In the early days, members of Daphne, Alabama's Eastern Shore Baptist Church worshipped in an old motel where the swimming pool did double duty for baptisms. But times have changed; in 2004 the congregation christened a brand new, built-from-the-ground-up 1,600-seat facility where a blend of both traditional and contemporary forms of worship is offered–complete with a 100-voice choir and full orchestra. Designed by architect Jeff Jordan, with acoustical design by Chuck Walthall of Walthall Associates (www.walthall.biz) and a sound system provided by Alpha Sound & Lighting (www.aslgc.com) of Saraland, Ala., Eastern Shore's auditorium features a fan-shaped layout and high-end sound technology.
"Many churches are now building worship centers that are really multi-functional performing arts centers," points out Walthall, a veteran of numerous houses of worship. "The ministries have come to realize that entertainment technology can be very useful in promoting the gospel's message. To use these technologies–flying a lighting rig for a concert, adding haze to maximize intelligent lighting, or sophisticated audio systems–you need facilities that will support them. The fan-shaped design lends itself to this. It also creates intimacy, with good sightlines, making the congregation feel closer to the stage and to the pulpit than they do in a traditional, deep rectangular chapel."
Tom Noland, Eastern Shore's music director, had very specific ideas about the sound he wanted to hear, according to Michael H. Evans of Alpha Sound & Lighting. "Tom was very emphatic that he wanted a nice warm sound, good SPL projection and great intelligibility," Evans describes. "He wanted the loudspeaker system to have the presence and clarity of high-end studio monitors."
To that end, a high power Renkus-Heinz system was selected. "We specify a lot of Renkus-Heinz product,"
comments Walthall. "It's got the capability for big powerful sound, yet it's one of the most musical loudspeaker systems. Not to take away from other loudspeaker manufacturers–I specify others as well. But I tend to lean toward Renkus for its versatility and sonic purity."
Interior surfaces of the building include sheetrock walls and ceiling, an acoustically stepped back ceiling, carpeted floors and padded pews, with acoustic diffusion on the rear walls. The all-important choir area
features sloped surfaces designed to project sound out into the main sanctuary. "There's a lot that goes into a choir loft," notes Walthall. "It's not only the surfaces within the loft itself, but in the walls and ceiling that encompass it. We shape them to get as much acoustical gain as we can."
An EASE (Enhanced Acoustic Simulator for Engineers, distributed by Renkus-Heinz) system was used for tuning both room acoustics and the sound reinforcement, which comprises an externally powered L/C/R configuration with supplemental delays and subwoofers. Walthall specified six Renkus-Heinz STX 8/64 full-range speakers in groups of two for the main array, choosing them for their accurate directivity and efficient power-to-size ratio. For under-balcony coverage, 17 R-H TRX61s were installed; 10 additional TRX 61s were used for balcony seating coverage. The system was completed by a pair of R-H STX2s for choir foldback, and two each R-H BPS15-2 and BPS15-1
subwoofers. The system is powered by QSC PLX amplifiers, with processing handled by three Rane RPM88 controllers.
Alpha Sound & Lighting, which is also a veteran of many church installations, supplied the entire audio package, including wiring. "We're in the Bible Belt down here in Alabama," laughs Evans. "There's a church on every street corner. But most of them average 400 to 600 seats. When you get one this large, you're kicking it up a notch, which adds to the challenges for the systems.
"Mr. Walthall did an excellent job of supplying all the acoustical data to ensure that the reverb time in the room was very comfortable, and that the area behind the choir acted like a shell to direct the voices outward. That helped a lot, because one of the toughest things we deal with in our industry is miking the choir and getting it to blend properly with the orchestra. We were extremely successful with this one, due to the way the acoustics worked with the audio system."
To accommodate the width that is characteristic of a fan-shaped room, the speakers were arrayed along a facade that follows the contour of the stage. "There are two in each section," Evans explains. "We just had to bend the coverage of the speakers. Not everything is right in the middle focus. Two STX 8/64 three-way boxes are to the left, two in the center and two on the right. Those speakers are almost 40 feet in the air, so we used front OAP NF241 fill boxes sunk into the steps and pointing straight forward to blend with the overhead speakers and fill the first couple of rows. People in the balcony can hear the main speakers, but at that distance intelligibility starts to drop a little so we also picked it back up there with more TRX61s. The coverage was all calculated electronically, of course, with EASE, and with the Rane RP88s. I like the open architecture of the Ranes. It allows me to put whatever I want wherever I want, and to tie it all together. Ultimately, the coverage came out great; it's seamless. You walk out of one field right to the other and you don't even know it."
An Allen & Heath ML4000, chosen both for its sound and for ease of use, does double duty for FOH and monitors. "Most churches in our area work with volunteers," Evans says. "It can be tough to find one operator, let alone two, so monitor desks are not a priority. The Allen & Heath console has a lot of flexibility, and it's very user-friendly. I've been using their consoles since the '80s, and I've always been impressed. They have a wide variety of consoles to work with, in pricing as well as features. They're not
complicated to run, they sound good, and they're rock solid."
"I teach audio and acoustics at Okaloosa Walton College/the University of West Florida," adds Walthall, "and I'm a firm believer in teaching people the basics. That's what we were looking for, a console that was user-friendly, versatile and sonically clean. The Allen & Heath fit the bill."
A Hear Technologies eight-channel Hear Back personal monitoring system is in place for the orchestra's rhythm section and other key musicians. Monitor mixes, from the console's aux sends to on-stage wedges, serve for the rest of the stage.
All in all, Evans comments, "It was a very good undertaking. We've done a couple of jobs this big, so we know that it can get a little complicated. In this case, everybody's extremely happy about how well it went, and how it sounds and works. We're happy were able to achieve getting that nice, warm feeling and the studio monitor sound that music director Tom Noland was looking for all along. It suits the space very well. Notes hold in the room very nicely, just like in a theatre."
"A difference about this project," Walthall concludes, "is that they brought us in on the front end to work with the architects in designing the room acoustics. That's a big deal, and, unfortunately, not the norm. So many times a building is completed when we are called in. Of course, when that happens, there are acoustic issues. They end up saying, 'We wish we'd talked to you back when we got the architect.'
"With Eastern Shore, one of the major success elements was that we worked with the architect to design the room, and especially the ceiling, to get the angles and the shape right. Also, the church was open to considering an appropriate budget. So we got the acoustics of the space right by working with the architect. At the same time, we worked from the beginning with the owners of the church, discussing their needs: where they're going with the ministry and what technologies they need to support it now and in the future. Designing within those parameters makes a world of difference, and really contributed to the success of the project."
