“On this last review of the system, all we did was to replace the arrays. We used the same design concept,” Dickensheets says. Other pre-existing system elements were reused, he adds, including an Ivie 884 Auto-mixer, Shure P-4800 DSP, several Audio Technica wireless microphones and QSC CX Series amplifiers to drive both the cathedral’s existing subs as well as a number of 70 volt loudspeakers previously installed in the narthex, cry room and outdoors for Easter processionals.
“There’s no console. Speech is done using the automated mixer alone and when they need music they have a small remote controller that plugs in and turns that into a manual mixer.” In all, there are eight mic inputs, including four channels of wireless for use when necessary. Choir reinforcement, when needed, is handled with a separate system from the rear loft to maintain source illusion.
The primary usage is for speech reinforcement and choral music says Ana-Cristina Gonzalez, Saint Mary Cathedral’s director of stewardship and development. “One of the things our cathedral is known for is our Schola Cantorum, a choir made up of twenty to 25 professional musicians. It’s traditional choral music, but every year we also have a very popular Celtic Christmas concert. We have two performances right before Christmas and they always sell out, and there are always events – last year we did Mozart’s ‘Requiem’ Mass, and during high holidays, we bring instrumentalists in; harps, flutes and violins. There’s a lot of music. Our Rector, Father Albert Laforet, and our director of music, Dr. Jeffrey Jones-Ragona, always want to ensure the liturgy is complete with beautiful music that goes along with our beautiful cathedral.”
“Most Catholic churches are highly reverberant,” Frederick puts in, “and this is no exception. It has vaulted ceilings that are forty to fifty feet high, stucco walls, beautiful stained glass and natural wood. And it’s still very intelligible, no problems at all.”
“We had to be able to provide high quality, even coverage to the main floor, but also to a high choir loft at the rear of the church,” says Dickensheets. While that didn’t require massive SPL, it’s still a challenge in a 400 capacity, two-storey space with an RT in excess of four seconds and no acoustic treatments to speak of.
The two QFlex 24s are placed to the left and right of the chancel, facing the front of the sanctuary straight on and mounted approximately eight feet off the floor. While that does put some of the mics in the line of fire, Dickensheets says, whether someone is walking amongst the congregation using a wireless microphone, or using the pulpit/podium mic – which is literally in front of the QFlex – “There is no feedback.”
The ability to target specific areas using QFlex intuitive BeamEngine GUI was of high value to the project, specifically in terms of keeping the sound off of the rear wall, while still providing ample coverage for the main sanctuary and choir loft. The most difficult portion of the install, from Frederick’s perspective, was installing the brackets for the arrays; not because of the hardware provided to do so, he emphasizes, but because of the construction of the walls themselves. “They’re stucco, but with natural limestone behind them, and they’re over 120 years old, but once the brackets were installed the speakers went up easily.”
In the end, what’s most important is that the client is happy, Dickensheets says. “They’ve had zero issues since the QFlex went in.”
In terms of both overall intelligibility and the provision of a more natural sound, Tannoy’s QFlex has improved the worship experience of the congregation substantially. “Our parishioners are from families that founded the cathedral,” Gonzalez adds. “We have a wide range of ages and if they can’t hear, they definitely let us know.”
For Gonzalez, as a parishioner of Saint Mary Cathedral for 10 years, the installation is a dramatic improvement. “I was there when, if you sat in the middle of the cathedral, you could not hear anything clearly. Now you can sit anywhere and hear everything very clearly. I’m also a Lector, and when the new main loudspeakers were installed, they asked the Lectors to come in and test them. It’s 100 percent better. There’s not a bad seat in the house.”