L-Acoustics solution for St John's Cathedral
- Details
The solution was an L-Acoustics distributed 5XT system, installed in November 2017, which has since been providing the congregation with crystal-clear audio at the renowned Brisbane landmark, while preserving the architectural integrity and beauty of the heritage-listed structure.
St John’s Cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Brisbane, which was created in 1859. Built as a mixture of French and English Victorian Gothic Revival styles, it boasts the only fully stone-vaulted ceiling in Australia. Adding to the reflective surfaces, the cathedral's internal walls are built of sandstone from Helidon, west of Brisbane.
“The interior is long and has some very excitable frequencies that occur in the strangest of places. It is stone-vaulted and there is nothing anywhere to absorb or diffuse the sound other than people and some timber carving,” explains Gerry Gavros.
“The new system also had to cater for the many different modes they run the cathedral in, with various congregation sizes and seating locations and orientations,” adds Gavros. “There are side chapels, altar areas, choir stalls, etc. All get used at different times for different applications. It is a very busy place throughout the week.”
Don Bowden, director of DBAV Productions, the church's long-time technical integrator, created the initial solution design concept using an L-Acoustics ultra-compact 5XT system, which catered to St. John Cathedral's budget and schedule constraints.
With the help of Dan Fittell at Brisbane Sound Group, the 5XT system was first tested in a temporary installation inside the cathedral as proof of concept.
“It was proved that a distributed system running at lower controlled levels minimised the amount of energy that emanated into the cathedral’s domed roof structure,” comments Gavros. “The result was exceptional. Congregation members said that this was the first time they had heard the full service clearly in over 10 years. It was enough for the Committee to proceed with the purchase.”
The final design was verified using Soundvision, L‑Acoustics 3D simulation programme before proceeding with the installation, which needed to be completed within a very strict one-month period to accommodate an important service.
The Very Rev’d Dr Peter Catt, Dean of Brisbane, is satisfied with the new sound system. “The sound is very clear, and members of our regular congregation have commented that they now can hear every word spoken at the services and in the sermons, making their experience at church much more enjoyable,” he says. “The quality of sound for concerts and events held in the cathedral is also of a very high standard. We are very pleased with our new sound system.”
(Jim Evans)
