On a lazy summer Sunday in 1986, a small group of faithful gathered at Zale Library on the campus of Bishop College in Dallas, and named their group the Provisional Baptist College. By September of that same year, the group had found a pastor, a meeting place, and a new name: Antioch Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church. Nearly three decades later, Antioch Church’s congregation has swelled to multiple thousands, drawing from all parts of the Dallas metroplex, and the 80,000 square-foot facility includes a large-scale multi-purpose hall with classrooms, bookstore, a full AV production suite and a 2,800-seat sanctuary.
Audio Moving Forward
As phase one of its long-term technology upgrade, the church recently replaced its aging mixing console with a networked system based around Avid’s VENUE technology. The system is based around a VENUE D-Show setup at FOH, networked with a VENUE Profile system upstairs in the production suite. As Erik Beyer, regional sales manager for Clair Brothers Audio Systems in Dallas, explains, the church has implemented the VENUE’s networked eco-structure to create a system that fit their workflow.
“They had owned their previous console for close to ten years, and had really exhausted its capabilities,” explains Beyer. “The desk had reached the end of its usefulness, and they were ready to move on and get into something that would provide them with an expandable eco-structure that could see them well into the 21st century.”
Networking, Multitracking, Multitasking
At the same time, the church expanded its production capabilities. “They have a production room that is located upstairs and a bit away from the sanctuary, and they installed a VENUE Profile system up there,” says Beyer. “So we networked the Profile via MADI bridge to the D-Show system at FOH, and they do their live tracking via the Profile. The D-Show system was configured for HDX, and we took that HDX card from FOH and installed it into the Profile system.”
With both systems independent but interconnected, the Profile in the church’s production suite can easily multitask and multitrack. “Essentially, their engineer can mix from FOH, while production can capture and mix a multitrack recording of the service at the same time,” says Beyer. “They can also run Virtual Sound Check from the production suite.” Monitor mixes are sent onstage to an existing Aviom system, enabling the musicians to control their own levels and negating the need for a monitor console.
The FOH D-Show system also includes FOH Rack and Stage Rack units to provide I/O and processing. “With the Profile, we didn’t need a Stage Rack, but we still needed a FOH Rack,” says Beyer. “So we had to customize that system a bit.”
The ability to customize and scale the system was key to meeting the church’s technology needs, both now and for the future, says Beyer. “They have the potential for expanding the system to implement live web streaming, and eventually even video production and broadcast. The system can truly grow with them.”
The Future and Beyond
Beyer points to Clair’s design-build approach as well suited to meeting Antioch’s objectives. “We sat down with them and really listened to what they wanted to accomplish,” says Beyer. “We were able to design a system that both met their immediate needs, and had the potential for expansion, without having to overdesign the system.”
Beyer says the new system has already had a marked effect on the sound as well. “When they put the system in, they zeroed out their rack-mounted DSP and EQs and started from scratch. They said they immediately noticed the huge difference and sonic quality.”
In fact, says Beyer, they are even more eager now to get to the next phase of the upgrade, which includes replacing their aging P.A system. “They heard such an improvement already that they’ve asked us to come out and tune their existing system for the time being.”
