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Technical Revival at Olive Baptist Church in Pensacola, FL
The great news about modern systems technology: there’s something suitable for every type of worship style imaginable. So while the congregants of Olive Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida, are still enjoying their beautiful worship center built more than a decade ago - and likely will continue to do so far into the future – the sound reinforcement system can (and in fact, has been) significantly improved to better serve a myriad of needs.
The Olive Baptist sound upgrade project was a collaboration of leading systems provider All Pro Sound of Pensacola and the church technical group, headed by Audio-Video Specialist Kelly Ward. This system team focused primarily on implementing new loudspeaker technology within the worship center, which offers two levels surrounding the front platform in a fan-shaped configuration, with seating for nearly 5,000.
“The original sound system had gotten to the point where it was underperforming in general, and more specifically, it couldn’t keep up with the coverage and dynamic full-range needs of today’s modern worship style,” explains Bobby Taylor of All Pro Sound, who has attended services at Olive Baptist for 35 years. “There was also an opportunity to upgrade flexibility in light of more recent developments; for example, the ability to easily turn off zones of the system not in use at certain times, thereby enhancing intelligibility.”
And it is still intelligibility that’s the number one goal, regardless of whether services are traditional, contemporary or a blend of styles, notes Ward. “The ability to clearly hear every word, syllable, and inflection of the pastor is still the top priority. We were also seeking fuller sound from the choir, and in that definition, intelligibility also is the key,” he explains.
Further to these goals, the system team also sought to more fully involve parishioners in services by carefully tailoring the sound design. The idea is to utilize sound to “close the distance” between the choir (and performers on the front platform in general) and parishioners, adding an intimacy to the experience in light of the considerable scale of the room.
Finally, the content of services has grown more varied over the years. Elements include the choir (numbering over 200 members), featured singers and vocal groups, full orchestra and contemporary band with electronic instruments. “Think about the term blended services, and with that in mind, it’s safe to say we go beyond even that description,” Taylor explains. “It all adds up to a dynamic situation not just from week to week, but from service to service, and if you don’t have a sound system capable of keeping up, then something very important will be lost.”
The original mid/high loudspeakers installed to serve as the mains were flown in a left-right configuration more than 50 feet above the main floor, covered by a scrim. After a great deal of discussion and evaluation, the sound team decided to re-use these loudspeakers; however, they would take a lesser role, superseded by a two new EAW KF730 compact line arrays to serve as the centerpiece of a left-center-right (LCR) loudspeaker approach.
The KF730 packs a six-driver, horn-loaded design into a compact enclosure to produce extremely high output that’s tightly controlled. A full-sized mid/high horn fills the entire face of the enclosure, ensuring broadband 110-degree horizontal pattern control that’s ideal for very wide coverage spaces like the Olive Baptist sanctuary.
Each of the new line arrays is comprised of eight KF730 boxes, with the bottom portion of each array pulled gently upward to focus coverage on the front seating rows. In between these two full-range arrays is another single array made up of four EAW SB730 flying subwoofers, with the low-frequency energy from this array “steered” downward with digital signal processing.
“The KF730 has such a pleasant, natural sonic signature, and we really like the fact that its output is so controllable from the lowest frequencies to the highest,” Taylor says. “These arrays have plenty of throw for an application, perfect for wider 3,000-5,000-seat spaces. The horizontal overlap is also so smooth, and is incredible in how tightly it can be controlled. We put the coverage overlap zones in the aisles, and within a foot or so, coverage just drops off, so there’s no bleed over between zones. This helps insure tight intelligibility.”
Ward adds, “There was also consideration of true full-range capability; in other words, we want the system to be able to ‘rock n’ roll’ performance when needed. The approach taken here, along with some additional subwoofers that can be quickly added, guarantees we’re able to achieve it.”
As noted, the original loudspeaker clusters have been retained and now are flanked wide to the sides of the new arrays, serving as “left and right” channels. And, another small KF730 array was added to the back side of the center loudspeakers, providing complete coverage of the 200-member choir seating area.
The new line arrays were selected after an on-site evaluation process. In fact, given the nearby proximity to All Pro Sound headquarters, along with Taylor’s long-standing relationship, the church serves as an ideal real-world “test lab” for evaluating a wide range of systems technology.
“It’s just an outstanding situation to have a room of this scope available for in-depth product assessments,” Taylor says. “When we want to find out what really works, and what doesn’t, we bring it here for a thorough tryout.”
With the main loudspeakers located so high above the main floor, dual EAW UB42 compact loudspeakers were installed within the platform steps in order to pull the sonic image “down”, helping to match it with the people on stage. These loudspeakers are carefully time aligned in order to seamlessly achieve their purpose.
Meanwhile, single EAW UB82 compact full-range loudspeakers were added to “flanking” side walls of the platform – and stained to match the décor of their surroundings - to supply a bit more mid-high boost to raked seating zones on the extreme sides of the main floor. Again, careful time alignment keeps this in sync with the mains.
The original system also included 12 additional UB82 loudspeakers mounted equidistantly at the front of the balcony to bolster coverage to seating zones up there; however, with the improved output provided by the new line arrays, these are no longer needed. In fact, future plans call for them to be turned around to fire at the main floor, creating an immersive surround sound effect.
To bolster coverage to shadowed seating regions far under the balcony (primarily high-frequency energy), EAW JF50 compact loudspeakers mounted in their horizontal cabinet position, have been posted equidistantly. These have been pained to match their surroundings as well.
In the interests of dynamic full-range capability combined with the overall goal of very tight intelligibility, dual EAW BH622 horn-loaded subwoofers occupy each corner of the stage, paired up in corner areas for additional energy coupling. Specifically targeting the 25 Hz to 50 Hz range, the horn-loaded design of these subs helps improve directivity, with distortion also reduced in comparison to direct radiating designs.
And, for true concert-style productions, four more EAW SB1000 dual-18-inch subwoofers can be rolled out on to platform and plugged in via the ample interconnect capability installed by All Pro Sound throughout the platform. “We can deliver an enormous amount of punch, no doubt,” Taylor says. “But it’s incredibly tight, and that’s the key. A bunch of sloppy low-end energy bouncing around the room would work in direct opposition to our purposes.”
This entire loudspeaker set is tied together with six BSS Soundweb 8088 digital processors offering plenty of DSP horsepower. All Pro Sound also networked these units, and they interface with a computer at the sound system house mix/control position in the worship center. This allows Ward and other technicians to remotely monitor and control the system without having to travel all the way to the upstage-left equipment room.
“The graphic user interface that All Pro has provided on this networked processing is great. I can easily access presets and other system parameters right from the house console,” Ward notes. “I also have the option of doing things like one-band equalization, changing compression and limiting, and turning off various zones of the system when they’re not needed.
“Another aspect of this that has already come in quite handy is the ability to adjust the system on the fly in a certain zone, when someone comes up to the booth to make a request for something like more volume,” he adds.
All of the loudspeakers are driven by racks of QSC Audio CX Series power amplifiers located with the networked processors in the climate-controlled equipment room. Powerhouse Crown Macro-Tech MA-3600VZ amplifiers are applied to the subwoofers, with all amplifiers linked to a LynTec sequential AC power on/off system.
Ward and his team have an Allen & Heath ML5000 mixing console available at the mix position, and it does double-duty on both the house and platform monitoring systems without a problem. The platform offers a cornucopia of flexible monitoring options, with four EAW UB80 low-profile cabinets positioned along the front edge firing back toward the performers, providing a general “wash” of programming. Several EAW SM115 and SM112 stage wedges can also be added where needed.
Another factor in upgrading the intelligibility quotient has been Ward’s decision to outfit both Pastor Dr. Ted Traylor and Worship Leader Dr. Leo Day with Countryman IsoMax E6 EarSet microphones on Audio-Technica Artist Elite Series 5000 UHF frequency-agile wireless systems. “We put just a touch of compression and limiting on these mic channels, and it’s just superior in terms of capturing their true vocal signatures while remaining smooth,” Ward notes. “Dr. Day switches to an A-T 5400 (AEW-T5400) transmitter with a 4030 mic element for his solo vocals, and we’ve also put several other key participants in serves on 5400s as well. Everyone who hears this mic is blown away by it.”
A wide assortment of quality microphones are available for other purposes, with Ward also casting a spotlight on Audix M1245 condenser microphones implemented for the choir. Again, intelligibility has been increased with change.
“What we were charged with doing, and indeed what has been attained, is to place all of these goals into the proper priority and then meet each one to the fullest extent possible,” Taylor concludes. “With careful planning and a lot of hard work by the system team, the result is that some great technology has been formed into a virtually new sound system that far better meets the expectations of everyone involved with the church.”
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