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Frankly, it is not easy to build a good church sound system. The moment, you connect the microphone to your expensive loudspeakers; it is very likely you will face a myriad of problems. To avoid such problems, I highly recommend consulting with an acoustical consultant before making purchase and during installation of any equipment. The cost of consulting with a professional will save any church from the hassle of re-installation as well as the financial cost of tearing out and re-installing their sound system.
The usual first step that I take to design the sound system for a church is to check the interior structure of the church and the interior materials. Then, I follow by performing several acoustic measurements; the reverb time for each frequency spectrum*, speech intelligibility**, etc. I analyze the current acoustical conditions based on the test results, and I derive the necessary acoustical treatment for the church. After the analysis I make the equipments list based on the budget and the specific needs of the church.
When making the equipment list I would consider the type, the numbers, the location and the position of the loudspeakers. And then based on the loudspeaker selection, I would select amplifiers, microphones, mixing console, and sub-woofer to match the performance of each components and loudspeakers. When selection is done, once again, I verify the virtual system by computer simulation to check if the sound system will distribute the well-balanced sound throughout the entire church. Selecting the right equipments is probably the most important steps to design a church sound system. It specifically requires considering the performance, sound characteristics, durability, match-ability with other audio-visual equipments and the specific acoustical condition of the church.
Fortunately we can compare the price and features on most of sound equipments on the internet and this may lead you to think it is easy to compare prices and purchase them. In reality, such decisions are difficult. Many high-end sound equipments manufactures may not sell their products on-line and it is difficult to find local dealer due to small demand and high prices. Even if you find the on/off line dealer, it is not easy to buy them with at good price. Besides, if you don’t have any help from an expert, it is hard to understand why the products have a different prices and performances. Even in the case where you make a purchase after you have checked the production out in the store, it is still hard to discern the difference of the sound characteristics or quality. Also the sound system may not be compatible with the physical layout of the church and lead to very poor sound quality.
Recently churches have begun to hire acoustic consultant from the planning stage, whether the church is being built or just renovated. However, there are still many churches that do not think about the acoustics, to the detriment of many parishioners. I have my fair share of churches that purchase top of the line sound systems only to have the pastor and choir sound like a radio from the 1950’s. The bottom line, the price and the quality of the equipment is not as important as the overall integration of the sound system with the structural acoustics of the building. It is possible for a sound engineer to create an extraordinary sound system for a church from economical acoustic equipment.
Anyone who regularly attends a religious service knows the importance of a good sound system. Whether it is a pastor preaching, a praise band playing, or a choir singing, the lack of a good sound system can ruin the spiritual experience of the observers. For designing, use and maintenance of the sound system, the experts must be involved from beginning.
The usual first step that I take to design the sound system for a church is to check the interior structure of the church and the interior materials. Then, I follow by performing several acoustic measurements; the reverb time for each frequency spectrum*, speech intelligibility**, etc. I analyze the current acoustical conditions based on the test results, and I derive the necessary acoustical treatment for the church. After the analysis I make the equipments list based on the budget and the specific needs of the church.
When making the equipment list I would consider the type, the numbers, the location and the position of the loudspeakers. And then based on the loudspeaker selection, I would select amplifiers, microphones, mixing console, and sub-woofer to match the performance of each components and loudspeakers. When selection is done, once again, I verify the virtual system by computer simulation to check if the sound system will distribute the well-balanced sound throughout the entire church. Selecting the right equipments is probably the most important steps to design a church sound system. It specifically requires considering the performance, sound characteristics, durability, match-ability with other audio-visual equipments and the specific acoustical condition of the church.
Fortunately we can compare the price and features on most of sound equipments on the internet and this may lead you to think it is easy to compare prices and purchase them. In reality, such decisions are difficult. Many high-end sound equipments manufactures may not sell their products on-line and it is difficult to find local dealer due to small demand and high prices. Even if you find the on/off line dealer, it is not easy to buy them with at good price. Besides, if you don’t have any help from an expert, it is hard to understand why the products have a different prices and performances. Even in the case where you make a purchase after you have checked the production out in the store, it is still hard to discern the difference of the sound characteristics or quality. Also the sound system may not be compatible with the physical layout of the church and lead to very poor sound quality.
Recently churches have begun to hire acoustic consultant from the planning stage, whether the church is being built or just renovated. However, there are still many churches that do not think about the acoustics, to the detriment of many parishioners. I have my fair share of churches that purchase top of the line sound systems only to have the pastor and choir sound like a radio from the 1950’s. The bottom line, the price and the quality of the equipment is not as important as the overall integration of the sound system with the structural acoustics of the building. It is possible for a sound engineer to create an extraordinary sound system for a church from economical acoustic equipment.
Anyone who regularly attends a religious service knows the importance of a good sound system. Whether it is a pastor preaching, a praise band playing, or a choir singing, the lack of a good sound system can ruin the spiritual experience of the observers. For designing, use and maintenance of the sound system, the experts must be involved from beginning.
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