St. Ignatius Catholic Church in Tarpon Springs, Florida
The sounds of an organ can make an inspiring, emotional impact on congregations during church services, especially in spaces where all the acoustics have been factored in and optimized. Church Organ Works mission is to provide the most exceptional organ sound possible for each unique house of worship, filling the church with the stirring music great organs are designed to deliver, from the altar all the way to the very back of the sanctuary. To optimize the instruments’ powerful sound, Church Organ Works relies on Ashly Audio amplifiers.
Dan Bashor, CEO of Church Organ Works, has counted on Ashly Audio’s versatile amplifiers for 15 years. Available in various wattages of 250, 500, 800, 1500 and larger, Bashor says the amplifiers are well suited for practically all of the installation challenges he has faced.
“Ashly Audio is able to provide the flexible technology and high performance for any system we encounter,” explains Bashor. “We are able to solve problems immediately after we identify them thanks to the variety of options offered by Ashly.”
Bashor adds that the precise control offered by Ashly Audio systems allows Church Organ Works to combine both pipe and digital technologies for a hybrid organ solution where details in every aspect of the sound are required. He says this immediate real-time control saves installation time and helps take the stress out of large projects in particular, allowing his team to focus on precisely tuning the sound for the sanctuary’s space and acoustics.
“Being able to wirelessly control large blocks of multichannel amplifiers from anywhere in the venue is a huge advantage when setting and adjusting system parameters,” Bashor says. “For amplifiers, we require a complete and flexible DSP suite for matrix, time alignment, gain control, mixing, crossover and all manner of parametric equalization. Fortunately, Ashly is able to provide this.”
As a case in point, Church Organ Works recently completed an installation at St. Ignatius Catholic Church in Tarpon Springs, Florida. The high ceiling, wooden pews and other variable surfaces make for an extremely challenging acoustic space – a common problem for many houses of worship. For St. Ignatius, Church Organ Works specified and integrated a complement of Ashly Audio amplifiers to match the size and potential of the church’s hybrid organ. The result was a more authentic, powerful and detailed sound for everyone, according to Bashor.
To meet the requirements for this organ, three Ashly Audio ne8250, one nX4004 and one nX 1.5 were specified and installed to support the St. Ignatius hybrid organ and bring music to the congregation. The specified amplifiers each have Protea DSP onboard and are Dante systems. The hybrid organ outputs Dante for the digital audio network path and uses MIDI Pipe Output for the speaking pipes.
Bashor explains how the pipe organ, described as the “King of Instruments,” has numerous unique attributes that make it a tonal giant. He says understanding these attributes is critical in order to even begin to envision how an audio system might try to deliver pipe sound into a variety of acoustic spaces.
“As one of the most unique instrument applications, we are basically asking modern technology to compete ‘on-par’ or in some cases side-by-side with ‘wind-blown pipes,’ Bashor says. “Thank you Ashly, for helping make the exceptional possible.”
For more information, visit www.ashly.com and https://www.churchorganworks.com/.
