Capture the imagination of listeners and make sure the message is heard
What’s the point of giving a sermon if your congregation can’t understand what you’re saying? If you want to learn how to improve the sound quality of your Church or House of Worship, we’re here to help.
The foundation of church worship is built around verbal, emotional, and musical communication. Music and the spoken word are essential elements in many religious and spiritual services. An uplifting message in the songs that are sung and the words that are spoken have the ability to stir emotions and makes for an inspiring experience that can lift and energize.
Yet, if every member of the congregation no matter where they sit cannot adequately hear the pastor, if the vocalist is not clear or distinct, or if the musicians are too loud, the message you are trying to deliver looses impact and inspiration. So why do so many Houses of Worship have have difficulty delivering ideal sound quality?
House of Worship sound system design can be a daunting task
The sound requirements for church sound systems used for contemporary worship can be varied and complex. Complexity of church design, acoustical ceiling pattern is
- In some worship spaces there are domed ceilings that have raw natural acoustic properties.
- In various smaller spaces the ceiling is made up of low suspended acoustic tile over an open space covered with small amounts of carpet.
Different acoustic and architectural solutions must be considered to help visitors receive and understand the message as it was intended to be heard.
The sound choice – creating the right ambience in House of Worship
Room acoustics is the most important factor affecting speech and music in a church.
- Room acoustics describes how sound behaves in an enclosed space
- Room acoustics is determined by the architecture and finishes of the room, and by the number of people that occupy the room at any given time
- Sound systems are designed for and determine by room acoustics
To successfully combine architectural and acoustic design for your church, get some advice from a good acoustic and sound system consultant like the professionals at Taylor Productions.
Well designed sound systems can overcome acoustic problems and enhance the worship experience
When designing a sound system for your church, it’s important to take the following into consideration or acoustic problems can occur:
- How large the church is?
- What kind of music a church performs?
- How loud the music is played?
Top reasons for sound problems in a House of Worship
Acoustic problems that churches struggle are the result of an improperly designed sound system. Such problems distract from the worship experience, and can be fixed:
- Speaker’s voice bounces around the room
- Feedback occurs during sermons or songs when a speaker is walking or talking
- Feedback occurs when a speaker points the microphone in various directions
- Microphones were not choose based on usage factors
- Poor microphone usage: Vocalists position the microphone at different distances from their mouth
- Poor monitor usage: Too loud, not loud enough, too muddy, not the right mix of vocals and instruments
- The room has hot spots and dead spots
- Excessive stage volume
- House volume too low, house volume too high
- House EQ not set properly
- Distortion, echo, or excessive reverberation occurs
- Faulty, old, damaged equipment, blown speakers
- Outside traffic noise, sirens, trains are distracting
- Bad sound guy: wasn’t properly trained on your system
Mixing the spoken word – get the pastor’s voice sounding great
Sound systems can be problem solvers. Well-designed systems can help overcome acoustic problems and enhance the worship experience.
- Sound systems can control amplified sound, making it louder, softer, clearer, brighter
- Sound systems can eliminate acoustic conflict between music and speech
Decisions you make can dramatically improve sound reinforcement and the experience for visitors. Points to consider:
- Make sure that your church sound system is built and installed correctly
- Make sure that sound design optimizes for room acoustics (size, shape, configuration)
- And optimizes for room finishings: type of seating, size of the audience, type of music
- Make sure the equipment being used functions properly
- Make sure equipment is well maintained: check microphones, monitors, speakers, amplifiers, mixers, signal processors periodically
- Consider where and how the equipment is set up and positioned
- Make sure different liturgical components are considered (readings, prayers, responses, sermons, music
Immersive, room-filling sound draws the listener in
Where a conference room would be optimized for articulation and clarity, a symphony hall is optimized for resonance and acoustics.
A place of worship, however, is optimized for articulation, clarity, resonance, and acoustics. This is because a worship space requires a balance between the requirements of a music performance and the spoken word. These acoustical factors if not addressed, make it difficult for a congregation to hear regardless of how loud the speaker tries to talk.
Consequences of a poor audio system
Acoustical factors aside, if you have a poor audio system you won’t hear the people say “That’s the best worship service we’ve ever had!”.
The consequences of a poor audio system are annoying, frustration, distracting, and could adversely affect the performance and reception of service. You know what I’m talking about – you have clicks, pops, crackles, hiss, harsh, distortion, feedback, flutter, echo, excessive reverberation, sound delay, shadows, uneven frequency response, poor speaker coverage, too soft, too loud, too much…. and background noise. Did I miss anything?
Imagine the congregation is fully engaged in worship
Call Taylor Productions. We’ll work within your budget to build a system designed to support acoustical factors present in your space so people can’t help but feel it was the best worship service they’ve ever had
