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| Terry Taylor |
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| Greg Persinger |
Double Header-Discussions with Terry Taylor and Greg Persinger
In this edition, we offer two discussions with lighting professionals. From the exhibit floor at WFX 07 in Atlanta Georgia, we speak with Terry Taylor, worship market specialist for Wybon, Inc. (www.wybron.com) of Colorado Springs, CO. Taylor was formerly head of lighting design at New Life Church, in Colorado Springs.
And following, we speak with independent lighting consultant and designer Greg Persinger of Vivid Illumination (www.vividillumination.com), based in Nashville, TN.
Discussion topics include advice for churches just getting into theatrical based lighting as well as facilities looking to expand their lighting systems, and LED lighting fixtures.
Equipment for the interview was provided courtesy of D&M Professional
(www.d-mpro.com) and Audio-Technica (www.audio-technica.com)
Colorado church takes control with ETC CongO jr lighting consoles
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Cherry Hills Community Church, Colorado |
Like so many modern worship venues, Cherry Hills had been growing both in size and schedule.
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| CHCC Atrium |
Its main auditorium was built in 1994, but the church quickly outgrew itself. There was no gathering area large enough to serve its members. Space for weddings and funerals was limited. Scheduling had become difficult. So in 2006, the church undertook the task of adding on to their already architecturally stunning church. Now, CHCC includes a lobby, mini-concert area, meeting room, café, 20,000-square-foot traditional chapel, 38,000-square-foot atrium, 3,500-seat auditorium, and classroom space for a 1,200-student school.
With the new addition, CHCC was also able to spread its tech wings. The atrium and chapel were outfitted with the latest in sound and speaker technology, video projection screens, and lighting, including a Congo jr console with a Master Playback Wing in each space. In addition to the consoles, CHCC’s lighting system includes ETC Source Four spotlights, PARs, and PARNels, as well as ETC’s Source Four Revolution moving lights, Sensor+ dimming system with CEM+, and Unison architectural control system.
The church’s 450-seat chapel is used mainly for weekly worship services, conferences, wedding ceremonies, funerals and formal school programs such as graduation, while the multi-purpose atrium is used for wedding receptions, conferences, overflow for Christmas and Easter celebrations, concerts, plays, adult Sunday school classes and other events for the church family. The Congo jr consoles control the lighting for all these events. “We can create lighting with these boards and fixtures for just about any use someone comes up with for these spaces,” says Valentine.
CHCC’s media personnel and trained volunteers run the Congo jr consoles. They found the jrs to be incredibly intuitive, and because many of the staff had experience working with other consoles, the syntax wasn’t foreign. “The Congo jrs control moving lights with ease, and the ability to set up presets and groups on faders makes it easy for the novice to operate the board when necessary,” says Valentine. “A volunteer who only needs to be able to turn on and off lights for a show can learn how to do this in a very short period of time using the Master Playback Wing. On the other hand, our more experienced media professionals can program a more complex and difficult show with ease after a short learning curve.”
In designing the look of the church, the architect faced the challenge of creating a heritage building that would have stood the test of 100 years but that could also function for another 100 years. Finding a lighting system to fit the church was just as challenging: the system needed to blend into the aesthetics of this new classic, while being ‘future-proofed’ to handle upcoming lighting innovations. “Placing a complex lighting system in a traditional chapel was a challenge,” says Valentine. “We were, however, able to design and install the systems in such a way as to meet our lighting objectives while keeping the look and integrity of a more traditional worship space.”
The Source Four lighting fixtures blend into the interior design: In the atrium, the casings are white and are attached to white steel supports on the ceiling. In the chapel, the Source Fours are black, also matching the color scheme as unobtrusively as possible.
In the church’s atrium and chapel, Source Four fixtures light both stages and are also used for Sunday services, weddings and funerals. They are used in the atrium for everyday wash lighting and for illumination during videotaping. The Source Four PAR fixtures provide accent wall lighting and are used for special event lighting.
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CHCC Chapel |
Because the ceiling in the atrium and chapel is high, front lighting locations are hard to reach to refocus or change bulbs. As a solution, ETC’s Source Four Revolution automated fixtures are used in these areas, so church technicians don’t need to haul out a heavy lift before aiming lights where they’re needed. A few keystrokes on the Congo jr console is all it takes to refocus the Revolutions, which are also used for color and accent lighting for church events.
The ETC Sensor+ dimmer racks are used in the chapel for all the theatrical and house lighting, as well as dimmable building lighting. The ETC Unison control system is used to handle interior and exterior architectural lighting. With several entrances into the church, it was important to have multiple wallstations on the same network to control house lighting. The Unison system makes this possible, with about a dozen wallstations capable of turning on programmed lighting zones, situated throughout the building. The Unison system is a convenient option for the many activities CHCC offers: During the day, the system can function independently in each space, and for an event in the evening, lighting in all areas can be controlled from one location. Unison makes it easy for people without technical backgrounds to turn lights on and off, while giving the seasoned technical staff more creative options for setting up and operating sophisticated lighting events.
SMALL, BUT POWERFUL YAMAHA LS9 DIGITAL AUDIO CONSOLE MEETS THE NEEDS OF HOUSES OF WORSHIP WITH LIMITED BUDGETS, SPACE RESTRICTIONS
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LS9-32 installed at La Fe en Jesucristo Church |
The Yamaha LS9-32 and -64 input digital audio consoles provide an audio solution for small to medium-sized houses of worship requiring high quality sound but are on a fixed budget or may have space limitations to facilitate a larger system.
Housed in a small footprint frame, the console features a built-in MP3 recorder and shares the same sound quality, built-in effects, EQ, and dynamics processing as that of the M7CL console. The LS9 can also be used as auxiliary mixer/channel expander for the Yamaha M7CL and PM5D consoles. The LS9-16 channel console includes 32-mono inputs, 16 with on-board mic preamps and the LS9-32 includes 64-mono input channels, 32 with on-board mic preamps. Additional microphone pre amps can be added to the LS9 using the console’s MY card slots.
Yamaha LS9-32 Installed at La Fe en Jesucristo Church
Located within the Hispanic community of Kansas City, the La Fe en Jesucristo Church recently acquired a new building to consolidate their worship facility into one location from its previous two. As part of the new construction, a high-end sound system was installed. Church Trustee Noe Aguilar said the church wanted a state-of-the-art system that would accommodate every style of music, including the diverse array of Hispanic Christian bands that come to Kansas City. With a high-energy congregation involved in the music, a quality sound system was a very high priority. The church hired MSM Systems of Lawrence, Kansas as its contractor and the firm had just one month for the installation from the time the contract was received until the first service. A Yamaha LS9-32 digital audio console and NEXO GEO S line array were chosen as the mainstay of the sound system. MSM Systems President Kent Clasen said that the LS9-32 installed at the La Fe en Jesucristo Church controls inputs for the front of house sound system as well as for the musicians. “Most of the musicians are using in-ear monitors, so having the presets to recall their settings is a great feature and also helps to keep the stage volume low,” states Clasen. “The LS9-32's small footprint and on-board effects cut down the amount of extra rack equipment required at front of house. Even though it’s smaller, the Yamaha LS9 does more than anything you would need for church concerts and typical worship,” he adds.Clasen said that MSM’s familiarity with the NEXO GEO S line array system allowed them to move quickly and properly deploy the system. “The building is old and there wasn’t support for the speakers so we needed to add two steel I Beams in order to suspend the left/right arrays. We worked with a structural engineer and installed two 16 ft. I beams that span the ceiling columns. The light weight of the GEO S was a big benefit,” notes Clasen. “It’ s a great sounding, accurate system and having designed many systems around NEXO products, we know how to get the most out of these loudspeakers.” The NEXO S2 2x18” subwoofers are powered by the new Yamaha Tx Series amplifiers, and the GEO S is supported by Yamaha PC9501N amplifiers with a NEXO NX242processor.
First Baptist Ruston – Ruston, Louisiana
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| LS9-32 installed at First Baptist, Ruston, Louisiana |
First Baptist Ruston is located in the downtown area of a university town located on I-20 in north central Louisiana. Because of that downtown location, unique opportunities and challenges have been presented to the church over the years. As both the City of Ruston with 20,500 people and the University, Louisiana Tech, continue to grow, the church's facilities have become increasingly land locked. Now with the University and it's population of 12,000 students only two blocks away, First Baptist's leadership staff has been focusing on creating an environment that is conducive to the diversity that the University brings to the community. In the past few years, the leadership staff at First Baptist has focused resources towards multiple style worship services that are completely adaptable and able to transform as needed to cater to the University population.
In terms of system components suggested to the leadership staff for church enhancements, the leadership staff required that only the latest in technology be designed into the system and to have performance that would exceed other venues in the city (theatres, cinemas, auditoriums) as to raise the experience from standard in terms of quality expectation the community has for churches. First Baptist's leadership staff knew going into the project that too often churches are considered to have second-rate equipment, which only reinforces the disconnect between churches and community. First Baptist needed a facility upgrade solution that allowed for the broadest diversity of applications that would include some of the best in equipment manufacturing brands.With assistance and installation provided by American Audio, Inc. a Yamaha LS9 console was installed enabling First Baptist Ruston to acquire higher levels of functionality of audio processing, while saving on both equipment space and equipment costs. “The LS9 mixer was the perfect design for this system because it allowed the church to jump into the digital audio transport arena easily and cost effectively, which will have a great impact on future scalability of the audio system,” states Steven Knapp of American Audio, Inc. “Many other components which would have taken much more space and resources to acquire are now housed all within the LS9 mixer, saving the church the burden of planning for additional equipment purchases down the road.”
St Mary Magdalen Catholic Church – Altamonte Springs Florida
When the time came to retire an increasingly unreliable analog console, the introduction of the Yamaha LS9 was perfectly timed to be a serious alternative even though digital consoles were yet to be embraced by the some of the church’s technical volunteers. St. Mary Magdalen has five diverse choirs with no full time sound engineers.
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| Phil Broagn, senior chief technical volunteer, with LS9 |
The different needs of traditional and contemporary choirs and the ever-increasing expectation of great audio spurred the decision makers to carefully consider just how much the Yamaha LS9 is suited to the role of primary mixer in a church. “The fully- featured channels with excellent EQ and dynamics were a big factor,” states Craig Beyrooti, Atlantic Professional Audio, Inc. who installed the system. Extensive use of compressors and gates are used to help the volunteer operators keep things under control. The recently remodeled church has very lively acoustics and also some restrictions on where to place speakers. “The all-in-one control that the LS9 offers with delay and EQ on the outputs is hugely beneficial in this regard,” says Beyrooti. “A key feature is that one can recall a scene and get out of any trouble that may arise from service to service and operator to operator.”
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LS9-32 installed at St Mary Magdalen Catholic Church, Altamonte Springs, Florida |
It is worth noting that the church uses three separate mixing consoles to achieve the flexibility required to deliver daily Mass, weddings and funerals and school services along with all the weekend services, most of which do use sound operators. St Mary Magdalen Church has recently formed a Technical Ministry to better manage all these events and a formal training program for all technical services is underway. “Having great new gear and willing volunteers is encouraging a move to more services utilizing the Yamaha LS9,” adds Beyrooti. Phil Brogan, long standing senior chief technical volunteer is very happy with the LS9 and all the progress arising out of its addition to the church sound system.
Atlantic Professional Audio also installed three Raxxess ERT-WT - Walnut Elite Roll Top Racks, two Furman PL PLUS II - Enhanced Power/Light Modules, a Tascam CD-A700 – CD/Cassette Player, Custom Link 8 channel XLR cables and Link mic cables.
news
Bellevue Baptist Church Celebrates 50 Years of Television Ministry
Fifty years ago, Bellevue Baptist Church's Pastor R. G. Lee had a vision. He wanted to share the gospel with more people in the Mid-South—people who perhaps wouldn't or couldn't walk through the doors of the sanctuary then located at 70 N. Bellevue in midtown Memphis.
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Bellevue, 1958 |
To make this vision reality, it meant taking a step of faith. Bellevue made broadcasting history on January 5, 1958, by becoming the first church in the world to own and operate its own television equipment.
Other churches in large cities televised services, but with rented or studio equipment. Renting equipment was not an option for Bellevue because only one TV studio in Memphis owned remote equipment.
Pastor Robert G. Lee and part of Bellevue's choir taped a 30-minute studio television program that aired every other Sunday on WHBQ-TV. But to actually bring cameras into the sanctuary was a foreign concept. To some, it conjured up the image television show.
Those concerned about the church entering "show biz" were assured that other than the presence of two stationary cameras with seated operators, nothing would alter the Sunday morning worship service.
When the motion first came before the deacon body, it failed for lack of a second. But after hearing statistics that showed that the ministry would reach more than 50 Mid-South counties with a rated audience of 60,000 to 70,000 viewers every Sunday, the deacons supported the step of faith.
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Bellevue |
The church approved the funds to purchase equipment to televise Bellevue's Sunday morning services from 10:50 a.m. until noon. A room on the second floor of the church designated as an organ chamber was converted into a TV studio.
Despite the estimation from local TV executives that the process would take from 90 days to six months, Bellevue volunteers and staff worked around the clock to be ready for broadcasting on the first Sunday of the year.
"The problems as to equipment, channel time, personnel, and financing seemed like vast mountains, but one by one the Lord removed the difficulties," Bellevue's former Associate Pastor Rev. Ralph McIntyre told a reporter from The Commercial Appeal. "There's just one answer to how it all got accomplished. The Lord favors it."
People within a 120 mile radius in the WHBQ viewing area favored it, too, judging from the letters, cards, and telegrams poured into the church from grateful people in four states.
Some asked for hymnals so they could sing along with the congregation. One viewer expressed his thanks by writing, "Your service over television brought God right into this room."
The results from broadcasting Bellevue's services in the Memphis area were so positive that in 1971 the congregation provided color cameras and equipment through a special offering.
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Bellevue |
Lighting was upgraded when the Midtown sanctuary was remodeled, and a third camera was added in 1978 under the leadership of Pastor Adrian Rogers. In 1985, the church voted to buy four new cameras and additional equipment to improve the telecast.
Other technological upgrades brought the broadcast to a professional level when the church relocated to Cordova in 1989.
Dr. Adrian Rogers, who came to Bellevue as Pastor in 1972, proved to be an unusually effective communicator, and television proved to be an ideal medium for sharing his powerful Bible messages.
In 1977 Bellevue's radio and TV ministry exploded on an international level when church member Buck Jones founded Word for the World, featuring messages by Dr. Rogers. The ministry was renamed by Pastor Rogers in 1986, and was incorporated as Love Worth Finding in 1987. Today, Love Worth Finding continues to send the gospel around the world by re-airing Dr. Rogers' messages.
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Bellevue |
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Bellevue |
The purchase of digital cameras in 2002 was the first step in a multi-phase plan to upgrade Bellevue's television and audio equipment to digital operation. The final phase, completed in 2003, was Bellevue's most significant technological upgrade since 1958.
Today at Bellevue's Cordova location, Dr. Steve Gaines continues the legacy of reaching Memphis for Christ through Bellevue's television broadcast. Bellevue recently added a new hour to the broadcast of its morning worship service which now airs on two local stations each Sunday morning. Bellevue's new theme, "Bellevue Loves Memphis," is underscored by the fact that the church has never asked for money on its TV broadcast.
"This is our gift to the community," said Jim Barnwell, director of communications and media. "It's not about money but about the heart and soul of Memphis." A group of counselors is available during each broadcast to receive calls from viewers desiring spiritual help. The church received nearly 800 calls for prayer and spiritual help in the past 12 months from the television broadcast, an 80 percent increase since 2004.
The newest addition to Bellevue's broadcast is webstreaming and podcasts. During Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Wednesday evening services, viewers all around the world can watch Bellevue live on the internet or download Dr. Gaines' messages.
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Bellevue |
"Next to being in person, television is still one of the best ways to communicate the gospel," Dr. Steve Gaines said. "People retain more when they can hear the gospel and see the text on the screen. It's a fabulous communication tool."
One of Pastor Robert G. Lee's concerns in 1958 was that television would become a substitute for attending church services. Half a century later, the reverse is true.
"TV doesn't keep people from coming to church," said Barnwell "TV brings people to church when they see something they want to be a part of." According to new member surveys, television is the number one way people find out about Bellevue other than through family and friends.
Bellevue will continue the legacy begun by Dr. Lee 50 years ago: a legacy of reaching out to Memphis with the message and love of Christ.
Cooke Pictures and the American Bible Society Announce New Dove Awards Advertising Campaign
Cooke Pictures has been selected to produce the commercials for the American Bible Society (ABS) - the leading sponsor of the national music awards event in this year's Dove Awards Presentation.
The commercial campaign will focus on the mission of ABS, which was founded in 1816, and translates, prints, and distributes bibles to third world countries, soldiers on the battlefield, to churches, the inner city, and more. The ABS has been in existence for nearly 200 years, and has distributed millions of bibles throughout the world.
"At Cooke Pictures, our goal is to help churches and ministries share their story more effectively in a media-driven culture. That's why this opportunity to tell the story of one of the most prestigious and effective ministries in the world is so exciting” says Phil Cooke, founder of Cooke Pictures.
Heil Sound Ltd Receives Honor During Parnelli Awards
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| Bob Heil, Heil Sound Ltd |
“I can’t tell you how blown away I am by this,” says Bob Heil, after receiving the award from Sound Image President, Dave Shadoan. “To me this is a bigger deal than getting in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame because this award is voted on by my peers. It is truly an honor.”
Established in 1966, Heil Sound Ltd. has developed many professional audio innovations over the years, and is currently a leader in the design and manufacture of large diaphragm microphones for live sound, broadcast, recording, and amateur radio markets.
The award ceremony was held during the LDI show in Orlando, Florida. Heil, one of professional sounds most prolific inventors was honored for his work with such acts as The Who, Humble Pie, Joe Walsh and others.
new products
Christie HD405 Brings 1080P HD Capability to Single Chip DLP
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Christie HD405 |
Christie introduces the HD405 – the first native HD model in the company’s single-chip DLP(r) portfolio. The new projector combines DLP image quality with full 1080p resolution specifically for small to medium-sized conference rooms, boardrooms, training rooms, home theater, and 24/7 applications where single chip DLP reliability is paramount.
The Christie HD405 presents high definition images with 4100 ANSI lumens brightness and a 1000-7500:1 contrast ratio. It offers full 1080p (1920 x 1080) resolution, 10-bit image processing, and BrilliantColor(tm) processing.
It is configured with a standard RGBCYM color wheel to deliver color saturation for reproduction of video and data sources. Its native 1080p resolution provides the image detail for single or multiple images. The HD405 is powered by a dual-lamp, long-life sealed light engine.
www.christiedigital.com
Recordex USA Releases Automated CD/DVD 50 Disc Printer
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StudioJet 50 |
Recordex USA offers a 50 disc automated CD/DVD printer that prints high resolution images. The StudioJet 50 was featured at Worship Facilities Expo (WFX) 2007 by Long’s Electronics, Tape Warehouse, and Advance Media Depot, Recordex' distribution partners.
Randy Buxton, director of technical services, commented that "The StudioJet 50 auto printer is a product designed from the ground up after thorough research into the needs of the market. We were surprised to learn that many manufacturers of CD/DVD print systems simply repackage readily available ink, inflate the price, and pass this cost on to the end user every time they need to purchase ink. We chose to leverage the latest advancements in ink-jet color printing from HP and allow our valued customers to purchase low cost HP ink at the retailer of their choice.”
www.recordexusa.com/StudioJet50Brochure.pdf
Collaboration Project between WorshipFilms and HymnCharts Brings New Release
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Cover, Complete Christmas |
A resource for churches is now available due to a partnership between WorshipFilms.com and HymnCharts.com. WorshipFilms.com’s latest release, Complete Christmas, combines video resources with contemporary arrangements of five Christmas carols and one original Christmas worship song. The songs come with accompanying videos, demo versions, split/click track versions with or without the lyrics, and chord charts. In addition to the songs, the collection includes other videos for use during the Christmas season – six long playing loops without the music, seven shorter background loops, two countdowns, and a sermon illustration. “We are really excited about this new product.” says WorshipFilms’ president, Jesse Lewis. “It’s not just performance tracks, not just video clips – but a combination of resources that can be used in many ways.” WorshipFilms has been producing video products for worship for several years, but this is the first time they have collaborated with HymnCharts in order to provide music tracks with their videos.
www.worshipfilms.com |
