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May 2012

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by Bruce Borgerson

TO THE UNINITIATED, THE REALM OF ACOUSTICS SEEMS TO BORDER ON THE OCCULT. AFTER ALL, HERE WE ARE DEALING WITH COMPLEX, SUBTLE AND INVISIBLE FORCES—MYSTERIOUS INFLUENCES THAT SOMETIMES INTERFERE WITH THE PREACHING OF THE WORD AND FRUSTRATE THE MAKING OF JOYFUL NOISES UNTO THE LORD.

As a consequence, acoustical problems in churches are often misdiagnosed as inadequate sound systems, poor musicianship, or just having the PA either too loud or not loud enough. But when people complain that they can’t understand the sermon, or that the praise band sounds like mush, you’re likely dealing with—at least in large part—acoustical problems.

For clear insight into this arcane subject, I queried five experts on church acoustics. The wealth of information they provide will give you a head start on recognizing and fixing acoustical problems. Not surprisingly, as great minds often think alike, many responses were nearly identical. So those who are quoted—except as noted—are usually speaking for the group.

HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM?

You can start by clapping your hands and looking around. “Simply clap your hands loudly and count how long it takes for the sound to disappear,” says Peter Janis, president of British Columbia, Canada-based Primacoustic. “If it is longer than ‘one Mississippi’, you will likely have intelligibility problems.”

Poor intelligibility means that people can’t understand the sermon, or lyrics of songs, for that matter. “If you look at the walls, ceiling and floor, “ Janis continues, “and all the surfaces are hard—gypsum wallboard, glass, concrete or hardwood—then you can be certain you will have a long reverberant tail.”

You also need to pay attention to complaints. “If members of the congregation can’t understand the worship leader, then speech intelligibility is the issue,” says Jeff Lantz, general manager of Auralex Acoustics in Indianapolis. “If members of the worship band can’t hear each other, and are having feedback issues, then stage volume and resonance are the culprits.”

Chuck Walthall, founder of Walthall and Associates in Pensacola, Fla., puts the whole question in a nutshell: “A telltale sign is when the third new loudspeaker system still doesn’t fix the problem.”

NAMING THE BEAST

Before you can tame the acoustical beast, you need to know exactly what you’re dealing with. “The most common acoustical problems faced by a church are excessive reverberation and late-arriving reflections that are perceived as an echo,” explains Vance Breshears, director of the San Diego office of Acoustic Dimensions. “Reverberation, which is defined as a diffuse sound energy, can be a problem when it’s too strong or excessively long. Likewise, a late discrete reflection sounds like an echo and impairs clarity.”

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Bruce Borgerson networks around the industry via Wavelength Communications while monitoring technologies at the First United Methodist Church of Ashland, Ore.