Churches, be they small community places of worship or mega-churches that hold their services in giant stadiums, require professional audio systems today. From their praise and worship to the delivery of the leader’s message, it’s imperative that everything sounds crystal clear.
This is more important than ever because the “singspiration” component of some religious services have become similar to actual concerts. Hillsong, the mega-church from Sydney, Australia, for example, dedicates a significant part of their gatherings to music, and they like the performances long and loud.
As such, it comes as no surprise that for a lot of churches, Hillsong has become the standard when it comes to playing music. Therefore, investing in the best quality audio system for their religious programs makes sense.
Here are four other reasons why professional audio systems now have a place in church.
1. A full band or even an orchestra can place enormous pressure on speakers.
Most worship services these days have a full band or orchestra, with several instruments all being played at the same time. Having all of these playing for a 30- to 45-minute long singspiration per service always places immense pressure on the sound system.
The simultaneous production of sounds can overburden speakers as well as the wires that transmit the sound to the speaker. It’s only logical to use the best quality audio system, which is more durable and has the right technology to manage the sound pressure effectively.
2. The best sound system makes mixing a breeze.
Today’s sound systems do not only transmit sound, but they also adjust the quality of sound, especially for music. Mixing boards control volume, frequencies, echoes and reverb, distortions, treble, bass and other components to make sound beautiful.
For worship services, sound mixing is integral to the flow of the program. Thus, a lot of work goes into making the necessary adjustments for the pleasant cohesion of the different sounds from singers and instruments.
3. Professional audio systems contribute to the emotional energy of the service.
Again, with proper sound mixing and playback capabilities of top audio systems, it becomes so much easier to create the right atmosphere for the program. In worship day programs, playing instruments and singing are the prelude to emotionally charged worship and praise.
But to make the prelude even more powerful, refining sounds and adding a few effects are necessary. The best way to pull these off is with the help of a complete professional audio system.
4. Professional audio systems are scalable.
Top grade audio systems are the best choice for growing churches because they are scalable. This means they are big and powerful enough to take on more tasks. They have more ports for additional audio and even visual devices. Plus, they have a variety of controls and technology, which make them compatible even with the addition of different types of microphones from Music Majlis (condenser, bass, wireless or Bluetooth, wired, etc.) or headsets.
These are important for the creative ways churches go about their services. The best audio systems can handle the shift from big sounds in large venues like stadiums, to crisp and lower volume sounds for digital broadcasts straight from the minister’s office.
Preserving the Good Quality of Your Audio System
It’s important to mention that despite the superb quality and capabilities of a church’s audio system, there’s a need for the implementation of smart strategies to maintain them. According to the sound engineer of a mega-church, the following are some of the best ones to employ.
1. Choose the best locations for installation.
The mixing board, for instance, needs to have its own booth, especially with all the cables attached to it. Additionally, it has some sensitive components that maintain their quality by being placed in a fixed and stable position.
The same is true for speakers. It is crucial to protect them from moisture and to place them in strategic places, so their sounds come perfectly into phase.
2. Store instruments in a completely dry space.
Moisture can cause structural components of most musical instruments to morph. Therefore, churches should invest in storage solutions for all their high-quality sound equipment.
If they cannot provide dry storage, they should use dehumidifiers and even moisture packets when storing instruments in their respective cases.
3. Place subwoofers on the floor.
What subwoofers do is they push all the low end in the audio system. This will allow the speakers to maximize the speakers’ output because subs resonate the cabinets as well as the rooms they are in. With the subs on the floor, you can achieve the best resonance with your sound system.
4. Study the dispersion angle.
All speakers have an angle of dispersion, which is detailed in user manuals. Study the vertical and horizontal angles to make the lining adjustments work in producing the sound required.
Church services have significantly become dynamic over the years, which is the reason why congregations have grown immensely, particularly for mega-churches. So, if you are looking to make the praise and worship aspect of your church’s religious program more engaging and appealing, especially for young people, investing in the best professional audio system is certainly one of the best ways to do so.
Author Bio
Amrit Shivlani is the Founder and CEO at Music Majlis, a community-driven e-commerce platform that offers a wide variety of musical instruments and equipment for every musician and sound professional. The company’s goal is to make music-making, recording, producing and mixing accessible and available to everyone.