A comprehensive PA system installed by Ateis' Spanish distributor, Optimus SA, ensured that the congregation of more than 6,500 people heard every word of the Pope's blessing. The installation was challenging for many reasons: because construction is still ongoing there is a lot of scaffolding in the building but the loudspeakers could not intrude on the decoration of the church interior.
Although the Sagrada Familia - or Holy Family church - is not a cathedral, it is on the same scale as a cathedral. The audio brief was for a system that would guarantee coverage of at least half the building but satisfy the exacting demands of those who are working to realise Gaudi's vision.
"The Sagrada architects were initially very protective of the carefully designed interior, which is understandable" comments Albert van der Hout, Ateis ' international sales manager. "But we were able to convince them about how we could integrate our state-of-the-art loudspeakers into this beautiful setting."
Twelve Messenger directional line array loudspeakers were selected for the installation - two Type L enclosures cover seats behind the altar, two Type Two-XLs were placed in the central area of the church, with eight XLs in the remaining areas - two on each side wing, two immediately in front of the altar, two in the middle and two at the rear.
Ateis and Optimus were then challenged to demonstrate their design during construction works where they installed 50% of the quoted equipment. "The final installation involved three long nights of tuning," says van der Hout, "but the system was commissioned successfully and handed over to the staff of the Sagrada."
Audio signals are controlled through three UAPg2 fully programmable DSP processors. These are connected permanently to 12 microphones and are able to control each Messenger individually. "All this has allowed us to achieve a clear and comfortable listening level," adds van der Hout.
(Jim Evans)
