Contact Us - Services

Here's a letter written by David Hansel, the Technical Support Director of the Church media services. He's the one who's been working to complete the project.

09/25/2005

Someone said to me recently that I was on record saying that the sanctuary would not be deadened by the acoustic treatment. But that, in fact, it has been deadened a lot. Before you give your response to that person’s remark let me ask you something. If I could throw at you as hard as I could, which would you prefer to be hit by, a lead ball weighing a pound, or a handful of BBs, also weighing a pound?

Thinking... did you choose the BBs, as I did?

Alright, back to the remark... I plead guilty, the room is deadened... as expected, and desired, I might add. What is greatly diminished (deadened) are the giant reflections of audio energy (lead balls), called echoes, that were bouncing off the large flat surfaces. Those reflections have been diffused into very small reflections (BBs) that are scattered into many different directions. The room is still live, meaning the reverberation is still there, and actually, is improved because the reverb is not muddied up by the heavy echoes. All the sounds heard in the room are cleaner and more intelligible.

Evidence...

1. My ears - Odie Weir and I did an experiment this past Friday evening. He read from the Bible at the pulpit in a normal speaking voice. I stood at the back behind the last row of pews and could understand what he was reading. That’s a good sign. Could we have done that before the acoustic treatment? Tim, do you remember me telling you before starting this audio project that when it was completed you would be able to speak from the platform without amplification and be heard, and understood, in nearly the whole room?
   
   
2. Room EQ and the real-time-analyzer - To make the sound system match the room the audio operator performs a technique called “flattening the room”. What that pertains to is the analysis of the frequency response of the room in at least 31 different audio frequencies and then applying a processor to boost or attenuate the output of the audio system to match that room response. In the past, the processor displayed a graphic curve with a lot of peaks and valleys. The last room flattening analysis revealed a curve that was more even, which indicated that the natural acoustic response of the room is becoming more neutral. A naturally occurring neutral room does not require as much processing and is more desirable than one that has to rely on a lot of electronics to make it work.
   
   
3. Mixer controls - I have discovered that the individual tone controls on each input channel can now be left in a neutral position. Before we had to greatly attenuate the bass because the room was so boomy. What I have to modify now on a per person basis is just a little adjustment around the 2.5K-3.5K range, which is the peak voice area. And, that depends only if the person speaking needs a small boost to clarify his voice or an attenuation to cut the sharpness.
   
   
4. Yesterday, during Sabbath School the song service was led by Richard and his son. Richard was standing over a foot away from the microphone for most of his speaking and I could crank up the volume of that microphone, without feedback, enough to compensate for the distance. I have never been able to do that before. Since the big echoes are mostly gone, the propensity for feedback is greatly diminished. I guess we shouldn't be surprised. Our consultant, Blake Engel, said that we, when the acoustics were under control, would have a working microphone distance of 18 inches.
   
   
5. During the song service for church, Richard Gore and his group stood over by the right speaker stands. Since his guitar is not equipped for a direct plug-in to the system he had to use a microphone instead. “Keep your guitar extremely close to this microphone”, I said, “or else there will be feedback due to the close proximity to the speakers”. Well, he didn’t, in fact he was over a foot away. So I cranked up the volume on his mic anyway, expecting at any moment to hear the ring associated with the beginning of feedback. I didn’t hear it, because it never occurred. In fact, I even boosted the bass a little bit.

Congregational feedback -

1. A week ago a little old man brought back the assistive listening receiver he had borrowed for that Sabbath. I told him that it had not been working. He said that it had worked OK for him. “Well”, I said, “I didn’t even have the transmitter on so it couldn’t have worked”. He said even so, he could hear just fine. Then, I said, it must have been because of the acoustic changes we’ve been making. I saw him again yesterday, but he didn’t have a listening device this time. However, he did have a big smile on his face.
   
   
2. Yesterday, between Sabbath School and Church, Lillian McNealley came up to the console desk greatly excited and loaded with smiles and thank-you’s. She wears double hearing aids like the old fellow of last week. She said she was so grateful for all the work we had been doing with the audio system because now it seems like she could sit just about anywhere and understand what was being said. Is that worthy of a “Praise the Lord”, or what?
   
   
3. Doug, our acoustic installing contractor, asked, last week, what she thought of the acoustic changes since she was the organist for that day. She said that for the first time she could understand what the person at the pulpit was saying even without her monitor speaker being on. That's a 37-year first. When has anyone playing the organ, or anyone sitting on the platform ever made that remark?
   
   
4. Numerous short comments that the acoustics are definitely better.

Summary - The room sounds better, and looks better. More people are smiling because they are beginning to hear, and understand, EVERYTHING, both music and the spoken word. No one group or instrument has acoustic priority of the room anymore. The room is more even in its tonal response. The room is almost, acoustically speaking, under control. The room is being shared equally, again acoustically speaking, by the different groups and styles of worship that use it. If an acoustic priority can be assigned it would now be on the side of the Word of God.

For the first time in 37 years, the congregation can hear it, understand it and enjoy it, all at the same time. And, that’s a good thing.

David Hansel
Technical Support Director
Pacific Union College Church