With all the hard surfaces and the cavernous ceilings, sound ricocheted all over the building, garbling speech throughout the 1,100-seat space. Over the years, church leaders consulted many audio engineers, but most dismissed these challenges as impossible to solve without acoustical treatments - which would have negatively impacted the church's aesthetics.
But in early 2004, church leaders heard a more optimistic answer from consultant David Rauch of Bridge Communications. Rauch's enthusiasm stemmed in part from his recent discovery of a new family of loudspeakers from EAW called the DSA Series (Digitally Steerable Array Series).
DSA Series speakers use a very sophisticated digital signal processing technology that allows steering of the speaker's output pattern. Using the accompanying DSA Pilot software, system integrators can vary their vertical coverage pattern from 15° to 120°, as well as aim the coverage up or down by as much as 30°. In this way, sound can be carefully directed in the vertical plane away from troublesome reflective surfaces, and towards the listening audience. "We checked out all the manufacturer's line array speaker demos, but EAW's DSA Series really stood out for its clarity and unique steerable coverage capabilities," said Minister of Worship Joseph Bias. "Another major selling point was how unobtrusive the enclosures were. The column design didn't call any attention to itself - no big black boxes to mar the aesthetics."
Rauch visited Tulsa and then worked closely with Randy Whitworth of Florida-based Landmark Audio to design a new system around the DSA speakers and the church's existing Yamaha M3000 console. Two DSA 230s were mounted above a single DSA250 on each of the two columns flanking the chancel and the DSA Pilot software was used to "dial in" the DSA's output to fit the room.
The system was completed just in time for the church's biggest concert event of the year, held in early December 2004. "We had three performances with more than 80 people in the choir and a 32-piece orchestra. The sound was the best we have ever had," Bias said.
(Lee Baldock)
