Article updated November 3,2011
One of the primary values of Mountaintop Community Church is its outreach to and connection with the unchurched-those who either have had bad experiences in church or have never regularly been a part of a church. As a result, Birmingham, Ala.-based Mountaintop employs technology to do church in a way that folks outside the church don't expect.
Director of Music Phillip Oswald relates that the church's worship services are centered around telling the story of scripture through song, drama, video and the Sunday sermons. He says, "People are used to quality technology-from cinema to surround sound systems at home-cultural expectations are high. The church needs to be the best people experience all week; we should be on top, not behind the world." It is vital to the vision of Mountaintop that these things are done with a level of excellence that meets where people are in today's culture. "Sunday morning services are the front door to our church and the sound system is a vital part of them. Having a sound system that we trust is essential to the life of our church," Oswald says.
The music on Sundays at Mountaintop is high energy and the old audio system simply could not keep up. The original design was not built to be pushed very hard. However, by late 2009, the system was slowly decomposing and the church was finding, weekly, that yet another audio component had failed. Even when everything was working well, the system was being pushed to the limit, especially when concerts were held in the room. During one concert in particular, the system was pushed to its absolute limits and went downhill quickly. Patching happened continuously for over a year, progressively getting worse to the point that Sunday morning was a time of trepidation for the tech and music teams, as well as the leadership.
Taking Stock and Action
When the church contacted ESB Group of Springville, Ala., about the situation, a conversation about Mountaintop's values and budget ensued. The church's 1,700-seat room requires a rather large and sophisticated audio system to cover it evenly given the nature of the church's services. So the team came to the conclusion that it would be best to redesign and replace only those elements of the system that were no longer functioning and able to support the audio needs for Sunday services. This would allow for the entire $80,000 budget to be spent on the components of the system that were in need of upgrade.
While the loudspeaker system continued to degrade, the mixing console, processing and outboard gear-as well as the existing video and lighting gear-continued to reliably serve the church's needs. With the redesign focused in on the speaker system, ESB set to work with its own Andy McMillan leading as project manager. McMillan, who has since amicably left ESB Group to serve a church in Georgia as youth pastor, shared that one of ESB's values, led by Larry Bounds and Beau Blackwell, is to help churches find resources to accomplish their mission within their budget. The company is passionate about both technology and its role in furthering the church. This type of thought process led McMillan and the ESB team to specify the Electro-Voice EVA-2082S full-range, dual-element line array modules, in 120 x 6 and 120 x 20-degree dispersion patterns that fit the coverage and dynamic requirements of the project, as well as the budget.
McMillan says the sight lines in the room became a major consideration. The HVAC ductwork hangs down from the ceiling in such a way that video sight lines were already limited. When design requirements turned the speaker installation towards line arrays, compromises were needed to maintain the tight video sight lines. Dual, six-box line arrays of EVA-2028S's were installed, with eight eight Xlci215 subwoofers flown in two arrays of four each. This arrangement allowed for the proper coverage and frequency response without interference with the sight lines.
Stu Schatz of Electro-Voice Technical Services Department collaborated closely with ESB Group on working around these issues. McMillan says, "Our own engineers created the final design in EASE [acoustic simulator software for engineers], but before we even ordered any speakers, Stu had worked up an initial proposed system in EASE, which was very helpful."
With the majority of the listening area covered by the EVA line arrays, a solution was needed for front and side fills. ESB Group chose boxes from the Electro-Voice EVF series of two-way, front-loaded, full-range loudspeakers, in 60 x 60, 90 x 60, and 60 x 40-degree dispersion configurations. "The EVFs are great front fills," McMillan says, "and the cool thing about using EVAs and EVFs together is that they sound similar before you even tune. So when you walk into the EVF zone it doesn't feel different from the EVA, it feels like one solid sound. We're very pleased with how close those boxes sound to each other."
The EVFs on the sides cover areas of the fan-shaped room that are not used all the time and are usually curtained off. "If we'd expanded the main arrays to cover those side areas," McMillan says, "we would have created reflection issues when the curtains were closed. Using the main arrays for the front only and covering the sides with EVFs made a huge difference. The EVFs can be shut off when they are not using that area, but when they're on they really blend nicely with the EVAs."
Power for the system is provided by Electro-Voice Contractor Precision Series amps. "The CPS 2.12 amps sound stellar," McMillan says, "and they are very efficient. We're using a lot less power than the old system, but powering a much more powerful system. And the CPS has its own built-in power sequencing system, so that when you turn on or off the first amp the rest will sequence themselves. That's a really cool feature. Other amps come with it, but not at that price. It's a great amp for the money."
Valuing Time-tested Gear
While the redesign centered around the loudspeaker system, most of the old audio system stayed in place. At front of house, Mountaintop's tried-and-true Yamaha M3000A-40C analog console, a hold-over from the original system, continues to fulfill all of their needs with sufficient channel count and adequate EQ capabilities. Ten Sennheiser e845 Wireless Vocal mics, as well as eight Aviom personal monitoring mixers headline the rest of the original audio system, which has stayed in place.
The lighting system is controlled by a Jands Vista S3 console and includes six Robe 575 movers and 10 Apollo Smart Color 5.25 Scrollers. The video system centers around three Eiki LC-X80 6,500-lumen XGA LCD projectors fed by an iMac running Propresenter presentation software. There is also a PC running MediaShout, another worship-market-specific presentation software program that feeds three 50-inch confidence monitors for those on the platform. Other video gear includes five Sony D50 Cameras and a camera jib. The church staff did not feel that upgrading these components improved the ability to accomplish the mission of cultural relevance, and that their current function was supporting this vision admirably.
Response to the new system has been overwhelmingly positive. The dynamic capabilities of the system made an instant impression. As McMillan says, "Everybody that has heard this system says it is 10 times better than what they had before. It's incredible. Every time I get on the phone with the music pastor he tells me that he can't believe the system sounds so clear, and so good."
In addition to the improvement in sound quality, the new system offers a level of reliability and peace of mind that the church's leadership truly appreciates. "We are no longer limited by our sound system," Oswald says. "We used to have a four-cylinder car that we drove 90 mph, [and] now we have an eight-cylinder sports car that we drive 60 mph. We are no longer pushing our system, especially [the] subwoofers, to the very limit. We can add as much low-end as we want."
Mountaintop Community Church set out to upgrade its production technology with a limited budget in a way that would facilitate its vision to connect with the unchurched. With the help of ESB group, they evaluated their systems and determined that the speaker system was really the only element that required replacement. With the refit complete, the decision to leave nearly everything apart from the speaker system in place has proved to be a sound example of good stewardship: the church's vision enhanced, excellence and quality represented, and the budget appropriate within the scope of the church's life as a whole.
Editor's Note: Article was updated November 3, 2011 with corrections to the dispersion patterns of various Electro-Voice loudspeakers.
