Saturday, November 13, 2010

Replacing Ye Olde Sound System

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Our current church sound system is old.  Real old.

I would venture that it was installed by my predecessor's predecessor's predecessor's predecessor's predecessor!  And it sounds old as well. 

From a music ministry perspective, the importance of a good sound system cannot be understated.  Even the best sounding music ministry can sound worse than AM radio with a poor system.  Our system easily falls into this latter category.  I've heard it.  During our practices, I always take the time to go into the pews and listen to how we sound.  How do we sound?  Honestly, our sound is comparable to the utterances of Charlie Brown's teacher, "wha-wha-wha-wha". 


But given this situation, I am very happy.  Why?  I have the full support of the church to replace the system.  Yes!  The need for a new sound system is fully recognized and appreciated by the church as well as the church council.  How many music ministries have this support?  What a treat!

Now, it has been up to me to answer the question: what do we want?  What should our new system be?  And how much will it cost?  These are not easy questions to answer.  Other music ministers often farm these questions out to a sound consultant company.  Our church is small and would prefer to avoid this extra expense.  I am also rather handy on the technical side of things, so welcomed this challenge.

I compiled the result of my investigations into a concise report.  I thought I would share this report since I am sure my church is not alone in the need of a new system.  Here below are just the first few pages.
 

Introduction

The sound system at our church has provided many years of use broadcasting the Good News to parishioners.  The system now shows main signs of age prompting requests for a new system.
For this report, the current system was examined and assessed.  Then work was begun in developing a proposal for a new sound system.  Care was taken up front to ensure that the proposed system would meet the needs of our church.  The author tallied the functions today’s system performs to ensure the new system would also fulfill those functions.  Additionally, the new system proposal was developed with an eye towards value and size.

Current Sound System Assessment

Inspection of the current sound system quickly revealed several interesting characteristics. 
  • First, it has poor sound reproduction capability.  It muffles all clear sounds.  From the altar and ambo, consonants are difficult to perceive.  From the music ministry cantor, lyrics are difficult to discern, and instrument sounds bleed together. 
  • Much of the current sound system equipment is severely dated.
  • The system is a patch-work quilt.  It is readily apparent that the components have been pieced together from available hardware by well-intentioned members of the church. 
  • The wiring is under gauge for this application, and shows signs of corroding.
  • Some of the speakers have been blown from over-powering.  There is a buzz sound that can be discerned from several of them.
  • One of the mixing board channels is no longer functional. 
  • The mixing board channels are all in use allowing no expandability.
Additionally, it is worth pointing out the frequent complaints received about the poor quality of sound during Masses and other functions.  It is likely the above points are key contributing factors.

New Sound System Selection Process

It light of the current sound system shortcomings, a new sound system proposal was developed.  Throughout the development care was taken to ensure the new sound system would meet the needs of the St James Catholic Church Community. 

What Does the System Need to Do?

Development of a new sound system was done with a focus on relevant practicality and value.  To ensure that the sound system selected would fulfill the needs of the our church community, several parishioners were consulted.  These parishioners highlighted the main needs of a church sound system:
  • ·         At Church.  The sound system should function well for the reader, at the altar, the wireless microphone, and the Music Ministry. 
o   Reader.  Today’s reader roster contains an impressive spread of height and vocal capabilities.  From Sunday to Sunday the microphone is positioned and repositioned to its extremes.  As such, the key distance from the reader’s lips to the microphone varies widely.  Additionally, some reader’s voices boom and resonate while others peep.  Another interesting point is that the reader today has little understanding of his or her vocal level in the main church room.  The reader can’t hear his or her own voice from the ambo position.  This sometimes leads to some speakers tendency to appear to “eat” the microphone while speaking rather loudly.

o   Altar.  Today the altar microphone is flat, dynamic.  Father speaks into this microphone while being several feet away.  To compensate for such a relatively small sound to amplify, the mixing board gains must be increased to the point of initiating ringing noises and the occasional feedback din.

o   Wireless Microphone.  Today Father wears a wireless microphone for speaking away from the altar and ambo.  This signal is picked up by a wireless receiver and plugged into a mixing board channel.

o   Music Ministry.  The Music Ministry today consists of a cantor, several choir members, and three instruments (guitar, keyboard, and flute).  Today only the cantor and the instruments are connected to the sound system due to a lack of available channels in the mixing board and limited number of microphones.
  • ·         Cry Room.  The sound system should allow the ambo, altar, wireless, and music ministry microphones to be heard clearly in the cry room.
  • ·        Church Overflow.  The sound system should allow a degree of “upscaleability” in the social hall.  During the highly attended Easter and Christmas services, extra seating required and is set up in the social hall.  During these Masses the sound system should broadcast slightly more sound over a much broader area than just the cry room area.
  • ·         Air Conditioner Compatibility.  Today’s air conditioning system activations suddenly and sporadically drown the muffled mutterings of the current sound system.

Right Sized

When designing the new sound system, a few precautions were taken to avoid constructing a system that is oversized. 
  • Dimensions.    Our church does not have space to spare.  As such the speakers, subwoofer, monitors, and mixing board were sized to optimize every inch.
  • Loudness.  Our church is not a large church and the walls are constructed of resonating concrete blocks.  An overbearing speaker could quickly lose its transmissions within its own reflected sounds.

The Proposal: Cost Overview

The sound system proposal was also developed with a focus on value.  Below is the proposal cost overview table.  All the expected new purchases, quantities, and cost are listed and tallied here.  The cost numbers were recorded at a local music store.  These numbers do not contain an expected volume discount, and, as such, are considered conservative.

 

The Proposal:  Hardware Overview

Speakers

Main Church Area Speakers.  The speakers recommended, the JBL CBT 50LA, were selected after careful consideration. 
  • Discretely sized.    These speakers have an unassuming profile.  Since they measure only a few inches wide and deep, they will not draw attention to themselves.  We think the cover is paintable, and would plan to spray paint it a shade of brown to match the church support columns.
  • Strength.  Although small, these speakers can handle the job.  Each of these speakers has enough strength to adequately cover a quarter of the church.  It is planned to have 4 located in the main church room in same location as the current speakers. 
  • Clarity.  This speaker’s frequency profile shows it produces clear sounds across an impressive range of the sound spectrum.
  • Wall-Mountable.  With included mounting hardware, mounting these speakers on the church columns would be straightforward.
Social Hall Speakers.  The speakers recommended for the Social Hall are the same as the Main Church Area Room speakers.  However, these speakers would be ordered in white (as opposed to black) to match the Social Hall wall color.  At this time, it is unclear how to mount these speakers in the Social Hall since the Social Hall lacks the Main Church Area columns.


Mixing Board

The mixing board is the heart of the system.  In a word, it takes all the microphone and instrument inputs and balances the sound going to the speakers and monitors.
The proposed mixing board has 22 channels allowing more flexibility than the current board with 12 fully utilized channels. 
The mixing board would be located on top of the rack in the music ministry area.

Microphones

Two different microphones are proposed.
  • Main Vocal Microphone.  The vocal microphone proposed is the Sennheiser E835.  This is a quality vocal microphone at a good price.  One is planned for the cantor.  One for the keyboardist.  One for the guitarist.  One for the choir.
  • Instrument Microphone.  The instrument microphone proposed is the Shure SM81.  One is planned for the flute, and one for acoustic guitar.
  • Existing microphones.  At this time, it is proposed to keep the existing ambo, altar, and wireless microphones. 

Monitors

The monitors allow Father, the ambo speakers, and the music ministry to hear themselves.  The proposed monitor, the TC Helicon VM200, provides an excellent sound, but in a conveniently small package.
One is planned to be positioned for the ambo speaker.  One for the altar.  One for the cantor.  One for the keyboardist.  One for the guitarist.

Related Posts:
The Dreaded Mixing Board!
History of Worship Ministry Sound
Top 4 Tips for Music Ministry Sound System Help
Cozy Up to the Microphone!  Microphone Technique
Unfolding "Testing 1-2-3"

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