This month's Sound Sanctuary is not really about the omnipotent nature of God. We all know that God is everywhere (no matter what God you believe in). This month, I would like to talk about expanding your worship house sound system to other parts of your house and into other buildings that may exist on your church's grounds.
Generally speaking, when we think of a house of a worship sound system, we envision F.O.H. speakers, monitors, outboard gear, mics and a mixing console in one room. This system is designed to accommodate the congregation that has filled that room and not much more.
But what is happening in your church lobby, office, nursery or other rooms? For that matter, do you have a sound system in the other buildings?
Not Rocket Surgery
Planning an augmentation to your house system is really not very difficult. Additional speakers can be mounted or placed just about anywhere and still controlled from your main mixing console. If your console has unused aux sends, mono outs or sub outs, you can send your worship service sound to another location.
Of course, you will need additional speakers, power amps and possibly equalization to accomplish this task. I recently expanded the range of a worship audio system by installing speakers in the lobby of the church, in a back-stage sitting area and in an all-purpose room. The idea was that the worship music and sermon could be sent to various areas during the service.
There are a few ways this could be accomplished, but I will tell you how I did it. I decided on using one power amp (1600W), a simple analog speaker selector with individual volume controls, a four channel digital equalizer and six speakers. I mounted a pair of speakers in each of the aforementioned rooms and mounted the power amp, speaker selector and EQ in a rack next to the house mixing console.
After discretely running speaker wires into the various rooms, I simply EQ'd each pair of speakers to their particular room, then adjusted the volume to a nominal level, and that was pretty much it.
During a typical service, the mixing engineer can select which room will receive the worship music or sermon by simply pushing a button. Of course, the volume for each room can also be increased or decreased. I actually marked the volume levels on the switching unit so that an enthusiastic tech would not over-drive the speakers in the other rooms.
This is obviously a very simple system, and relatively inexpensive. I could have left out the EQ to save even a few more dollars. In the other financial direction, I could have chosen a digital switching unit (with remote control) and upgraded the speakers and power amp. But I will leave those financial choices up to you and your particular worship house.
The Portable System
Anyway, this scenario worked for augmenting the main worship system, but what about those buildings that are completely separated from the main worship house?
Of course, you can send streaming video via the Internet anywhere you want, if you have the equipment for it. Then you only have to amplify that video at your desired location. However, I was asked to put together a separate sound system for one of the out-buildings at a worship house in Glendale, CA. The youth group at the church used this building, and they wanted a multipurpose system for rehearsing and youth functions.
I designed a simple portable audio system that could be set up and stored easily. Starting with two powered main speakers that could be mounted on stands, I added two powered monitors and a nice 16-channel mixer with built-in effects and a good selection of microphones and mic stands. I mounted the mixer along with two outboard equalizers into a small rack case, and I was ready to rock. The mains speakers and the monitors were the same.
Basically, I had four two-way 12-inch powered speakers that I could use as needed. The system could be set up in a matter of minutes and used for rehearsing or other events. The same sound system could also be set up in the church parking lot, at the Christian book store across the street, or anywhere else as a small outreach system.
The Permanent System
Along with the portable sound system, I convinced the youth pastor that he needed a permanent audio system for his youth house. We figured a budget and decided on a six-location system that included two speakers in a patio area and 10 more ceiling mount speakers in five different rooms.
The ceiling mount speakers were 3-way boxes with and 8-inch woofers, a 2.5-inch mid speaker and a high-compression tweeter. The patio speakers also sported 8-inch woofers in a 2-way configuration with high compression horns, but they were in trapezoidal weatherproof boxes.
Rather than using a 70V distribution system, I decided on using two power amps and another analog switching system. I added a line mixer and mounted the gear on rack rails that I installed in a closet in the building office. The system was used for iPod, satellite radio, Internet and PA.
Personally, I thought the entire system sounded great, and it really filled the building with quality audio. Of course, all these various systems are budget-driven. You can do almost anything with audio (and video) if you have enough money to spend. That said, I always try to do the most for the least amount of money. It is not very often that I have a house of worship client, or any client for that matter, that has an unlimited budget. In the church biz, we are all expected to be good stewards of the monies we are entrusted with. And considering that most houses of worship operate on tithings, donations and offerings from the congregation, it is very important to be prudent in all financial expenditures.
