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As more houses of worship refresh and upgrade their audio systems, digital mixers and loudspeaker setups, new technologies are helping these venues to sound better with a smaller footprint, especially at mix position. This is particularly true when the additional benefits of onboard processing and effects allow for more control of peak frequencies and feedback problems when compared to older analog systems.
At Bethany Baptist Church in Columbia, Louisiana, Mark Wallace is responsible for all aspects of production for services and events. Working with contractor Tony Cortellini of Matt's Music in Monroe, Louisiana, Wallace has executed a production makeover to offer better and more consistent quality of audio to the church's more than 250 attendees. With three scheduled services each week, as well as special services, community events and functions with local law enforcement agencies, the venue gets plenty of use on a nearly daily basis.
Working together with the church leadership to select the best possible products for the size, format, budget, and musical style of Bethany Baptist Church, Wallace and Cortellini had to replace their dated Peavey CL Series passive speakers and Peavey RQ series 16 channel mixer. “The [speaker] drivers were rotted and the old Peavey mixer was failing,” recalls Cortellini. “One of the biggest problems in church audio is people messing with equipment that they don't understand.” After consideration of the inputs, staffing and overall needs of the church, Cortellini chose the Yamaha TF-3 digital mixing console. He continues: “Presets and storage of settings make it easy to recall the proper setup. It's about sound quality and ease of use with future expansion and longevity.”
According to Wallace, simply using the TF-3 is beneficial given that several people may be operating the system. “On the TF, I love the ability to have things set up in advance, especially when a new user comes on. Plus, you just select the channel and you have access to everything from the touch screen. The only difference is that you don't have an entire [analog] console in front of you at once. When you take that into account, the settings are easy.”
Wallace, who has a background in production, was also a performer in a touring Christian band. He recognizes that the church has a tech team that runs the audio system when he is not on-site and that not everyone has the same level of experience.
The church also records both audio and video of their worship services. “On our old system, we could only record the main sound output,” admits Wallace. “Now, with the TF-3, we have a separate sub mix for the recordings. We never had the ability to do this before. We can adjust that mix to include things that might already be loud enough in the room.”
Their volunteers include three primary AV people and the initial training had them running the mixer in only about five minutes.
The TF-3 provides Bethany Baptist Church with the new ability to feed their mix to their classrooms and, in the future, make use of the recording capabilities. Since the church uses a combination of acoustic instruments, choir miking, pulpit microphones and recorded tracks, Wallace makes use of assigning each via the user-defined keys so that fewer adjustments are required. This allows him to switch more easily between configurations for music, choral and spoken events.
"I love the ability to have things set up in advance, especially when a new user comes on."
Mark Wallace
Production Coordinator, Bethany Baptist Church, Columbia, LA.
The new system also includes new QSC CX and GMX amplifiers driving Community V2 series loudspeakers, as well as an InFocus IN3136a video projector, screen and cabling throughout the church.
“The old system was comfortable but old, so when the features started to fail, it caused [the church] to look into new products,” says Wallace. “Now, with the TF-3, everything is ready to go without much tweaking… the sound is very clean and we have no more issues with feedback as we did with the previous system. It's a ‘one-push' thing.”
Equipment List
•Yamaha TF3 digital mixing console
•QSC GX5 power amplifiers
•QSC CMX500Va power amplifiers
•Community V2-3294 loudspeakers
•Community V2-6W loudspeakers
•Community MX-10B floor monitor speakers
•Lowell SL-810-72-K wall baffle speaker
•Audio-Technica ATW-2110 wireless body pack system
•Countryman E6O ear set microphone
•Audio-Technica PRO-42 boundary microphone
•Furman PL-8C rack mount AC power supply/line filter
•Grundorf RSB-8DB equipment rack
