Dudley Harris, Associate Pastor
Background
Music has always been a key element in the life of our church. Located in the historic Muscle Shoals area, we have always tried to maintain excellence in our music ministry. As the scripture tells us, “how can they hear without a preacher?”, we add to that, ‘how can they hear the preacher without a sound system?” The sound system is “how” the congregation participates in the music ministry.
Challenge
Our current building was constructed in 2000. Consequently, the sound technology was at best 10 years old. We were beginning to experience problems with several components, and in an attempt to correct some of those issues, had lost the clarity of sound that we desired for our members.
Distribution of the sound to other parts of the building (tv media, nurseries, hallways, etc.) was not working correctly. We had speakers that were randomly producing distortion, or not working at all. Solution With the help of our account manager, Chris Scott, and the project engineer, Jay McCutcheon, our system was thoroughly inspected and several recommendations were made to improve the quality and reliability of the sound. The first step was to replace our wireless devices with “legal” frequencies. Secondly, the major improvement was experienced with the installation of a Bose Control Space, which replaced three outdated pieces of equipment and drastically improved the overall sound. Also, two power amps were replaced that were found to be operating below spec.
Results
The Bose Control Space was installed just before our Easter program. We have condenser mics suspended from ceiling for choir voice reinforcement. They have never sounded “right” because of feedback issues. When we used them for the first time after installing the Control Space my mouth literally dropped. I could not believe my ears. It sounded like the vocal track from the split track we were using. I went to the sound board to verify that the voices had actually been lifted from the mix, and to my amazement, they were. That was actually our choir! The program went off without a hitch, and the sound has never been so pleasant.
Conclusion
I am very pleased with the new equipment, but more so with the people involved in the process. Jay and “Shaggy” are quite a pair to work with, and the communication with Chris is always prompt and thorough. We are now looking at the rest of the system to see if there are other “quantum leaps” to be experienced in our system.
