One of the most common challenges encountered by systems designers in the worship market is aesthetics. Not a lack of them, but rather an overarching reverence of them. While no one would argue that a church should be visually pleasing, many times architects seem to approach church design with considerable attention to musical acoustics, often to the detriment of intelligibility.
Saint Gerald Catholic Church in Nebraska is a case in point. The 900-seat sanctuary, constructed in 1995, features stunningly beautiful design by architects Zenon, Berringer and Mabery, with high ceilings, ornate glass and classic lines. And while the room’s acoustics do wonders for the organ and choir, that same reverberation wreaks havoc with spoken word intelligibility.
“The church’s original audio system design wasn’t really appropriate for the space at the outset, and much of it had been altered or removed over the years,” explains Micah Yost of Lincoln-based Electronic Contracting Company. “The system had no real directionality, and the space is highly reverberant. This was compounded by their wireless microphone systems, which suffered from frequent audio dropouts.” With a growing music and worship ministry holding daily masses, four weekend services and a growing number of other events, Electronic Contracting began working with the church to create a solution based around Community Professional’s new ENTASYS systems.
“One of the highest priorities in designing the new system was to achieve better pattern control,” says Yost. “With the existing distributed system, time-alignment proved problematic. Based on my EASE modeling, we suggested a solution that involved the ENTASYS drivers as a point source, with low frequency content handled by a time-aligned distributed system comprising eight of Community’s ceiling-mounted Cloud 12SUB subwoofers. This allowed us to control frequencies over 250Hz via the ENTASYS systems in front, and distribute the lower ones, which are harder to control.” The result is dramatically improved intelligibility, with minimal impact on visual aesthetics.
A Biamp AudiaFLEX handles system DSP for the space, with a Crestron MP2 control system programmed to provide limited control over the various system components. “The touch panel allows the choir director to make any necessary adjustments during a mass from anywhere in the room,” says Yost. Sennheiser wireless systems complete the package.
With aesthetics still a prime concern, ENTASYS proved an ideal solution. “We were able to custom-paint the cabinets to match the walls,” says Yost. “The system is practically invisible, and blends with the architecture nicely, and the difference in the way the room sounds is like night and day.”
