worship, Atlanta-based AEE Productions designed and integrated all the new audio, video and lighting systems.
“With its quality of sound and versatility, we knew EAW would be the perfect solution for the project,” says AEE president Yergan Jones. The audio design, headed by AEE’s Mark Howard, installed three EAW KF810P 3-way line arrays with true broadband pattern control and three MKD1096 speakers for the gallery/choir fill. The project also incorporated three SB828P Subs. The new EAW P.A. system runs through a new Allen & Heath dLive C3500 digital console.
“The audio installation went extremely smooth,” adds Howard. “It all came together as drawn and we love the durability, crystal clear sound and SPL levels that this system provides. In addition, the flexibility of the EAW system is wonderful. From spoken word, to singing to musical performance, it just flat out sounds great. There is no bad seat in the building.”
Leaders at the 14,000-member church echoed Jones’ and Howard’s sentiments. “Many of the components of our AV system were 30 years old or older,” says Pastor K. L. Alexander, Antioch Baptist Church North. “Our sanctuary had ‘dead sound’ areas and Yergan Jones (and team) understood our congregation and facility. Their combined knowledge of current technology and praise and worship was exactly the professionalism we needed.”
Jones is also very complimentary of the support and service he receives from EAW. “The sales and support teams were very responsive throughout the entire process. We were thrilled to work with EAW once again to bring pristine sound to such a historical house of worship. The Antioch Baptist Church North remodel sounds incredible.”
Antioch Baptist Church North
- Key Components: EAW KF810P, Allen & Heath dLive C3500
- Designer/Integrator: AEE Productions
Rivers Church, Sandton, South Africa
Rivers Church is one of the fastest-growing congregations in South Africa. Starting with a humble attendance of only 70 people in 1992, Andre and Wilma Olivier have grown the church into a faith of thousands, with campuses located in Sandton, Kyalami, Centurion, Durban North and Ballito.
The church adapts and integrates cutting-edge audio-visual technology to enrich their services, resource sharing between campuses and streaming online. “We started working with Stage Audio Works (SAW) in 2011 at the most basic level, but they are now our principal supplier and integrator for audio and video,” explains Andrew Illgner, head of audio at Rivers Church. “They have an extremely knowledgeable team. For example, Nathan [Ihlenfeldt, SAW technical director] got us on the path of digital audio networking.” For the most recent project, SAW specified and supplied two flagship Yamaha RIVAGE PM7s for Rivers’ main campus in Sandton.
The Yamaha PM7s will serve the main auditorium, which hosts a maximum capacity of 3,000. One controls FOH; the other is dedicated to monitors. The Yamaha CL5 mixers that SAW supplied in 2015 were repurposed for the church’s 1,500-capacity second auditorium/youth venue, as well as other campuses across South Africa, enabling upgrades in five different venues.
“Due to the large scale of our operation, we often have to rely on the generosity of volunteers when it comes to operating equipment,” Ed Helliwell, Technical Manager at Rivers Church explains. “Thanks to Yamaha’s intuitive, and standardized console design across generations, these volunteers can easily slot in and very quickly feel at home on the interface, even on a console they’ve never seen before.”
Interoperability is likewise an essential requirement when it comes to networking capability. To this end, all campuses utilize the Dante ecosystem; “We have a complex environment that is always changing — church on Sundays, conferences and other activities during the week, etc.,” notes Illgner. “Dante makes it very easy to change scenarios quickly.” A QSC Q-SYS solution allows wider transport between the Rivers’ campuses.
All campuses are equipped with d&b loudspeaker systems, Sennheiser microphones and IEM systems. On the visual side, SAW provided Pixel Plus screens, switching gear and Black Magic cameras to enhance Rivers’ broadcasting capabilities.
Rivers Church
- Capacity: 3,000
- Key Components: Two Yamaha RIVAGE PM7 Consoles
- Integrator: Stage Audio Works
