Church Sound Article Fri, July 04, 2008

Church Sound | Feature |

Live Sound House of Worship Showcase - Church of Pinnacle Hills - Rogers, AR

By Mark Frink

Summary

  • Part 6 of an 11 part series from the Live Sound International Showcase of Churches
    In the beginning there was the Word. As the congregation grew, sound reinforcement was needed to hear clearly at the back of the sanctuary. Few sound systems have as many challenges as those installed in modern houses of worship. Contemporary worship services have incorporated rock bands and have ambitions that rival corporate and theatrical productions. The service is often a cross between a high school musical and a Broadway show – all on a mission from God. Expectations are high, yet the band, singers and crew are volunteers, while most buildings have inherent architectural and acoustic challenges. The technical department is consumed by training operators and a budget that gets eaten up by moving lights, video and broadcast equipment. Yet all agree that the single most important improvement is a top-shelf sound system.

    Many churches upgrade their technical systems – video, lighting, and sound – in phases, addressing one department or core function at a time as finances allow. With a plethora of high-quality sound equipment to choose from, the time has come to look at recent upgrades in modern houses of worship.

Church of Pinnacle Hills - Rogers, AR

The new Church of Pinnacle Hills in Rogers, AR, is highlighted by a 2,380-seat sanctuary that hosts contemporary worship services. Acoustic Dimensions of Dallas provided design, with Clair Bros. Audio responsible for installation. The worship center’s theatre-style padded seating fans outward to create a wide coverage area.

Acoustic Dimensions elected to deploy a “mono plus stereo” design. Two EAW KF730 line arrays about 30 feet apart are flown centrally above the dais and fed spoken word, music vocals and primary rhythm instruments for a highly coherent, natural presentation.

Standing 60 feet tall behind the dais, an electro-chromic glass wall (the world’s largest electronically tintable window) presents a significant challenge – it can act as a giant reflector, returning energy from the rear of the main loudspeakers back into the room. To counteract this, Acoustic Dimensions flew a second 3-box KF730 array immediately behind the main KF730s, and with the aid of DSP, created a cardioid effect that provides significant (about 8 dB) cancellation of energy coming off the back of the array enclosures. At the extreme left and right, 7-box EAW KF760 large-format line arrays provide “textures and flavors” that enhance musical programming, resulting in a kind of “surround” approach for effects, select keyboards and percussion. No delay loudspeakers are needed to extend coverage to the rear-most seats.

The new EAW UX8800 digital processors with Gunness Focusing were added a couple months later. “It was a rare and valuable opportunity to hear the system for a while and then switch to the UX8800 processing,” AD’s Ryan Knox notes. “It is significantly better.”

All loudspeakers are driven by Lab.gruppen power amplifiers split between two remote equipment rooms. The house console is a Yamaha PM1D, with an Optocore fiber optic feed to the facility’s production/recording facilities.