Central Baptist Church, located in St. Louis, has installed two Allen & Heath iLive-80 digital consoles to handle FOH/Monitors and Broadcast positions. A 750 seat facility, Central Baptist Church (CBC) is a dynamic, musical church led by the charismatic and compelling Dr. Robert C. Scott. In addition to the various weekly services, CBC hosts a number of events including theatrical, musical, and dance performances, community events, guest speakers, workshops, and educational sessions. Installation was governed by Drainer Albright & Associates with system integration by Modern Communications and Output Unlimited.
“The church is undergoing a transformation to meet the needs of a media savvy generation” explains Michael Drainer of Drainer Albright & Associates, “The iLive system by Allen & Heath has exceeded CBC’s expectations and has been the perfect solution because of its superior user friendliness, flexibility, and functionality.”
CBC’s Pastor D. Robert C. Scott was blown away by the quality of the new system. “I have never heard my voice with such clarity in more than 20 years of giving sermons!” exclaims Dr. Scott. “And, the congregation has been so pleased with the new system; it adds a new dimension to our services and events. We couldn’t be more excited!”
“The iDR-10 located on the stage and CAT-5 connection to the console keeps the audio cable lengths short and direct, “ explains Drainer. “This greatly improves the quality of the audio and keeps the noise floor very low.”
“The all-volunteer staff has adapted quickly to the iLive with nothing more than a basic orientation. None of the volunteers had ever mixed on a digital console before and watching them pick it up so quickly was very encouraging,“ continues Drainer. “We configured DCAs to run just about everything making it easy for first timers. Permissions are locked down on the iLive so that volunteers and non-audio folks can run events without worrying about messing anything up. Scenes are also configured for various types of events including multiple service types, weddings, guest speakers, and funerals. All of these live on Church Administrator’s USB key; this allows her to set up events with a minimum of staff.”
The main iLive-80 64-input/16-output system is configured with the control surface installed at FOH position in the church, and its iDR-10 stage box is installed behind the stage. 48 inputs and 8 outputs are located in the stage box along with a multi-digital output card for Aviom integration. Inputs are available for choir, lead vocals, backing vocals, drums, percussion, keyboards, piano, guitars, other instruments, and spare inputs for various events hosted by the church. Outputs are configured as main speakers, Aviom integrated outs, 3 monitor wedges, and matrix feed for the hallways, bathrooms, nurseries, pastor’s study, etc. The iLive control surface at FOH is configured with 16 inputs for various wireless mics, CD, and video input, and 8 outputs are available for recording of services and patching any other outboard gear brought in by guest engineers.
The second iLive-80 system is installed in the broadcast room in the basement 260 feet away at the far side of the building and is configured with Allen & Heath’s new iDR0 rack mountable mix engine. Connected to the main system with a single CAT-5 cable (plus one additional for redundancy), all 64 inputs are available to broadcast mixing engineer who provides mixes for a CD recorder, DVD recorder, local monitor speakers, and PC for CBC’s “Streaming Faith” Internet streaming programs. The engineer uses 4 internal stereo effects for different reverbs and delays and provides compression suitable for each medium.
“Everyone I bring in is raving about the new system,” says Dr. Scott. “The flexibility, simple operation, and tremendous sound quality are perfect for us.”
For more information:
Allen & Heath Website
iLive Digital Console Website
