Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, is renowned for its annual production, The Gift of Christmas (GOC). The elaborate multimedia event features a nearly 1,000-member cast and choir, a live orchestra, flying angels, and live animals. This year the production featured a new sound system as Prestonwood partnered with integration firm Spectrum Sound for a comprehensive d&b audiotechnik Soundscape with En-Scene and En-Space deployment featuring SL-Series line arrays and subwoofers.
“Before we even considered Soundscape, d&b was the clear choice,” explains Prestonwood’s Head of Audio, Mike Smith. “Their cardioid SL-Series systems offer both a pragmatic, as well as an artistic benefit with their tight pattern control keeping energy off the church’s expansive stage and away from our high ceilings, and focusing it forward to the 7,000-seat congregation.”
“The capabilities for an immersive audio option soon became the core of the discussion, and we arranged a Soundscape demo,” Spectrum Sound Operations Manager Zach Mitchell says. "It was not difficult to make the decision for a Soundscape installation once we went down that road. It made all the sense to do it.” Smith adds. “The sonic clarity and spatialization we now have in our weekly services are just unbelievable, but The Gift of Christmas is really where the system is used to its maximum potential.”
The design process, executed in conjunction with d&b and Spectrum Sound, went through several refinements due to the room's enormous size, wide shape, and curves. “The final design required five hangs of the SL-Series line array on a custom curved truss,” shares Mitchell. “Our selection of d&b XSL loudspeakers was strategic due to their cardioid behavior, keeping stage noise down, and their perfect size to fill Prestonwood’s large room.”
Spectrum Sound implemented the large installation in three phases, starting with surrounds and fills to accommodate the church’s active schedule. Mitchell describes the final phase where the main PA went up: "We started Sunday afternoon and were tuning the PA and ready for a rehearsal on Thursday of that week, so that we had plenty of pre-programming time before the weekend’s services. The installation was incredibly easy and went in flawlessly thanks to the planning and system design work we did with ArrayCalc and then d&b’s efficient rigging features.”
The Gift of Christmas is the church’s most intricate production, “GOC runs nearly two hours and is completely locked into time code, automating cue timing for lighting, video, pyro, lasers, and audio,” Smith shares. “We have around 200 console snapshots, with about 25 snapshots automated with control bus routing and fader movements via Create.Control. Making manual operation of such a complex mix would be next to impossible. Included in our automation are En-Scene and En-Space changes to enable immersive audio experiences that adapt throughout the production.”
En-Scene spatialization software is tapped for localization effects that align with the visual spectacle. “One powerful example occurs in the Living Nativity act when the choir physically enters from the back of the room,” Smith explains. "We start that cue with the choir stems placed in the back of the hall and the sound moves forward and follows them, perfectly matched to their location all the way up to the front stage. It’s a really cool effect.” En-Scene localization is also used for flying performers. “When Gabriel flies in from stage left and sings, his vocal track follows him so it sounds just like it's coming from where he is. The same applies for some dramatic moments with the flying drummers.”
En-Space room emulation software is utilized throughout the production, changing the acoustics of the room to match their creative needs. “I particularly love applying En-Space for the orchestra,” says Smith. “This processing helps give the orchestra a cinematic feel by pulling the sound out into the room with beautiful reflections.”
“The overall benefit of Soundscape is that it opens up the sonic palette,” Smith adds. “Previously, mixing was constrained, and we needed to shove everything into to two points. Now, we can spread things apart and we don't have sound objects fighting in the same frequency spectrum. This freedom means we use so much less EQ and processing than before. Plus, the ability to create and distribute sound within its sonic landscape allows the team to run the mix in a way that feels more present, without it necessarily being louder.”
The congregation’s feedback after the d&b Soundscape installation has been extremely positive “We’ve received praise from everyone on the upgrade, from the worship leader and the band to the choir, to the congregation themselves,” Smith shares. “But the favorite feedback I’ve received came from two elderly people that who told me 'We don't know what you did differently, but it now sounds so good in here, we don't have to mess with our hearing aids anymore. We can now hear everything.' That right there, knowing we’re able to reach everyone in the audience, was worth a thousand compliments.”
“Our musical team, custom-arranges and orchestrates all the music for every service and production, and they now design new elements with Soundscape in mind, knowing they have the tools to translate their creativity into the room," Smith enthusiastically concludes. “I’m so enthusiastic about the potential of immersive audio and I am super passionate about people hearing what we can do with Soundscape.”
