The recent annual Netherlands’ Diocese of Breda annual conference of De Missionaire Parochie — Als God Renoveert (Missionary Parish – If God Renovates) featuring evangelical speeches and praise music was supported with sound reinforcement by Belgium-based rental company Pa-P.A. utilizing Alcons Audio pro-ribbon loudspeakers.
Supported by various Catholic organizations, De Missionaire Parochie is a national initiative by the Diocese of Breda, all about meeting, inspiring and building a parish. Attracting around a thousand visitors, with a live broadcast to many more, the conference was held at Breepark Breda, a retail, sport and entertainment complex on the edge of the southern Dutch city.
This year Canadian priest James Mallon (author of the book Divine Renovation) was the main speaker, along with lectures, church services and music. Catholic parishes in the Netherlands and Flanders are not known for contemporary worship styles, but pop/rock music was chosen to represent the word “missionary” to appeal to people from a modern audience coming to the region’s churches for the first time.
“We often work for Christian organizations and have a lot of experience with both live events and installed church sound systems,” says Luc De Paepe of Pa-P.A. “The challenge for us was to provide excellent sound reproduction of both speech and music, because it was vital for the audience to hear everything perfectly.”
With a venue that was wider (35m/114ft) than deep (25m/82ft), De Paepe and his team needed a sound reinforcement system that delivered wide dispersion while also making sure that the sound could be controlled to avoid unnecessary reflections from the side and back walls.
The system incorporated 12 double LR14/120 compact line array modules, four BF18118-inch subwoofers and six VR8 compact monitor all powered and controlled by three ALC4, ALC2 and Sentinel3 amplified loudspeaker controllers.
“We use Alcons pro-ribbon arrays because of their excellent intelligibility, no matter how large or small the crowd. The volume does not have to be high for the audio system to sound good, which is a big advantage in an acoustically difficult space like a modern hall,” De Paepe states. “The shape and size of the venue for De Missionaire Parochie was perfect for the LR14/120. With VR8s as side and front fills, we achieved excellent coverage. Using Alcons meant everybody could hear the speech and music in perfect detail, without distortion. This resulted in many compliments from both the audience and the organizers.”
