Church Sound Article Sat, October 11, 2008

Church Sound | Feature |

Live Sound House of Worship Showcase - Trinity University Chapel

By Mark Frink

Summary

  • Part 3 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.

Gand Sound Installations (GSI) of Northfield, Illinois recently installed a NEXO loudspeaker system into the chapel at Trinity University in Banockburn, IL. Worship is at the heart of Christian life and at the heart of the university’s mission. The services at the chapel are contemporary in nature, featuring a full rock band.

“The system had to be crystal clear, have uniform coverage for voice using a podium microphone, and be able to handle many inputs from a band with drums, bass, guitars, keyboards, and a mic’ed grand piano,” states Gary Gand. Project Manager Jojo Clark worked closely with the facility’s technical director Nathan Castillo on the project. The chapel is a perfect square in shape, with seating on three sides of the stage. The system had to be small, yet powerful, and able to cover the large audience area from a 24-foot trim height due to a large projection screen. The chapel’s high-peaked center ceiling and room construction is all wood post and beam with no attic or crawl space, so systems needed to be surface mounted with no ability to hide wiring or rigging.

The system chosen includes six NEXO PS 10 loudspeakers and two NEXO LS500 subwoofers, all flown from a custom rectangular grid by Allen Products. The PS10s are on Omni mounts to allow precise aiming. The main seating area holds 600 with two overflow rooms behind air walls at the back, where high quality ceiling loudspeakers (located in the low acoustic tile ceiling) are on a delay.

“It’s a very natural sounding system with perfect coverage,” states Castillo. “We are very happy with the result from an audio, operation and cosmetic perspective.” The loudspeakers are driven by QSC RMX amplifiers. The system is mixed from a Mackie TT 24 digital console and employs Shure Beta 87 microphones, UHF wireless and PSM-400 IEMs with E2 ear buds for the band.