DWR assists Empower Church with pro audio
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“Over a year ago, the church took a big leap forward in upgrading their existing audio system with the purchase of a DiGiCo SD12,” explained Jaco Beukes of DWR Distribution. “They have really enjoyed the console and what it offers the engineers at Empower Church. We also supplied L-Acoustics loudspeakers comprising of six X8 front-fills, two X8 monitors and three Kiva delay speakers installed with amps. This combined with the existing PA system has proven to be a tremendous upgrade and help achieve better audience coverage across the venue.
“In regard to the delay boxes, the audio had never been able to reach the audience sitting in the back corners. The Kiva has done exactly what it was designed to do. The units are hung on rotating brackets, designed by DWR, which enables the speakers to be pointed in a certain direction. They are covering a large majority of the area.”
Empower Church has been broadcasting their services for a while now, but really jumped into the full swing of things with the Covid-19 lockdown.
“Before the Waves upgrade we would send audio from FOH, standard left and right, and it didn’t really include worship,” explains Kgosi Rankhumise, who has been part of the in-house technical team for the past eight years and has had a passion for music since childhood. “We usually included the end of the last song and then went straight into the word. During the lockdown, we were able to use all our resources to make the on-line experience work. We pre-recorded everything and I played it back into the console and would start mixing while it was recording somewhere else.”
When the restrictions initially lifted to allow 50 people to attend a church service, Kgosi was faced with a dilemma. One of the biggest challenges was to be able to include worship online, and that is where the Waves LV1 system came into play. The addition of the Audix ADX 51 microphones hung above the smaller audience in the church, make the viewers watching from home feel as if they are part of the worship. “It’s just a beautiful sound,” says Kgosi.
“I always tell the technical team that you want to be able to work with equipment that is user friendly and a platform that will allow you to unleash your creativity. This has been accomplished with the DiGiCo and the Waves LV1. The guys were intimidated at first, just looking at the gear! The Waves LV1 screen looks like something a pilot should operate, but we soon realized that it had been built for ease of use, and I have really been able to express myself through it.”
