Sound reinforcement in churches must merge proper architectural acoustics, realistic technology and the skills of professional sound contractors and dedicated church volunteers.
Michael Thompson, president of Thompson Sound, Inc., based in Trinity, which does about 90 percent of its business with churches, said that churches shouldn’t opt for the latest technology in sound systems, because the equipment may be so new that the kinks haven’t been worked out.
On the other end of the spectrum, simply sticking a couple of older speakers in each corner of the church isn’t the answer either.
“One of the worst methods of delivering sound is placing a portable speaker in each front corner of the church,” Thompson said.
“This throws off the eye-ear contact with the speaker or singer, who is in the center of the stage, but whose voice is coming from the extreme corners of the room. That is just about the worst thing you can do to a listener,” he said.
Thompson has operated his sound contracting business full time since August 1987 and studied and worked in sound for the last 30 years. He and many church staff members who oversee and operate sound systems agree that a well designed system with professionally-balanced, built-in speakers are the best for providing quality sound for all listeners.
Built-in systems usually create fewer sound problems than portable speakers and boards, said Nathan Creitz, college and career intern who manages sound control at Government Street Baptist Church, Mobile. Government Street has built-in speakers at its church.
“If [speakers are] built in, then [the church has] given consideration to where people are and where the speakers need to go and what the best mix and blend will be. But if you put in two large (portable) speakers, then the front row is going to get a pretty good dose of it, because you have to boost the sound so the back rows can hear it, and that’s not good,” Creitz said.
According to Thompson, Electro-Voice, a variable intensity speaker that has been around for several years, solves many intensity problems. With a single speaker system the sound at the back can be equal to that on the front row.
“It gives sound where there is very little difference in tonality or volume level from the front row to the back row or left to right across the seating area. We’ve used these in churches with 12-foot ceilings and rooms 35 feet high,” he said.
“This will solve 99 percent of problems with sound. It’s good for traditional and moderate to contemporary worship,” he said. “Electro-Voice is so precise that you can aim the sound at the ears of the 6-foot tall guy on the back row,” he said.
One use of these kinds of speakers can be heard in the chapel at Shocco Springs Baptist Conference Center in Talladega, a project that Thompson did. Thompson was the contractor hired to do the sound, lighting and video projection installation for the new Shocco chapel also.
Technology addressing the hearing impaired finds its way into the church sound scene, according to Greg Golden, director of media ministries, Cottage Hill Baptist Church, Mobile.
“With the graying of America, addressing the sound needs of the hard of hearing is increasingly important. We dispense about 18 FM receivers a Sunday,” he said.
He describes these wireless devices as “miniature radio stations” which are a pack and an ear bud.
From an antenna in the balcony’s sound control center a signal travels to each device, enabling each listener to hear clearly the sounds of the service.
If a churchgoer has problems with sound being too loud, they should tell an usher or church staff person.
If sound is uncomfortably loud and potentially damaging, a person should have no hesitancy about leaving the service at once.
If a person chooses to remain in a service that is too loud, a help would be to carry inexpensive earplugs, which if properly worn can reduce sound by 15–30 decibels.
Cotton and tissue are poor substitutes, since they are too porous, allowing sound to pass through to the ear. The proper earplugs, which can be carried in a pocket or purse, are sold at home improvement stores, usually near the power tools.
When advising churches on whether to have traditional microphones with wires or wireless microphones, Thompson said wireless is not always the best choice.
“It may be more handy to have a wireless, but you’ll have fewer problems overall to have a wired mike. Between the transmitter and receiver there’s a lot of air that is public domain.”
“I get one or two calls a year for a wired mike going bad, but I get regular calls for wireless mike problems,” he said.
As more broadcast stations send out their signals digitally to TV sets, wireless systems suffer, because the digital bands for TV stations are so much wider than those for wireless mikes, and so encroach on the microphones’ frequencies.
Church sound contractors must return repeatedly, resetting them to different frequencies.
The Federal Communications Commission established that all TV stations will broadcast in digital rather than analog by December 2006.
Some stations already are, but this move hastens digital’s saturation by making it mandatory.
This could cause even more problems with wireless mikes, unless innovations in their technology surfaces.
Technology and lower prices on feedback eliminators have made it easier for smaller churches with lower ceilings to have ceiling-mounted speakers.
The eliminator will automatically tune out or stop the feedback, usually within a half second, Thompson said.
Feedback is an unpleasant, usually squealing sound that occurs because the speakers hang from a low ceiling where they are too close to the microphones.
Another aspect of sound delivery in a church sanctuary is the acoustics.
“Acoustics play an unbelievably important role in the type of sound reinforcement system a church needs,” said Keith Hibbs, associate in the office of worship leadership/church music with the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions.
Elements such as cushions on the pews, heavy drapes in the windows, tapestry flags draped from the walls, whether a stage area is marble or carpet and more can affect the sound delivery.
Because churches come in all shapes and sizes there is not one fix for all when it comes to sound.
Hibbs said that someone in his office would conduct a free sound study in any Baptist church in Alabama. With these recommendations in hand, the church can address how to help its members have a more pleasing sound experience.
If and when a church decides to hire a private sound contractor, the estimates are usually free, but the cost of the equipment, installation and training can vary widely.
For example, churches seating 100–200 people might expect to pay $6,000–$12,000 for a new sound system, a 300–600-seat church should expect $15,000–$30,000, and churches with 1000–plus seating capacity should expect to pay $75,000–$100,000, or more.
Thompson said Alabama churches seeking a sound contractor should look for three things.
First, the contractor should have a general contractor’s license from the state of Alabama.
Second, the contractor should be able to verify a proper amount of insurance through a certificate of insurance, so that if an expensive part is dropped during installation, the church is not liable for it.
Third, the church should ask for and check independently several references from other churches that have purchased sound systems from the contractor.
When a church begins using a newly installed sound system, the operators should keep notes and questions for the first six weeks or longer. Then the sound contractor can answer those and offer additional instructions.
Any sound system performs only as good as the training of the volunteers who operate it.
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