Consultants
A qualified electroacoustic consultant will offer ample experience working with and designing sound systems for churches, and often, other performance spaces. They will have attended advanced live sound related seminars and workshops, and they continue to do so because this is their specialty.
Consultants may or may not have licensed engineers on staff, but will have a firm grasp on safety issues, and are familiar with the terminology and methods employed by architects, other consultants (theater, acoustics), specialty engineers (electrical, structural, mechanical), and contractors (carpenters, electrical, HVAC, etc.).
Qualified consultants will also have worked at various times for a church or performance venue as staff sound system operators. Often they will have a background in contracting, and should have some background in music as well.
They will have membership with organizations such as NSCA and AES, as well as the ASA and USITT, and it is not uncommon for some staff to be trained as professional engineers (this is designated by a “PE” in their titles on business cards.)
They attend several trade shows each year because it provides insight into emerging technologies and new equipment, and it also allows them to attend technical papers and to sit in on technical committees. Participating in these conferences keeps the consultant “connected” and helps to prevent them from becoming either too proprietary or experimental.
To The Chase
One of the most significant issues: the consultant is employed directly by the client to provide the best possible system design at a reasonable cost. (It’s under the category of “who’s looking out for number one?”)
As a result, consultants specify equipment based upon its merits and value. Their affiliation with manufacturers is one of mutual respect and not unduly influenced by numbers. This independence is paramount.
However, many consultants are asked by manufacturers to participate in product development, or to provide valuable feedback so that minor design flaws may be corrected. (The better contractors and design build firms do this as well.) All must walk the lie between incorporating new products/technologies and undertaking unnecessary risk for every system project.
Consultants must also participate in your project meetings, and at the end of the design phase, they deliver a completely engineered audio system design in the form of a bid package, plus a list of pre-qualified contractors to bid on the project.
The specification should allow very few items that the bidding contractors are allowed to substitute. Specifying exact equipment for all but the most mundane components of a system is what the consultant is paid to provide, and the consultant should be able to clearly detail to the client why each device is required.