If the information in this book is not enough and you need help,

you can contact me at www.jdbsound.com or jdb@jdbsound.com

A newer version of this book is available.

It is a complete rewrite
 Why Are People Falling Asleep In The Church?

Why Are Church Sound Systems &

F aith Hearing
Acoustics
So Confusing?
comes Gods
by Words

Second Edition
Version 2.5
by Joseph De Buglio
JdB Sound, Acoustics, Canada 1992-99

How to Recognize Speech

or
How to Wreck a Nice Beach

JdB Sound Acoustics

2
 This book is dedicated to
my wife Karen and two children, Sharon and Joey

and

a nameless little old lady with silver gray hair with a hearing aid
who tapped me on the shoulder at the end of doing sound for a
church conference in a hotel. As I turned, with a tear in her eye,
she looked at me square into my eyes and only said two words,
"Thank you." and disappeared moments later.

This book is also dedicated to the thousands of people who attend a

church every Sunday faithfully, even though they are unable to hear
or understand everything because of sound or acoustical problems.

JdB Sound Acoustics

3
 Why Are People Falling Asleep In Church?

Why Are Church Sound Systems

& Acoustics So Confusing!
Second Edition
Version 2.5
by Joseph De Buglio
JdB Sound, Acoustics, Canada 1992-99

Written by -- Joseph De Buglio

Edited by -- Madilen Beck and Joseph De Buglio
Artwork by -- Joseph De Buglio
Photography by -- Joseph De Buglio
Contributing Writers -- Paul Ingebrigtsen, Bob Adams, Rane Corp.

This book was written on an IBM PC clone.

Software includes: Windows 3.1 & 95, Arts & Letters, Word for Windows, Excel, Visio, L-View Pro

Published by: JdB Sound, Acoustics

63 Lockerbie Ave.
Weston, Ontario M9N 3A3

International Standard Book Number 0-9697350-0-7

All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, photocopying, recording or otherwise,
without the written permission from the author. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the writer assumes no responsibility for
technical errors or omissions. The publisher welcomes any information that will enable us to rectify in subsequent editions any incorrect or omitted references,
credits or technical details.

Information contained in this work has been obtained by JdB Sound, Acoustics from sources believed to be reliable. However, neither JdB Sound, Acoustics
nor its authors guarantee the accuracy or completeness of any information published herein and neither JdB Sound, Acoustics nor its authors shall be
responsible for any errors, omissions or damages arising out of this information. This work is published with the understanding that JdB Sound, Acoustics and
its authors are supplying information but are not attempting to render engineering or other professional services. If such services are required, the assistance of
the author or another professional should be sought.

JdB Sound Acoustics

4
A word of Thanks.

The information herein comes from many sources but the most important sources of information came from you, the
church community. When I first began this trade, I had the impression that every church sound system would be totally
different from one church to the next. Nothing could be further from the truth. Most church sound systems can be
designed from a rather simple formula. Church acoustics can be as simple. Church sound is fun, exciting and rewarding.
When a proper church sound system is installed and operated properly, there is nothing warmer than people telling you
that it has been ten years since they've been able to understand their minister. One sweet elderly lady once asked if the
minister could repeat all of the messages given since his arrival 15 years earlier.
This book is about solving problems with the mechanics of church sound as well as the politics that keeps churches from
having good sound all the time. Interestingly enough, in many cases, more time is spent discussing, learning and selling
rather than installing.
Solutions to church sound problems have been available for a long time. It's the ignorance, lack of education and politics
that all too often gets in the way. Hopefully, this book will equip you to explain to others who, how, what, when, where,
and why. We want to thank you for teaching us how to talk to you so that you can understand your own needs.
This book is dedicated to all of the people who have been going to church by faith, week after week, hoping that some day
they would be able to hear the whole service. It is also dedicated to those who have bequeathed various sums of money
towards sound systems they never had a chance to hear. In these pages you will experience the rewards, the successes, the
amazement and the frustration many churches have had with acoustics and sound systems.
This is the first and only independent book that tries to answer many of the questions you may have had on church sound
and church acoustics. Although product names are mentioned throughout the book, it is not necessarily an endorsement
by HIS Systems, or JdB Sound Acoustics.
One more thing, this book was also written for the "do it yourselfers". If you choose to do your own sound system design
and installation, (and there is enough information in this book for a church seating less than 600 people to help you
through a system design) and you follow all of the guidelines, there will only be one reason for failure. Compromise.
Somewhere you have taken a short cut or you tried to save money by buying lower quality implements or the wrong
equipment. As long as you stick to the plan, you should have reasonable success. If you do run into problems, you can
call my office or email me and I will coach you through your situation at no charge. If you have a unique problem, it will
be included in the next updated issue of this book.

JdB Sound Acoustics

5
 Table of Contents

A word of Thanks. ................................................................................................................................. 5

PREFACE ........................................................................................................................................... 11
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 12
About the Title of the Book ................................................................................................................. 12
Confusion at an Early Age 12
Wait!! Dont Leave! 12
Dispelling Myths 12
Lets Blame Rock and Roll!! 13
My secret Friends 15
Chapter 1............................................................................................................................................... 17
Real Bible Matter................................................................................................................................. 17
Matthew's 13:18-23 17
Goal of the Book. .................................................................................................................................. 19
A letter to Architects............................................................................................................................. 21
Chapter 2............................................................................................................................................... 22
The Beginning ..................................................................................................................................... 22
Where does anyone go to learn... 22
Churches Are Unique 22
What is a "CHURCH"? 23
History of Church Acoustics and Sound................................................................................................. 25
In the Beginning 25
Greeks, Romans and Pagans 25
Jesus Sets the Standards 25
The First European Christian Churches 25
The Reformation 26
Were Churches Built for Speech, Singing or Music? 26
Early Church Organs 26
Traditions and Customs 26
Who is on first, the organ, the choir or the Preacher? 27
Before the 1940s 28
Setting the Stage ............................................................................................................................... 29
Changes in Catholic Churches 29
In the Beginning of Church Audio --1940s 29
The Age of Audio 30
What is Sound Reinforcement?.......................................................................................................... 30
Rock and Roll - The Decade of Chaos................................................................................................ 30
"Architectural Sound Equipment" 31
The years of Confusion 31
The Modern Church Sanctuary 33
Who is affected... 35
Chapter 3 - Setting Standards .............................................................................................................. 37
A Controversial Subject 37
Where do you Begin? 37
Executive Church Board Decision Tips....................................................................................................... 37
The Basics in Room Acoustics .............................................................................................................. 41
Coverage 41
Articulation-Intelligibility 41
The 90s -- The Age of Hope 42
Defining Independence 44

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 A Construction Detail to Consider and much needed 45
Secret Banking Tip 45
Churches, Banks, Acoustics, and Sound 45
Chapter 4............................................................................................................................................... 46
Nuts & Bolts & More......................................................................................................................... 46
When to start training? ...................................................................................................................... 46
How To Use A Microphone 46
Is the "Q" Factor Important?............................................................................................................... 47
Are All Speaker Clusters the Same? 50
One Rule - One Fact 51
A Powerful Person 51
Assessing The Sanctuary................................................................................................................... 53
Room Shapes 53
Sound System Design Types 53
Pew Back Systems 53
The Left/Right Mono System 54
1. Dead Spot 55
2. Gain Before Feed Back 55
3. Intelligibility 56
4. Localization 56
What about a Stereo System in a church? 57
Speaker Guidelines ............................................................................................................................... 58
Speaker Location ............................................................................................................................... 58
Cluster Height 58
Speaker Safety 59
The best illusion of them all!!! 59
How many speakers in the cluster does a church need? 60
How much power for the speaker system? 61
Sound Operator Tip 62
Mixer Locations 63
Speaker, Microphone Wires and Wiring ............................................................................................ 66
Microphone Wire 66
Installation Do Nots 66
Conduit Tips 66
How Many Mic Lines? 67
Mixer Tip # 8 67
Speaker Wire 67
Does wire size matter? 68
Hearing Impaired Systems ........................................................................................................................ 69
Choosing the right hearing-assistance system.................................................................................... 70
A Choice Of Three 70
General Performance 71
Area Of Coverage 71
Radio Interference 72
Security 72
Installation 72
Portability 73
Multiple System Installations 73
Chapter 5 - ACOUSTICS ....................................................................................................................... 75
How would you best describe Good Acoustics?.................................................................................. 75
The language of Acoustics 76
The Achievable Acoustics Spec.......................................................................................................... 76
But what about Concert Halls? 77
Problem Reflections In Church Acoustics .............................................................................................. 78

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 REFLECTIVE PATTERNS 79
FLUTTER RETURN 79
SLAP RETURN 80
FOCUS RETURN 81
Reverberation and Sound System Operation ......................................................................................... 83
Reverberation 83
Design and Budget 84
Design Considerations ....................................................................................................................... 84
Platform Area 84
Congregational Seating Area 85
Successful Operation For Worship Centers ........................................................................................... 86
HISTORY OF THE SOUND COMMITTEE 86
A NEW COMMITTEE STRUCTURE 87
THE SUCCESS TRIANGLE 88
REHEARSAL ROOM ACOUSTICS........................................................................................................ 89
EXPECTATIONS 89
VOLUME 90
CEILING SHAPE 90
WALL SHAPE 90
DIRECTORS WALL 91
FLOORING 91
PHYSICAL FITNESS 92
CONSTRUCTION 92
CONCLUSION 92
Electronic Acoustics .............................................................................................................................. 94
Is the church ready for the 21st Century? 94
Back to the HIS System 96
But your sound system is so expensive! ............................................................................................. 96
The Sound Contractor from Another point of View.............................................................................. 97
Chapter 6 - Pet Peeves ....................................................................................................................... 100
Architects who hold Churches Ransom 100
A final detail from your Architect ...................................................................................................... 102
Readers Corner ................................................................................................................................... 102
Folklore Legends ................................................................................................................................ 103
Pastor electrocuted in Baptistery 103
Church paints walls in sanctuary causing thousands of dollars in damages 103
State of the Art sound system a bust 104
Church with wireless sound system gets wiped out 104
A Prophet Is Not Recognized In His Own Town 104
Mennonite Church Renovates Again And Again And Again 105
Chapter 7............................................................................................................................................. 108
Putting it Together............................................................................................................................... 108
Four Things:...................................................................................................................................... 108
What Are The Most Important Items In Church Sound? 108
Part 1 - Acoustics 108
Part 2 - Speaker Placement 109
Part 3 - Pew Back Systems 111
Pipe Organs 111
Part 4 - Speakers 112
Chapter 7a - Samples ......................................................................................................................... 114
Chapter 7b........................................................................................................................................... 123
Fluorescent Lights -............................................................................................................................ 123
Direct Boxes 124
There are 4 convenient types of boxes ................................................................................................... 125

JdB Sound Acoustics

8
 Passive Direct Box 125
Active Direct Box 125
Speaker Director Box 125
Line Matching Transformer 126
Will The Real Church Audio Contractor Please Show Up? ....................................................................... 126
Part 1. ............................................................................................................................................... 127
No Professional Standards ................................................................................................................... 127
Does this make every contractor an expert? 127
Part 2 ................................................................................................................................................ 127
No Church Performance Standards........................................................................................................ 127
Setting A Standard ............................................................................................................................ 128
Part 3 ................................................................................................................................................ 128
Performance ...................................................................................................................................... 128
Should a church buy on price or performance? 128
Part 4 ................................................................................................................................................ 130
Performance over Time ....................................................................................................................... 130
The Hidden Costs. 130
Part 5 ................................................................................................................................................ 131
Buying Parts or a System..................................................................................................................... 131
Is the contractor a distribution/retailer or manufacturer? 131
Part 6 ................................................................................................................................................ 132
The committee ................................................................................................................................... 132
Microphones - Myths and Facts 133
Live Sound 133
Microphone Patterns 134
Letters from You................................................................................................................................ 134
Advanced Question. .......................................................................................................................... 136
Lighting Standards ............................................................................................................................. 139
Appendix A......................................................................................................................................... 142
Attendance Tables............................................................................................................................. 142
Table 1.............................................................................................................................................. 144
Table 2.............................................................................................................................................. 145
Table 3.............................................................................................................................................. 146
Appendix B.......................................................................................................................................... 147
RT 60 for Types of Worship 149
Microphone tip # 100010101.............................................................................................................. 150
Characteristics of Speaker wire with different impedance ................................................................. 151
Ideal Church Reverberation / Frequency response ............................................................................. 152
The Phonetically Balanced Speech Intelligibility Test ......................................................................... 153
Evaluation Test .................................................................................................................................... 155
Appendix C.......................................................................................................................................... 157
Part 1. Church Sanctuary Acoustics - The Details ............................................................................. 157
What is the NC of your church?........................................................................................................................................157
Reverberation Time average ............................................................................................................................................157
Reverberation Time at 200 Hertz......................................................................................................................................158
Reverberation Time at 3000 hertz ....................................................................................................................................158
Echo Test 1 Do this test with a friend - Stand at the center pulpit or center to the chancel area and clap your hands once.158
Echo Test 2 Do this test with a friend - Stand at the center of the sanctuary seating area and clap your hands once.........159
Articulation score of the Sanctuary...................................................................................................................................159
Part 2. Sound System Performance................................................................................................... 160
Articulation score of Sound System..................................................................................................................................160
Dead spots of 8dB or more ..............................................................................................................................................160
Phase cancellation with a test tone ..................................................................................................................................160

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9
 SPL(Sound Pressure Level) from front to back Use SPL Meter ........................................................................................161
Realism (Close eyes, point to sound) ...............................................................................................................................161
Listening Fatigue factor (Subjective value) .......................................................................................................................161
Intelligibility rating (Subjective value by church members).................................................................................................161
Maximum working distance before feedback ....................................................................................................................161
System design life ...........................................................................................................................................................162
Music quality ...................................................................................................................................................................163
System headroom............................................................................................................................................................163
Echoes or added reverberation created by sound system ( May require Computer*) .........................................................163
Part 3 Church Sound System Equipment Specs. ............................................................................... 164
Amplification....................................................................................................................................................................164
Equalization (EQ).............................................................................................................................................................164
Flexibility (Number of output mixes) .................................................................................................................................164
Separate and Adjustable recording output ........................................................................................................................164
Separate and Adjustable hearing impaired output .............................................................................................................164
Where is the Mixer located in your church? ......................................................................................................................164
Which body member of the church is responsible for the sound system and acoustics of the church?...............................165
What is the Annual budget for sound and acoustics?........................................................................................................165
AN OVERVIEW OF AC POWER AND NOISE....................................................................................... 166
1996 National Electrical Code 167
Article 530 ....................................................................................................................................... 167
530-71. Wiring Methods................................................................................................................... 167
530-72. Grounding........................................................................................................................... 168
530-73. Receptacles. ....................................................................................................................... 168
The Dirty Chassis Condition ............................................................................................................ 168
Locating a dirty chassis ..................................................................................................................... 168
4 Types of Dirty Chassis Conditions ................................................................................................ 168
APPENDIX D........................................................................................................................................ 170
Audio Terminologys .......................................................................................................................... 170
References .......................................................................................................................................... 185
References.......................................................................................................................................... 185
Index of Subjects & Key Phrases ....................................................................................................... 186

JdB Sound Acoustics

10
PREFACE
'Why is Church Sound So Confusing: The Issue And Answer Book'
by Joseph De Buglio

Written by Dr. J. David Russell

Nowhere in my Seminary training was there ever a mention of how to solve problems connected with the sound systems in our church
sanctuaries. Over the years, the challenge of filling the designated room with my spoken words has been met with varying degrees of
success. Unpredictable equipment squealing suddenly and unmercifully reveals the dual reality that the right sound equipment for the
space is only as effective as the technician operating it. While it might be easy to understand the problems older buildings present to
the production of the quality of sound demanded by a contemporary audience, it is distressing, to say the least, to visit a new church
facility and discover that some very basic sound requirements appear to have been completely overlooked in the building design and
construction. The problems inherent in poor design are an enduring legacy of the failure to take appropriate steps early enough to
insure high quality sound support from both the building's design and the sound system used.

Joseph De Buglio has been listening well, and for several years, to the condition of the sound in church buildings. His goal is to help
the untrained person to understand the process of achieving clear and natural sound for everyone in the audience to hear. His
publication of "How to Recognize Speech or How to Wreck a Nice Beach" (say them quickly and you will catch the impact of unclear
sound) is a manual of the hows, and whys of church sound systems. I see this as a valuable tool for anyone concerned about the
condition of the sound in their church. What a boon to the church planter or to those about to design a new worship or educational
facility! Joe writes with a characteristic honesty and directness that may startle the reader at first, but his advice stands and his
principals are worth following. How do I know this? Joe has evaluated the unique problems of our own sanctuary and recommended
some very effective solutions.

This manual and the insight contained in it gives new and relevant meaning to the Apostle Paul's questions, "And how can they believe
in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? (Romans 8:14)" With the
technology and expertise available today, we need never fear that someone was unable to hear the Good New of Jesus Christ because
of inadequate sound support.

Dr. J. David Russell

Co-odinator, Pastoral Focus

Ontario Bible College, North York
Senior Pastor, Longbranch Baptist Church
Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada

JdB Sound Acoustics

11
 Introduction
About the Title of the Book
It's true! People are falling asleep in churches all over the country and there is no excuse for it. Furthermore,
we should stop putting all the blame on the minister's sermon, the seats, or the ventilation system. A large portion
of the blame for people sleeping in the pews is caused by a device almost all churches have but most people don't
understand.

Confusion at an Early Age

This same device is also the cause of many people not going to church. In my travels there have been people
who told me they were turned off church because of what the minister said from the church pulpit. Some of the
things these people were saying about the minister seemed very outrageous and most unlikely. Then it happened
to me one Sunday. (Fortunately the service was recorded.) During a morning service there was an instance where
I was surprised at what the minister said. After listening to the tape of the service, I realized the minister had
said something else. The next day, I was off getting my hearing checked. The audiologist said my hearing was
normal for a 35 year old. After some serious investigating, I discovered that what had caused my confusion was
the church sound system.

Wait!! Dont Leave!

The church sound system is responsible for most people sleeping in the pews. It is also responsible for people
leaving the church because they cant always understand what the minister is saying. For many, the sound system
is the cause of people not attending any church because they are border line hearing disabled and they have
problems hearing in the churches they would like to attend. This problem occurs more often than anyone
realizes.
But the blame does not lie with the sound system alone. In many cases, it is poor church acoustics causing the
problem. Many traditional churches want a classical sound. When a church has a true "classical sound", it is
often an excellent place for a sound system to do its job too. The two work hand in hand. Sound systems can not
and will never be able to over come poor acoustical conditions. However, many churches have become accustom
to their acoustical problems.
Many organists threaten to quit if someone were to improve the acoustics. Usually it because they don't
really know what a classical church sound sounds like. And if you did change the acoustics and the Organist
stays, hell be upset anyway, because now he has to unlearn all of his bad habits.

Dispelling Myths
This book was written as an attempt to dispel many of the myths and confusing statements associated with
hearing inside churches. It will guide you through the whole problem churches encounter with acoustics and the
often-sad marriage of the sound system. Many topics and recommendations never before discussed openly are
presented. What is also discussed is the issue of what happens after you solve the hearing problems? Can a
proper sound system enhance other areas of the worship service? How do you plan your sound system for the
next 25 years?
In the realm of acoustics, no one has tried to set a defined standard as to what is the ideal acoustics for spaces
where people are gathered together in large buildings. This is not to say there are not some generalized charts of

JdB Sound Acoustics

12
what makes for good acoustics. However, these charts are so vague, it doesn't give those with concerns enough
information to act upon potential problems. Furthermore, what is often left out is the consequences of poor
acoustics. What is the ideal sound of a live theater? What is the ideal sound of an opera house? What is the
ideal sound of a Pentecostal Church, or Baptist Church or Roman Catholic Church? This book goes through the
necessary steps for each and every denomination to guide themselves into defining their unique needs.
Think about this. There are over 300,000 churches in North America. Ninety percent of them have poor
acoustics, poor sound systems or both. How many more churches do we have to build before we know what we
are doing? Will it take another 300,000 churches before we can begin to fathom the simplicity of good sound in
a church? Have we been brain washed so much about how expensive or how mysterious church sound systems
and acoustics are that when the answers are there in black and white, we need a secular expert such as an
Architect to interpret and dictate to the church community what it should have?

Lets Blame Rock and Roll!!

The sound of your church affects you in ways you don't realize. Isn't it amazing how quick we church people
will blame "heavy metal" or "rock and roll" for the degeneration of our society, yet, long before it happened to
the secular world, it was happening within the church. Oh, I know you don't want to hear this, but it's true.
People will go where the acoustics are better and where the sound system doesn't get in the way. When one can
say that 90% of the new churches built in 1993 will have acoustics that fail to meet the needs of the congregation,
words like epidemic, plague or disastrous may not be strong enough.
The second part of the title, Why Is Church Sound So Confusing? shares another part of church history which
has put the church community into a mess. Over the years, churches have been handing the work of the church
in the local community over to the secular community one piece at a time. Churches used to plan and build their
own houses of worship with Architects they trained themselves. Churches used to install good sound systems.
Church people used to help each others personal and social needs. Today, it is the secular community trying its
best to serve the church, whom they know little about.
Ministers used to counsel those who were having family problems1. Today, they shy away from such practices
in fear of secular condemnation or the legal system. (Imagine a minister being sued for practicing psychology
without a license for helping a married couple to resolve their differences. Many experts will openly state that a
professional psychologist has as good a success rate as a non-professional such as a truck driver, minister, family
member or good friend.) Some say the church has lost it's appeal to people. Or, has the poor performance of the
sound system and poor acoustics contributed to the peoples displeasure with the church? Shouldn't we expect
some people to turn away from church when they can't understand everything that is being said!
From a physiological point of view, the average church attendance (See appendix "A") is directly affected from
between 5 to 20% because of the sound system the church is using. From the leaders of the church point of view,
when a church has the right sound system that meets the needs of the members, church attendance will increase.

1
April 20, 1993, Sydney, Australia, Dr. Gavin Andrews, a medical scientist, released a paper which stated that Psycho Therapy should not be supported with
tax dollars. He has proven Psycho Therapy does not work as a unique medical practice. His study showed that after 5 years of doing a double blind test,
Truck drivers, Ministers, firemen and general practitioners have as good a success rate as the Psychotherapist.

JdB Sound Acoustics

13
 In a high Anglican Church, there
was a member who was the lead
trumpet player for a well known Sym-
phony. This person was a member of
the church for over 30 years. No one
knew of his talent until the fourth
Sunday after the new sound system
was installed. With only the priest
aware of what was to happen, the
church service, for the first time in its
history, began with some music from
the tape playback part of the new
sound system. After about ten bars
into the music, the trumpet player
stood from the back of the church and
did a processional march to the front
of the church leading the priest. The Sample of a church that was acoustically tuned by filling the plaster columns with the right amount
wireless lapel mic with the remote mic of blown insulation. There are only a few people in the world who know how to do this. This tuning
technique reduced the need for acoustical panel by a considerable amount.
clip worked as the master trumpeter
hoped. After the tape was over, the
Organ began to play. Once again the trumpet player joined in. This was a day of many firsts. It was the first
time that anyone could remember in the 140 year old church of an event that caused the people to stand, clap and
cry without anyone directing them. It was all spontaneous, and it happened in a church where the church board
said - nothing like that will ever happen here.
A week later the trumpet player was asked why he never let anyone know of his talents. The response may
surprise you. He said something like this -- as a concert performer, he knew that if the old sound system were
simply left on with only one microphone open, it would degrade his performance. He became aware of the
problem years ago when as a choir member, he noticed how the sound of the organ changed every Sunday
morning, yet during other events, when the sound system was turned off, the organ sounded much better. He
was always told that the number of people in the room affected the organ and choir sound. Since so many people
had told him this same myth, he believed it until the new sound system was installed. In the first three weeks of
using the new sound system, the trumpet player noticed the sound of the organ did not change when the sound
system was on or off. Furthermore, the sound system seemed almost transparent, as if no sound system was
being used. With his eyes closed, for the first time he could see exactly where the minister was standing while
preaching. Earlier that week, the trumpet player tested the sound system and told the priest what he proposed to
do. Today, the trumpet player is often asked to perform for his church.
You can never know how much a church sound system or a church's acoustics is limiting people until the right
changes are made. Churches that already have good acoustics and good sound systems are often used or rented
for their performances. This does not include popular churches that have events all the time because they have
such strong leadership. It means churches that are rented for making professional audio recording of acoustical
performances. Imagine a church that gets $10,000 in annual rental fees from a major national radio network!
Sound is very important to people and people are willing to pay for good sound as long as it is the right sound
system and the right acoustics.

JdB Sound Acoustics

14
 If you ask 10 sound system companies to design a church sound system, you will get no less than three dif-
ferent designs and 10 different approaches. The main reason for this confusion is rather simple and the church
community has created the problem within itself.
Since churches have no standards for sound, quality or performance of the sanctuary nor for the sound system,
they fall prey to whoever has the best sales pitch. Fortunately, there is a growing number of professionals who
do agree on what is the best method of solving or preventing problems for the church community. Although their
number is small, they can be found and they will succeed the first time around.
Fact: There is no such thing as perfect audio or acoustics. However, it is possible to have a sanctuary that
helps everyone who enters your house of worship. It has been said that with a sound system that works at 95%
and acoustics working at 50%, together they will give about a 45% performance.
You can't have one without the other and the evidence is everywhere. There are solutions and many ways to
solve the problems. This book is an attempt to show how church sound has developed since Jesus first presented
God's word to several thousand people without the aid of modern electronics. Also, it is an attempt to correct
some of the myths and show that there are solutions that don't require anything more than common sense.
Another part of the book looks at business practices, church boards and Architects and how they all contribute to
the results of the type of sound your church gets.
There is no real reason for any church to not have good sound. The church community once led the way in
good sound but then left it up to the secular community to design both the churches and audio systems. The least
church denominations could do is define what their needs are in detail and then demand they be met by their
suppliers and also make it a condition of the contracts. Details of this are throughout the book. Why Is Church
Sound So Confusing? may not answer all of your questions today, but it will eventually, in future editions and
newsletters.
Why Is Church Sound So Confusing? was inspired by the thousands of church people, whom I have met over
the years, telling me how important hearing is to them. With the information presented herein, everyone who
has trouble with hearing in church will now have the ability to express their concerns in an intelligent and
forthright manner to hopefully get the church leaders to address those concerns. ("Study to show thyself ap-
proved unto God, a workman that needth not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 2 Tim. 2:15)
Now you can study to show yourself approved unto your church board; a member not ashamed to express the
truth about hearing in the pews instead of shame for sleeping in the pews.
Like software, this book will be upgraded and you will have an opportunity to contribute towards it. You are
being asked right now to submit your experiences. If your story is chosen, you or your church will receive the
next book update free. The church community has a lot of stories to tell and the ones in this book, are just the tip
of the iceberg.

My secret Friends
This introduction could not be complete without giving recognition to four very important people. The first is
Jerry Lewis from Stouffville, Ontario, Canada. At the time, he was a youth minister when he suggested that I
talk to John Quanz before I installed my first church sound system. John was working at the time as a Camera
Technician for the CBC in Toronto. Was I ever glad that I listened! In two hours I learned more from John about
church sound than from anyone else. Shortly afterwards, John introduce me to two other people who have
contributed greatly to this book.
Dave Yake, who has been the bass singer for the Watchmen Quartet for over 25 years, has shown me many
important techniques of operating, equalizing and assessing audio equipment. Dave and I have spent countless

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hours of seeking ways to make a reasonable and good quality church sound system more affordable. Often when
a manufacturer would make boastful claims of their product, Dave and I would check it out against existing
systems where both us and the client were happy.
The fourth person who has influenced this book is Dave Wetlauffer. Dave greatest teaching was - TAKE NO
PRISONERS. In other words, if you compromise because of price, it will cost you 10 time more to correct it
later. Dave keeps pointing out that churches often spend generous amounts of money for Organs and Pianos
which are often used for only a short portion of many types of services. Everyone knows the value of a good
quality musical instrument and the cost is justifiable.
A musical instrument is an extension of a persons gift of sharing music with others. The better the instrument,
the better the performance. Even an amateur performer will play better if the instrument is built in a certain way.
Likewise, a sound system is an extension of the ministers voice and like the musical instrument, if the sound
system is designed right, it helps the minister do a better job at using his gift of preaching and leadership. (If you
want to read some of the financial results of before and after a proper sound system, look in appendix "A")
As the youngest of this group of excellent people, there was always a desire to push the limits of system design
and equipment choices. We have also had our share of disagreements. There have been times when I had tried to
push the guys to make compromises that made sense at the time, but they new better. If they could have used a 2
x 4 for every time I rubbed them the wrong way, there would be enough wood to build a modest 3000 sq. ft.
house. Yet, as true friends, they have always treated me with respect.
Even today, we may not agree on everything the same, but one thing is for sure. If you were blind folded and
dropped into any of the 400 plus churches we have installed a sound system in southern Ontario, you would not
be able to tell who did the design of the system. This is the one thing we always agree upon. Performance,
performance, performance. We all are able to do the same consistent high quality sound systems church after
church after church.

Thank you Jerry, John, Dave and Dave.

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The following is a parody on the Creation story.
In the beginning was the Word...
In the beginning was the Word and the spoken words did not need to be amplified. God also created man in
HIS own image with two ears and one mouth. God created man to listen twice as much as he spoke. Therefore in
the beginning man did listen and God saw that it was Good.
On the second day, the people gathered to hear the Words of God from HIS preachers. They assembled in
outdoor spaces that amplified the word naturally or gathered in small tents and homes. The gatherings were for a
few, and God saw that it was Good.
On the third day, man built larger rooms so that many people could hear the Words where ever they wanted.
It also protected them from the weather. As man started to sing praises to God, he changed the design of the
gathering places and called them "Churches". Many of God's houses of worship were designed so that the walls
could amplify the average human voice naturally. Many came because they could hear and God was pleased.
On the fourth day, God allowed man to use Sound Equipment in the churches that became so large that they
needed more than just the natural human voice. Churches had some of the best sound systems in the world. Man
continued to listen and God was pleased.
On the fifth day, the children of God were confused when they saw portable sound systems used for "Rock and
Roll" and public entertainment. They claimed that it was cheaper and it would do as satisfying a job. (Instead
they were exceedingly less effective and discouraged people from coming to church.) It was this that caused the
"dead spot," the "Feedback" and the complaining from people of all ages. For three decades, churches were
confused about sound and acoustics and they were afraid to invest in sound systems for fear of getting more of the
same. It was in this chaos that man began speaking more and listening less -- and when man speaks more than he
listens, man rebels. And God looked down and saw that it was not well in His churches.
On the sixth day, God gave a special gift to a select number of people on how church sound should be done
according to HIS will. Some people gave it a name and others were just grateful to be able to hear once again.
God was pleased because people began coming back to God's many Houses of Worship in which people could
hear. But Satan did not take things lying down. Satan tried to confuse people even more by getting them hung
up on products rather than results. But the Children of God, who tasted good sound, began demanding the better
sound system from their leaders, who found it wise to invest in the people for the people, which had excellent
results in attendance and support. Then God was pleased.
On the seventh day, the Children of God rested and heard what God had been saying through HIS ministers
and Disciples, often for the first time in years. Wonderful things began to happen. Man began to listen twice as
much as he spoke. This pleased God and all was well throughout God's Church.

Real Bible Matter

Matthew's 13:18-23
18. "Listen then to what the parable of the sower means;
19. When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil comes and snatches
away what was sown in the heart. This is the seed sown along the path.

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 20. The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives
it with joy.
21. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the
word, he quickly falls away.
22. The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of
this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.
23. But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it.
He produces a crop yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."
From the church pulpit, the pastor carries and spreads the good seeds. The church sound system is the modern
day mechanical sower and tiller. The people receive the seeds. If the church audio system just makes noise for
people to hear something, but they can not understand all of the words spoken or they spend all of their time
trying to hear, this is like the seed that fell on the path, and on the rocks, or in the thorns and have no roots. The
church with excellent acoustics and audio that are crystal clear and always loud enough for everyone to hear is
placing all of the seeds into the best tilled soil. These people can hear the Word and understand it. All that is left
is for the soil to be ready for the seed.
When a person walks into a church for the first time in their life, they are often not familiar with church
language and terms. What kind of tiller of the soul is your sound system? Are the seeds your Minister is
spreading able to get to the good soil? Is your sound system and sanctuary acoustics a key part of a planned
outreach or do they simply get in the way? How can you tell? Does anyone in your church, the board members
or the minister know?
Since over 95% of all churches have a sound system, their sound systems are doing one of two things: It is
either strengthening the membership or it is driving people away in confusion. It is high time the churches of
North America stop laying full blame on their ministers, leaders and lay people for church failures, splits and very
low attendance. Have your church sound and acoustics checked. Churches of the 90s have had over 50 years to
develop a standard in this area and little to nothing has been done about it. When are the churches going to rise
up in unity and equip their leaders and ministers with the tools they really need?

Faith Cometh By Hearing

Romans 10:17
How was your faith strengthened today?

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 Goal of the Book.
This book is written to:

1. church boards
2. lay people
3. all audio related committees
4. church TV
5. the hearing impaired committee
6. all church audio personnel
7. sound system engineers
8. sound system suppliers/contractors
9. acoustical engineers
10. all architects
11. new church buildings
12. all church renovation programs

It was not written to sell products for certain manufacturers. Rather, this book was written to present you with
many proven examples of the successes and failures within the whole church community, ignoring all
denominational barriers.
Sound affects "THE CHURCH" in ways people often refuse to accept in spite of the evidence. Sound affects
everyone the moment they step into any House of Worship.
This book will not be polite, nor pull any punches. If there are nice things to say, they will be said. If the
problems cited here are familiar, then you should do something about it, beginning in your own church.
There are only two types of sound systems. The first is a system installed in existing churches. This sound
system is forced to work within a space most likely not properly designed for sound reinforcement. As a result,
the sound contractor has to be an expert on acoustics as well as audio. Every system is a compromise of one type
or another.
The second sound system is the one designed for a church planning to build. Here is when the really skilled
sound contractor gets the opportunity to design the dream church sound system, "the almost perfect sound
system." In one of those early meetings, the church board will be in agreement with wall changes the audio
contractor recommended because the audio contractors also happens to be an expert on acoustics and knew the
walls in the existing design would cause trouble. Everything looks good until the church board returns to the
"Architect". Immediately, two things happen: The Architect feels insulted that an uneducated audio hobbyist2
would dare to suggest the church's acoustics are more important than the design the Architect wants.

2
Many architects do not take comments from audio and acoustical experts seriously and consider our profession unprofessional.

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 At this point it is clear that the church building is really the possession of the Architect and all suggestions from
outsiders are a personal attack on the Designer3. Churches that are acoustical nightmares today, were often
warned during the early design stages and during construction that there would be a problem. For anyone who
listens, watch out, the Architect almost always get their way and nothing gets done about it! Following all of
that, the real bomb shell falls. Suddenly, as if in total surprise, the board discovers the project is over budget.
In panic mode, one of the first things to be ejected from the building project is the sound system budget4. Why?
What is more important, what you see or what you hear?
As a result, the dream sound system becomes the type of system that has to fit into an existing place. This
sound system is forced to work within a space that was not properly designed for sound reinforcement or
CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. As a result, the sound contractor has to be an expert on acoustics as well as audio,
which also drives up the cost of the sound system. It is rare for a church to get the sound and acoustics they paid
for. Would you buy a refrigerator that didn't work? No! Then why are churches accepting the 9 out of 10 build-
ings that are so poor in performance? This book may not be able to answer why, but it will show you how to get
what you asked for.

3
On the contrary, we want to help Architects to stop embarrassing themselves.
4
Shouldn'
t the sound system budget be increased to attract more people to pay for the cost over runs?

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A letter to Architects

Dear Sirs,

If these words seem harsh, it is only because of your attitude to our work. In the larger scheme of things, consider this.
Why not make the changes we request?

Every year I see blueprints from all over North America. In many instances, there was only a minor change required. (A
minor change is something costing less than 2% of the building budget.) In every case, the Architect listened and did
nothing. Today, these same churches are my clients and they are more angry at you than at themselves.

These churches now have another problem as well. They desperately want to fix their acoustics but they can't raise enough
money because of the debt loads they carry plus the added expense of a church building people shy away from.

Also remember this, you usually don't have to live with your designs, but I do. I used to go to a church that asked for my
guidance. My recommendations were ignored and the architect said the following to my church board, while I was at the
meeting, "If you make those changes, it will ruin the whole concept of my building. I will not tolerate anyone meddling in
my designs. Either he goes or I go." Today, my former church is trying to raise $80,000 to fix a room which could have
been altered for about $2,000 in extra labor during construction.

Mr. Architect sir, you wield a lot of power and respect. You also have a tremendous amount of influence in the
community. I welcome the day when you use that power to help churches get what they need in sound and acoustics. We
don't want to be your enemy. Rather, we are trying to help you look good and the churches hear better. Let us start a new
day and begin working together now.

Thank you.

Yours truly,

Not your average Joe

PS. I am well aware of some very good Architects that do have a high degree of acoustical training or seek and follow
through on acoustical recommendations. These people deserve my highest praise. Since this book was first released in
1992, my former church has just been put up for sale on January 1, 1994. Once it had the reputation of being called the
singing church in the old sanctuary. The new sanctuary built in 1991 is often referred to as being called a funeral parlor. I
had been hoping and praying that my prediction would be wrong. I am saddened at how soon all of this has happened.
(update 1996 - The denomination has twice since bailed out the church when the bank tried to foreclose on them.)

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The Beginning
Where does anyone go to learn...
- about church sound and acoustics?
There is nowhere you can take a credit course on church sound (audio) or church acoustics. A complete educa-
tion on the subject is non-existent. Education comes from word of mouth, apprenticeships or from HIS System
Seminars.
There is little written information on the subject and many people have been brain washed into believing many
myths about church audio and acoustics. Along with the many myths, people have generally learned many bad
audio habits that often get in the way when a good sound system is being used.
People seem convinced it only takes a couple of speakers, some wire and a mixer/amplifier, all hooked up
together and they will hear and understand everything perfectly. Nothing could be further from the truth. Yet, did
you know the church community led the way in sound reinforcement in the late 1940s and early 50s? Did you
know the work done in the 50s set the sound system standards all high quality sound systems are using today?
So what happened? Why don't most churches have a good sound system and good acoustics? As a church
member, wasn't my money being invested for that purpose in a new church? Do these poor quality sound systems
affect the weekly church attendance? Why is it that in some churches you want to sing and in others you don't?

Churches Are Unique

What many of us don't realize is the church sound system is the most unique type of audio system in the world.
Consider these following points:

1. Almost everyone who is hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a church today, hears it through a sound system.
2. The church sound system is the most intensely listened to sound system, second only to the television. HI FI buffs listen to their
sound systems 30 to 40 hours per year as intensely as devout people listen to their ministers.
3. Depending on denomination, a devout church member will listen to their minister through a sound system between 52 to 800
hours per year.
4. Most Church members spend 90% of their time at the church learning about the Gospel through a sound system in either the
Sanctuary, the Fellowship hall or the Banquet hall.
5. The sound system is the most used implement in congregational worship.
6. The only thing standing between ministers and their congregations are sound systems.
7. Fact: Ministers are not trained in knowing how to use a good sound system.
8. Most Lay people, choir members and children are not trained in how to use a microphone. Their learning comes from trial and
error. This often leads to learning bad audio habits.
9. In most churches, rehearsal times are usually disturbed by people coming and going. Often, for special music, the singer gives you
the tapes minutes before the service starts. The church system must be easy enough to operate for a person who does sound only
part time and yet, who is expected to make the guest singer sound very professional. This could be the case all the time.

There is no secular application of a sound system that is used as much as a church system by the same people.
Think of all of the sound systems used by community halls, music groups, rock and roll groups and staging com-
panies, motion picture theaters, `live theater', operas and orchestras. Now count the number of times the same
people will listen to a performance of any kind in the same place. In the secular world, the average person is ex-

JdB Sound Acoustics

22
posed to many one time events with a sound system and only a hand
full of performances in the same place per year. In the majority of
cases, these sound systems are temporary and the supplier is in a
"make do" situation.

What is a "CHURCH"?
What is a "SANCTUARY"? What is a "HOUSE OF WORSHIP"?
Is there a difference? What happens in a Worship service?
According to Webster's Dictionary, the following definitions can be
found that relate to words in this book:
CHURCH -- a building set apart from the public for Christian
worship.
SANCTUARY -- the most sacred part of a religious building - a
place of refuge and protection - a place of restoration for those
seeking relief.
HOUSE OF WORSHIP - HOUSE OF PRAYER - HOUSE OF
GOD - a place for worship of a type of religious practice, creed or
ritual.
As you can see, there is no real definition to suggest or indicate the
type of building that describes what a church shape or performance
should be5. Have you ever thought of what the performance
requirements of a church should be? This is a picture of the first church sound system
installation I ever did. This was the system in which John
It has been said the doctrinal differences between the denominations Quanz taught me about church sound after I had sold the
are about 5%. The same can be said about church sound. Although church a L/R system. That was in 1981. The church is
still using the system today - 1997. In is made up of
there are a large number of denominations and worship types, almost Peavey Drivers in a custom speaker box. It is still using an
all churches have these common elements: old worn out Peavey Xr700 powered mixer that has
worked reliably all that time. (The powered mixer was
new at the time of installation) Since then the church
added a 1/3 rd octave EQ and more microphones. The
1. 1. Almost all churches have congregational singing. Therefore, a church's system included a cassette player and a separate cassette
acoustics must support audience singing. The acoustics should be such that recorder.
the singing pleasure can be enjoyed with a few or many people in the pews.
2. 2. Almost all churches have someone delivering a sermon or lecture that varies in length from 10 minutes to over an hour.
Therefore, the acoustics should be such that the human voice will be naturally amplified to fill the room -- or have the space de-
signed so a sound system can work properly within it. All new churches seating less than 400 people should be able to do this.
Larger churches will require a sound system.
3. 3. Most churches have a choir, organ and/or piano. (There are some churches that don't and they sing in four part harmony only,
from the pews. However, they still need the following requirement.) Therefore, church acoustics must allow for organs to
perform solo's that are uplifting as well as being able to balance the sound of the choir as well. The acoustics must also support
choral singing. The acoustics should give the choir positive feedback and assist them to sing together. The choir should be able to
"sing to the room".
4. 4. Almost all churches have a time of prayer. Therefore, a church needs Noise Control. A church requires that no outside sounds
disturb the events inside. This includes sounds from the streets, trains, airplanes, ventilation and heating systems and sound from
other parts of the church. A church requires an NC of 25 or less. Remember, there were none of these problems 50 years ago.
The churches of today have requirements that were never needed before and history has not been a good blueprint for the future6.

5
Sound System secret number 1: Speakers are usually installed where a wall or ceiling should have been built.
6
Imagine, over 1500 years of church building techniques and no standards yet.

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 There is no other institution in the world with all of these requirements. This makes a church building very
unique. Just as the scriptures say Christians are a peculiar people, the same can be said about a church's
sanctuary. Of course you may ask, can a church with all of these properties be designed and built? Do such
churches exist? Would such a church be affordable? Do Architects, trained in secular schools, know how to
design such a building for churches?

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 History of Church Acoustics and Sound
Before anyone can claim to set a standard, one must look to the past to see if there is a standard or pattern that
represents churches needs. If there is a standard, churches should seriously look at those examples and reproduce
them for future success. If there is no standard, a study of the past will help to define the future.

In the Beginning
Before Christ, there was no Church as we know it. The first churches were either in caves, catacombs or
gatherings in peoples homes. It was not until the Roman Empire recognized Christianity that Christians could
gather in public places.

Greeks, Romans and Pagans

History shows the Greeks and Romans were the leaders in acoustics for public gathering places. However,
when the Romans adopted Christianity, Christians took over the echo-ridden pagan temples originally designed for
ritual and sacrifices. The Christians had to convert the spoken service to chants or sung services pitched to the
predominant room modes of these large hard structures. If only they had the written Gospels sooner, Christians
would have built their own houses of worship. Why!

Jesus Sets the Standards

Does scripture provide any clues in the importance of sound? Can we take God's word as literal? If we do,
are the examples supported by science and physics?
By example, Jesus went to great lengths to lead people to places where many could hear His voice at one time.
The sermon on the mount and Jesus preaching from a boat, were two first-class examples. The people were
above and Jesus was below. This was planned and symbolic, it did not happen by chance. Jesus always main-
tained the roll of the master servant. Being below the people was another example of his authorship.
Many scholars have been to the location where Jesus was supposed to have preached from. They confirmed
Jesus was below the people. It just so happens the Greeks learned and perfected the technique of people above
and presenter below and discovered the benefits of the equation -- good sound equals higher support. Later, the
Romans adopted it because they agreed it was the best way to design a listening space from which people can hear
and understand commands.

The First European Christian Churches

Eventually, the growth of the Christian population led to the building of churches. Churches, as we know
them in Europe and North America, have gone through two developments: For 1200 years the Catholic Church
designed and built houses of worship that were often the center of a town or city. They had learned styles like
building support pillars into the structure that were hollow. Near the top and bottom of each pillar were holes.
The bottom holes were sealed but could be opened at any time. When a church was finished, a select number of
monks or Jesuits would bring in a crude set of tuning forks. This method of tuning a room with tuning forks
would have taken several months. Although they used the time honored method of trial and error, at least they
built in the ability to adjust the acoustics of a space.
Another important fact about the early churches is they were often designed and/or supervised by the monks.
This ensured consistent design and acoustical control. In many cases, the monks were in fact the Architects of
the sanctuary. This practice slowed down when there was a saturation of buildings in western and central Europe.

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The Reformation
The second major influence in church construction was the birth of the Protestant movement. Spoken words
were the most important part of the services. Therefore, great lengths went into speech support. At the same
time, the Protestant churches no longer had the resources of the previous 1200 years of church building available
to them. Local Architects started to dictate to the church community. Some of the first Protestant churches were
small, low ceiling structures that had little planning in the terms of speech acoustics. However, due to their small
sizes, hearing was not a major problem.

Were Churches Built for Speech, Singing or Music?

The earliest built churches were often designed like the pagan temples until about the year 600. Then as the
European churches became bigger, their shapes were limited. They continued to use chants and song to deliver
the messages. The rhythm of singing the message put words far enough apart to maintain a reasonable level of
intelligibility. This is possibly where the influence of young boys singing in their soprano and alto voices began.
Although singing in unison was common throughout the early church, singing in harmony was first done7
sometime in the 1400s. The evidence of this is from an Italian manuscript written in 1430, which is believed to
be the first written record of three and four part harmony. One can only speculate that harmony was attempted
only in buildings with much shorter reverb times. The peak of choir or choral development was in the mid 1700s.

Early Church Organs

The first known pipe organ may have been with the Greeks in the 3rd Century BC., for a short period and never
seen again until some discovery in 1885 in the ruins of Carthage. Organ like instruments are mentioned in a few
rare accounts from the period of the Roman Empire. Some arena accounts made references to organ like
instruments for the crowds.
The First Pipe Organ8 as we know it appeared in 950 AD. Although it was in a church, it was a solo
instrument and not used beyond announcing the beginning of a service or for ceremonies.
The first chromatic organ was developed in the late 12th century. Little is known of the pipe organ in the
church before the 1500s. Another 300 years passed before the pipe organ was used in the church services of the
1500s. The organ hit its peak in the 17th century. This is the same time as choirs. In the late 1800s, the organ
made a strong come back which lasted until the 1940s. With the introduction of electronic organs, the pipe
organ began its decline. The Germans were and still have a reputation as the best Pipe Organ builders in the
world.
Churches throughout history have been gathering places for community events and ceremonies. Today, in
Europe, it is very common for a choir and organist to open the doors of the church and have recitals or practices
during midday breaks lasting hours at a time.
Trivia
Many historians suggest that the automatic knitting machine was the inspiration for the computer. However,
the automatic church bell, which was in use for almost a hundred years prior, was the inspiration for the
automatic knitting machine.

Traditions and Customs

7
In any church with a reverb time of 3.5 seconds at 200 hertz or longer, harmony sounds more like mush than music.
8
There is much more to Church Organ History. This is a very condensed version.

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 There are two terms people use in discussing churches. They are Traditional and Custom. According to
Webster's Dictionary, the word Tradition or traditional means, "the handing down of information, learning,
opinion, beliefs and customs -- The passing down of knowledge from generation to generation." The word
Custom means, "copying what others have done in the past either by written or unwritten laws to establish a
continuance or peace." When a church speaks of their Organ or Piano, they will often speak of these
instruments as the "Traditional Organ or Piano". After seeing the way churches choose these instruments, it
seemed more like a custom to keep the peace.
The role of the organ influencing the construction of churches throughout history is a myth. Rather, the place-
ment of the organ had top priority after holy and symbolic items were placed9. If there was no organ loft and an
organ loft was thought as the best location for the pipes, then the master organ builder would sometimes have an
addition built onto the church. If the organ worked better with the pipes in the open, the master organ builder
could use any wall.
The role of the choir did have a small influence in the construction of churches around the 1700s. That in-
fluence was the reduction of reverb time and open spaces for the choir. Choir loft locations were often chosen,
after the church was built, to be in the most strategic locations.
It seems that if a church was built properly for speech, it was the right place for song and music. Historically,
neither speech nor music had been the primary force for church design until the late 1800s. However, in many
of the Classical European Churches, if you find a church with a great sounding organ, you will also find that you
will not need much sound reinforcement for speech.

Who is on first, the organ, the choir or the Preacher?

This raises an interesting discussion. If these findings are correct, one could say that if a new church were built
around speech and a reverberation time that matched the size of the church, both the choir master and the or-
ganist should be very happy with the results. The records seems to support this thought but when you speak to
Organists or Choir directors, they generally become very emotional about their work.
When an analysis of a church is made and the acoustics are found to be limiting the performance of both choir
and organ, these people will often dismiss the findings as utter nonsense saying, "what's wrong with it? Its been
great for the past 20 years!" Or they will hire a friend who is an "expert" who will prove the analysis is wrong or
prohibitively expensive. What would be more correct for them to say is, "we have learned how to deal with the
room as it is now and we are not willing to learn all over again how to perform in this space." What the church
organist and choir leader may not realize is that if the acoustics were better or corrected, the learning time would
be hours, not years and both the audience and performers would enjoy the music more -- much more.
Furthermore, the benefits would be that the audience would hear everything clearer and the performances would
be so much more enjoyable that it would give any performer real confidence in their work. Imagine, full audience
support and approval -- what a novel idea!
On the other hand, if the church has poor acoustics but they have an expensive organ or pipe organ, they will
often either keep replacing the electronic organ every 10 years10 or keep rebuilding or re-tuning the pipe organ
every six months.
Today, it is sad to say, churches are usually built as multi-purpose meeting halls that support neither speech,
nor music nor singing. Instead, churches are built like show-cases that sit there doing little or nothing for the
9
An organ, as a musical instrument, works better without a loft around it. Organ pipes are actually designed to be in the open. When the pipes are in the
open, it is much easier to balance the organ and choir together.
10
It never ceases to amaze me that churches never have enough money to do things right the first time but there is always plenty of money to do it over and over
and over again.

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27
 communities to which
they belong. Find a
church with good sound
and acoustics and
chances are the
sanctuary is used more
than twice a week11.

Before the 1940s

Historically,
churches have never
been systematically de-
signed for speech or
music. There is no
common documentation
of a church that was
built around
This is Bethany World Prayer Center in Baton Rouge, LA. It seats 6500 people. The room is 310 feet by 290 feet. It speech/pulpit or music
uses a central cluster array in which the speakers are concealed in the bulkhead over the platform. The reflections off the or the organ, although
walls were terrible and could have been avoided while the church was constructed. There was no acoustical guidance
used in the construction of this church. some would lead you to
believe otherwise.
Ironically, if a church was built around speech, it would be excellent for the organ and vice versa. The best way
to describe church acoustics would be to compare it to the fairy tale of Cinderella and a dart board. Churches are
built like glass slippers and everyone runs around seeking Prince Charming for their organ or sound system.
When you hear of a church with great sound, it just means that they were lucky and they happened to find their
Prince Charming. It seems that churches are built with the hope that random shapes and materials will work.
(You should read about the universal second law of thermodynamics in your science books.)
Have you ever met a World Champion Dart player? Well, that is how many Architects there are that are
willing to listen and do what it takes to design a church properly. All other Architects select designs and building
materials for churches much like the way you play darts - at random12 and the results speaker for itself.
Did you know that church acoustics and sound systems are as predictable as the Ocean tides. Yet people have
been brain washed into believing that acoustics and sound systems are as predictable as forecasting the weather
with a crystal ball.
Fortunately, the same laws of physics that Architects try to ignore and pretend don't exist have been the one
thing that has made some people throughout history appear to be geniuses. From the Greek civilization to today,
people have been finding creative and very scientific13 ways of salvaging architectural mistakes and omissions.
It was discovered in a few Greek and Roman Theaters that there were walls with clay jars imbedded with the
open end of the jar out. Then depending on the event, the jars would be filled with the correct amount of ash14.

11
In most communities, churches are the largest real estate owners who use only75% their building space than 10% of the time.
12
Darwinism strikes again. Let us continue in the theory of chaos in hopes that a Phoenix will rise out of the ashes and save the church from its decline! This
should not be the approach to church sound and acoustics.
13
The uneducated, non professional people are those who are given the task of correcting architect'
s mistakes with Band-Aid budgets.
14
There are some medieval churches in Sweden and Denmark that have a clay pot system doing their magic hundreds of years later.

JdB Sound Acoustics

28
This system worked very well and we have a similar technique today that is done electronically. It is call
equalizing the room or "voicing the room".
In Europe, they had another method of voicing a room. Many churches were built with pillars. These huge
pillars were often hollow. The pillars did more than help support the outside walls. It was discovered that if you
cut holes or slots into the pillar tops, you could then fill the pillars to equalize or voice the room (Tune the room).
These are just two of the many classical and forgotten methods of salvaging a church. These are also just a few
of the many laws of physics that help either before or after a building is finished. At least in these two examples,
the ability to tune the room was built into the construction of the church. No one is doing this today and there is
no reason why we could not be doing it in our modern churches.
Setting the Stage

Changes in Catholic Churches

Before the 1960s, Catholic church services were primarily done in Latin. The Latin language is very musical
and when sung, it is simple to find the predominant room modes. When you sing or chant, you are also forced to
speak louder. If something is sung slowly, as the Latin mass was sung, you can hear reasonably well in many of
the older Catholic churches, without any sound system.
Today's modern Catholic Church has changed. The importance of the spoken word has become increasingly
imperative. The emphasis on singing in Latin is almost non-existent. The modern languages of French and Eng-
lish are short, quick and spoken rapidly. French and English are totally different from Latin and require a
different set of rules for hearing the spoken word clearly.

In the Beginning of Church Audio --1940s

Before the 1940s, churches of all denominations were constructed in remote places. This helped to keep the
noise of the outside world down. There were also a few attempts to design the church so the human voice could
be projected without amplification. Some attempts were successful while most were not.
Many of the older churches still standing today, did not need sound reinforcement because they were, by
chance, designed "properly". However, because of our Sunday shoppers, vacationers and tourists (trains, cars
and airplanes), the human voice can no longer compete with outside noises. These churches were not sound
proofed. It is for this reason and also because of an aging population that most older churches have to invest in
sound systems today.
When the age of sound reinforcement arrived in the late 40s, builders of new churches suggested they could
save churches large sums of money by making a few changes. Architects suggested copying existing building de-
signs, cutting any costs related to basic acoustical practices and traditional acoustical building materials and
making up the rest with a proper sound reinforcement system. This also propagated cheaper wall finishes, padded
pews and carpets.
At first the idea worked. They had good success because many of the church builders stuck to traditional
building shapes. Building costs dropped considerably and very high quality point source (central cluster design)
sound systems were installed, often costing as high as 7% of the total cost of building the sanctuary.
What Architects were never told or taught was that a sound system reinforces everything. If the room is de-
signed acoustically correct in shape and surface materials, the properly designed sound system will work ex-
tremely well. If the room shape is poor or if the wrong surface materials are used or if a wall is in the wrong

JdB Sound Acoustics

29
place, the sound system15 will let you know that there is a problem regardless of the design of the sound system or
the equipment you use.
History has also shown that in the late 50s, newer construction techniques and lower cost building materials
would have lowered the cost of the older type of church including all of the acoustical work they once had. In-
stead, Architects began experimenting with "new" untested shapes at the churches expense, often with poor re-
sults -- even when a good sound system was used.
Even today, the majority of Architects don't have a clue as to what they are doing as far as acoustics goes.
What is refreshing is that some of them are admitting it16, finally.

The Age of Audio

Up until the age of audio, churches were primarily rectangles, often with transepts which formed crosses. The
Methodist churches were generally more square with balconies, trying to keep everyone within 80' of the pulpit.
Most churches, except Cathedrals, sat less than 1000 people. This size makes up over 80% of all of the churches
in North America. These types of churches are the ones that most of us have had experience with. You either
love the building or you hate it and chances are that your choice is based on whether or not you can hear clearly.

What is Sound Reinforcement?

Sound Reinforcement is the extension of a person's voice, or drama or musical even to an audience of people.
Without a sound system, there could not be the many meetings that are taking place as you are reading this book.
The performance and quality of your sound system will determine the level of peoples participation.
An effective sound system or a room with good acoustics is when the person speaking only has to speak loud
enough for people in the first row to hear well. Then the sound system and/or room acoustics does the rest. If
you can not do this with a microphone 18 inches away, you have a serious problem. Lapel mics, trick mics and
other electronic gadgets will sometimes make some small improvement, but they never seem to do enough to allow
everyone to share in the event.
How many times have you been to a seminar or lecture where the sound was poor and during a question period,
people asked questions that you thought were stupid. That's when you say to yourself, "that person was only six
rows from the front. What's wrong with them, are they deaf?" Rather, how about saying to yourself, "the poor
people who are sitting there are in a dead spot. It's too bad they are going to miss out on much of the program."
What about the school teacher who uses a sound system. It's always students sitting in the same places that ask
the most questions or ask for things to be repeated. Perhaps they need their hearing checked or rather, if the
sound system were doing its job, this class would be a week ahead rather than a month behind. It's not just the
church community that has these problems. Almost all of the sound systems in the world are either designed
poorly or the people using them don't know how to use them.
When is the sound reinforcement not a sound system? When you don't notice it. Is such a system possible?
Yes. About 10% of the churches in North America already have such systems.

Rock and Roll - The Decade of Chaos

In the mid to late 1950s, two events happened at the same time -- the introduction of Rock and Roll and
Cheaper "Professional Commercial Electronics". The Rock and Roll era needed portable sound for one night

15
A sound system can not overcome poor acoustics and the laws of physics prove it.
16
* * Fact * * The Average Architect has only 2 to 6 hours of Acoustical training from the education system. It takes an average of 14 hours to do an accurate
acoustical profile from blueprints and 30 hours for an existing building.

JdB Sound Acoustics

30
stands. Everyone was being exposed to the "portable PA System" through TV, concerts and shows. We often
saw (and we still see it) speakers placed to the left and right side of the stage like a bad habit.

This was a major compromise and the average public had learned to put up with it. The mistake churches
made was using this very poor layout as an example to follow.
What is more interesting is that many Rock and Roll17 or loud concert events of the 80s and 90s are now using
the same techniques churches started to use 45 years ago. History has shown that concert attendance declined in
the early 80s. Some of the decline was directly attributable to poor sound quality. Today's higher quality concert
systems are smaller, designed better and are attracting young and middle aged people like never before.

"Architectural Sound Equipment"

Cheaper Professional Commercial Electronics was also another major miscue for the church community. This
new and cheaper equipment was never meant to be used in churches in spite of the advertisements. Most of it was
meant for hotels, airports and clubs where people are on the move and they only have to
listen to sounds for brief periods of time. Much of this equipment was (and still is) often
called "Architectural Sound Equipment" and architects were given this information for
planning offices, malls and warehouses. When a church would ask an architect how
much do we need to spend on PA equipment, the architect would get the PA book he was
sent and budget $2,000 on sound equipment for a new million dollar 500 seat church.
Now remember, before this, churches were spending around 7% of the building cost in
the early 50s on audio equipment.
By the early 70s, new church buildings were no longer being designed to be suitable for
lively or inspiring congregational singing and this has generally not changed in the early
90s. Gone are the choral extravaganzas that would make the hair on the back of your
This is a close-up of the
central speaker above.
neck tingle with excitement. Gone is the ability for a shaking thunder of the great swell
of a 32 foot Pipe Organ. Churches still wanted those things but by then they had become
accustomed to spending a lot less and wanting something that cost much more.

The years of Confusion

During the 70s, some churches did try to build the old style type of church with dismal results. Architects as a
community had not been building churches with good acoustics for over 30 years. They had forgotten that
knowledge and its importance. There was and is no proper acoustical guidance with the exception of a few
people, who are very busy fixing the constant flow of new architectural mistakes.
In the 80s, a new wave of churches sprung up. This wave is often referred to as the packaged church. These
builders provide one stop shopping. They will hire everyone for you or they will employ all the services direct
from the architect and engineers to the painters and landscapers. Packaged churches have become very popular.
For a modest cost, a high quality (not performance quality), inexpensive, budget church was built. This has
meant that almost any congregation can afford to have a new church building or expand at will.
These churches are designed strictly as meeting halls and they most often do not reflect or meet all of the
congregation's worship needs. Some Ministers have described these packaged churches as warehouses or funeral
parlors.

17
Note: Many religious groups cited Rock and Roll for corrupting the youth of our society. I wonder if these people have realized how Rock and Roll was going
to impact the church internally -- even today?

JdB Sound Acoustics

31
 This is a typical church. The majority of churches are built this way. Some with higher walls, some with higher peaks
and some lower, but essentially the same. The lower left and right fingers point to the original speakers, which had
been updated 3 times before. Above, the 3rd finger point to the new central cluster or point source speaker. This
picture was taken just before the left and right speakers were removed. In countless demonstrations, the single speaker
out performs the left and right speaker arrangement, even when the new speaker is the same type and model of other
speakers. In some churches, they have tried to mount a pair of speakers at each set a laminated beams. Once again,
the central speaker worked better. Not because the central speaker is a better speaker, but because the speaker is
positioned properly in the room.

It would be accurate to say that most of these "houses of worship" do not have any investment in acoustics and
most owners of these churches complain bitterly about how poor the church sounds. Hearing speech loud enough
near the front without a PA is often impossible and investing in a proper type of organ is pointless. Although
acoustical guidance is virtually non-existent, the Builder and Architect will always say when selling their services
to a congregation, "The acoustics will be very good." In some instances, these new buildings are designed so
poorly18 that any sound system at any price will not make the church suitable for comfortable listening. Only
structural changes will make a difference. This kind of required solution is occurring all to often.
Evidence shows that the packaged church is often rushed, built on price19, often not meeting a congregation's
needs (Physically or Spiritually) and tends to cost much more to maintain. With lower, long term attendance in
these packaged sanctuaries or new churches without acoustical guidance, shouldn't we include the cost of empty
seats in the total cost of a church?
The good news is, a packaged church20, with a few alterations, could become the house of worship many of us
want and remember. Often a higher ceiling, double layers of drywall in the right places, a sloped wall or different

18
* * Fact * * The word "Basilica" means a building designed for public gatherings, town halls, justice courts, farmer'
s markets etc. It does not mean a
building designed to worship God in.
19
The Rich Mans Motto: Save a buck today because tomorrow we will have the money.
20
* * Fact * * Most church Sanctuaries do not have dead spots. It is the design of the sound system that creates them.

JdB Sound Acoustics

32
carpet could make a world of difference. Acoustical guidance is available but you can not get it from architects.
In fact, if you asked an architect to hire an "Acoustical Expert", chances are the architects will hire a company
that does 90% of its work for Government Projects21 or industrial noise control. Today, the average architect will
design 1 to 4 churches in their life time. How can they possibly design a new church without proper acoustical
guidance? Furthermore, just because an architect has been doing packaged churches for many years, it doesn't
mean they know anything about acoustics.
Note: From personal experience, these types of builders will often dismiss building changes for acoustical
reasons as a waste of money or they will state that whoever makes a positive recommendation doesn't know what
they are talking about. If such a builder will not listen and make changes for better acoustics, then you should
look for another builder. Remember, you have to live with the results, the builder simply moves on to another
church.

The Modern Church Sanctuary

The modern church is a combination of many things. Most denominations appear to give too much autonomy
to each church body in the design shape and performance of a house of worship. The diversities are not a matter
of flavor. Rather, each church can be so different from the next church that people sometimes can not recognize
the church they are in. Furthermore, sometimes the differences are so great that in one large church people hear
fine without a sound system and in another church that is smaller, hearing is a wish.
To call this a weakness in the church community is an under statement. It would be very believable to picture
churches choosing their buildings with a dart board at fifty paces and hoping to hit the dart board. This is
applicable to almost all denominations including Catholic and Protestant churches.
If a person were to describe a gas station,
everyone knows what it does and how it
performs. If it were not for the brand name signs
that distinguish them, gas stations would look
very much alike. Why? After many years of re-
Top View
search, the modern gas station is the most Front View

efficient design for the job. However, can we P- 100 P- 100

say the same for churches. What does the P- 100 P- 100

Tannoy
Tannoy

modern church building do for the local com-

Side View
munity? Is it designed to be the best environment General Seating Area
to hear someone preach, sing or to listen to
music? Can the sound of the sanctuary have an
impact on it's people and community?
At one time people knew when they were in a
church. In the great cathedrals, that are no The Packaged Church
longer being built, you will often find yourself
just listening to the majestic silence and beauty
these great churches have to offer. The modern churches built in the last 25 years has a different sound. They
sound dark, dull and noisy.

21
Note: There is an elite group of architects in the US that have taken a special course in large room acoustics. Graduates are awarded the Robert Bradford
Newman medals. Since 1983 only 53 people have be awarded the medal. Unfortunately, this course spends only a little time on church acoustics.

JdB Sound Acoustics

33
 The one question22 that no one raises (when designing a new church) is where do you begin? Do you start with
the pulpit, choir or organ, or do we continue as most churches do and start with a shell and find a place for every-
thing! Let's let logic decide. If the church has a large music program and choir, then the sanctuary must be
designed around the choir. If the church service is primarily a speech type service with little or no music, then
the church building must be designed around the pulpit. The sad truth is, churches are designed as a shell and
the choir, the pulpit and pews are arranged until something fits.
What is most amazing is how church leaders often place well meaning and misguided convictions ahead of the
hearing needs of the majority. Also, some church designs are full of religious reasoning and scriptural inter-
pretations that gets in the way of hearing in the pews. As heard and witnessed with my own eye, it was more
important for a church leader (pastor, board member or Architect) to demonstrate their powers of persuasion
within the community rather than submitting to the common sense and logic shown throughout the bible -- the
book we are supposed to use as a road map in our decision making practices.
Also, it is outrageous to demand for a new church that will seat 5000 people to be built so that no one is further
than 90 feet away from the pulpit and then expect the house of worship to behave like a cathedral. It just doesn't
happen that way. After 50 years of modern church construction, there has yet to be a consistently happy mar-
riage between the architects, church leaders, Acousticians and audio practitioners. Oh, there are a few success
stories around the country but to an estimated 95% of the new churches built this year, it is a hit and miss
process with the misses winning.
After 50 years of church audio, Architects cannot begin to plan for a proper sound system in the sanctuary.
This is not to say they don't design sound systems or make provisions for something that can make a noise. The
issue is not whether you include a sound system but whether or not you are making the right provisions for a
sound system and to what performance standards.
It is sad to report that in 1993, almost all churches will have their sound systems designed as an after thought,
to fit into a plan that has already been decided on. However, some day the church community will scream loud
enough and the church may start planning a house of worship around the pulpit or the choir or the organ. When
that happens to the majority of new church buildings, the church community will see real and sustained member-
ship growth like never before. This is not some wild person crying in the wilderness making predictions like a
false prophet. Already many churches throughout North America have experienced growth when they had their
sound system and acoustics corrected to meet the listeners needs. This is fact, not fantasy.
What would be a miracle would be for every church this year in North America to suddenly have the right
sound system with the correct acoustics. Within one year, the church community as a whole would see church
attendance's increase by an average of 10% (See Appendix "A"). If you were to accept that the average new
member would tithe or donate an average of $10 per week, it would translate into 3.3 million people returning to
churches with an increase of revenue by $1.6 billion. As the secular people would say, "hey mac, want a piece
of the action?"
After realizing the true cost of poor sound systems and acoustics, the one question churches should be asking
themselves is, why are we letting this happen? Surprise! This kind of information has been around for over 30
years. One could say that the church community has had a shortfall in real income of over $35 billion during the
last 30 years.

22
Other questions that should also be asked about the sanctuary. Is it designed to be a shelter for the hungry or poor in the community (read Mt.25:31-46;
James 1:27)? Is it designed to be a symbol to the local community, where people can get real social help? Is it designed so that when people enter the
sanctuary, they know they are in a special place in which they can put the outside world to rest and spend time thinking and praying to God? Is it designed to
command respect and reverence?

JdB Sound Acoustics

34
Who is affected...
by the performance of the Acoustics and the sound system of any church?
It would be accurate to say that everyone is affected by the performance of the sanctuary and its communication
system. The level is from serious to severe 90% of the time. Of course many of you will say, "I can hear just
fine. Thank you." But, hearing is not all you do in a church. Did you know a high level of listener's fatigue
will tire a person enough to cause some people to sleep within 15 minutes of a 30 minute sermon? Did you know
people will enjoy singing and want to be a participant when they are able to sing to the acoustics of the church?
Did you know people sing louder and learn new songs faster when the acoustics are good? Did you know many
church sound systems are so bad that you have to fill in the blanks for 15 to 40% of the words? Did you know
the attendance in your church can be down as much as 25%, if the acoustics or sound system does not meet your
members needs? Did you know the acoustics and sound system affects a minister's ability to preach, a choir's
ability to sing and the organist or pianist's ability to perform?
Churches need help in understanding their own needs for their own sakes and survival in today's modern age.
Both the "Baby Boomer" and the current crop of our youth spend more money on sound equipment for themselves
than what many churches spend on their whole congregation. If young people spend on average, $800 to $2,000
for audio equipment in their bedrooms, how much should a church spend on audio equipment and system design
for their members?
Sound affects everyone and it is time that the church community woke up and got control over the most impor-
tant tool their ministers use to win people to their ministries and faiths. It is true that some churches have excel-
lent programs that
attract people all the
time, but, in these same
churches that once
claimed they had
everything under con-
trol, they have also had
long time faithful
members come to me
saying, "I have been
attending this church for
over 20 years. This is
the first sermon in which
I could hear enough to
agree with our pastor's
opinion. Now I won't
need a tape of the
service to know what
was said every week."
Almost every church has
members who have This is an older Methodist Church. It has reduced the number and size of parallel surfaces to cut down on the
made a similar statement unwanted reflections. The church was built before 1890. It seats 1000 people and the secular community often rents
when they have had the the church for recordings and community music festivals.
sound and acoustics

JdB Sound Acoustics

35
adjusted to their needs. These points are so important they will be repeated again.
Note: Early in my career as consultant and contractor, I was not always quick to respond with the right
answers. Sometimes, the answers would come years later. On one new church project, I was asked if the
church should worship width way or by its length. In this church they had altar calls, musicals and drama
events. My recommendation was by length. The minister wanted width way, arguing that for altar calls,
people would not have to walk as far and for drama and musicals, people could see the stage area better. The
minister got his way.
Eight years later, people complained that they can't hear in spite of the sound system. During the infrequent
special events, only 40% of the stage was usable, church attendance was less than 50% and altar calls became
rare. If only I could have stated to the church board earlier, "If people can't hear, there won't be any altar calls
and people won't come to the special events." Then again, who listens to a young person? (I hate it when Im
right. But then again, when a people forget their history, they are destined to repeat them.)

JdB Sound Acoustics

36
A Controversial Subject
Setting standards in the audio industry is a very controversial subject. The fact is, there may never be a na-
tional or world standard for audio equipment. Pick 10 speakers and 10 amplifiers and 10 Compact Disk players.
Now try the products in different combinations. What you will have is 10 CD players each sounding 100
different ways or 1000 different sounds. Some differences will be obvious and some subtle. Since 30 pieces of
equipment will give 1000 different sounds, who has the time, money and research skills to determine what is
perfect sound. What also has to be factored into the equation is the physiology of the listener.
Throughout life, your hearing changes. When you have a cold your hearing is different. If the muffler on the
car falls off on the way to church and you are exposed to loud sounds for 15 minutes before church starts, your
listening ability will be reduced for the first 30 minutes of the service. A church with a long song service and a
small orchestra performing before the sermon will have to change the sound of the sound system 15 minutes into
the sermon or else people will start having trouble hearing.
As you become older, your hearing and ability to adapt your hearing becomes slower and slower. According to
the US and Canadian Hearing Societies, they claim statistics of 10 to 20% of any population group has some kind
of hearing problem or loss. If you test 100 people for hearing loss, up to 20 people will have a problem that can
hinder day to day communication. The other 80 people will have different levels of frequency sensitivity. If we
asked 80 people to choose which of the 1000 combinations of audio equipment they liked, you would most likely
get 20 to 30 different opinions.
If audio is so complicated, then how can anyone come up with a church standard? If peoples hearing is about
the same at 18 years of age and very different at the age of 50, how can any church standard be meaningful?

Where do you Begin?

How can you determine which is the best design for your church? The easiest test you can do that doesn't cost
any money, only a little time, is to have the building committee invite the choir director and a person who can
sing to the church. Tour various churches and have the organist play the organ and the building committee sing.
Do the 5 committee members sound like 10 people singing or do they sound like soloists? Do the 10 committee
members sound like 20 people singing or do they sound like soloists?
Next, have a person sing solo. Let them practice and see if the singer can find a suitable pitch that helps to
project their voice. Then have the committee members sit in the last row at the back and listen to the person
singing. Do the words come out clearly? Is the singer able to use the Sanctuary as an instrument that projects
their voice evenly throughout the room?
These are the kinds of tests every church should do before choosing the shape, building materials and design of
their church. When you have a shape and room that suits your needs for congregational and worship singing,
copy this design and don't compromise on surface materials unless you know what you are doing. There is more
to it than this but these tests will get you started in the right direction.

The following page has been formatted so that it can be photo copied and used for Church board meetings.

Executive Church Board Decision Tips

JdB Sound Acoustics
37
 Not for the faint of heart church boards.

If your church in planning a new building, this is the most valuable page in the whole book. Using these tips
will save your church thousands of dollars. Most of the recommendations listed here can not be applied once the
walls are up. Please remember, these are guide lines to ensure that you at least have a good foundation. An
audio and acoustical practitioner is still needed to determine exact values needed.

1. Never design a church that is square. It is the worst shape any church can have. It does not matter where you
put the pulpit.
2. Never design a church with parallel walls. (This requires further explanation.)
3. Never have the roof over the pulpit higher than the roof over the seating.
4. Never have a roof lower than 18 feet. For the first 200 congregational seating spaces, start at 19 feet and
add 1 foot for every 150 additional seating spaces. A higher roof is always preferred. Once you are above 35
feet, you can cut back to 1ft. per 200 people.
5. Never design a church with large concave walls or domes.
6. Never build a round church.
7. Never accept a building with a reverb time at 200 hertz of less than 1.4 seconds or greater than 2.3 seconds.
8. Never accept a building with a reverb time at 2000 hertz of less than 1.4 or greater than 2.3 seconds.
9. Never have a large flat rear wall that is square to the altar or platform area. This is often opposite of where
the choir is and they don't need an echo to confuse them.
10. Never accept a ventilation system or heating system that increases the noise of the sanctuary area. Churches
require an NC of 20 or 25. This is not an option.
11. Never accept a lighting system with less than 85 foot candles per square inch in the seating areas and 150 foot
candles per square inch in the altar/platform area. (This helps some people with minor hearing problems to
lip read.)
12. Never accept a building that allows road noise or aircraft/train noise into the worship area.
13. Never accept a sound system design that gives less than 88% intelligibility.
14. Never make a fan shaped room so wide that the people at the sides are looking at the back of the minister's
head23 or so wide that people are looking at each other.
15. Never plan your seating so the minister has to turn his head more 50 degrees in either direction.
16. Never have the organ and piano further than 15 feet apart.
17. Never place the choir under the organ pipes or organ speakers -- especially if you plan to reinforce the choir
or record them.
18. Never place a piano in a pit or have it boxed off.
19. Never build a 6 or 8 sided church in which all walls are the same length and height.
20. Never design a balcony so low or so deep that people under it, in the back row cannot see the ceiling over the
pulpit.
21. Never build a bulk head over the pulpit area24 at any height.
22. Never build a proscenium arch or an arch in front of the choir. It will trap the sound of the choir and the
Organ.

23
Fact #1: 75% of the churches built today, claim that they would like to tear down their new church and rebuild another the way acoustical experts suggest.
24
Fact #2: 98% of these churches repeat the same mistakes when given the opportunity.

JdB Sound Acoustics

38
23. Never paint over soft materials such as acoustical tiles or split face block or bricks. A few dollars of paint
can do thousands of dollars worth of damage.
24. Always make the foyer area as sound absorbing as possible.
25. If drywall is being used, all interior wall should be covered with double layer of 5/8s wall board.
26. All inside walls should be insulated with 8 inch bats.
27. All inside walls should be 2 x 6 construction included all inside protrusions. (This means drywall that is
covering duct work, bulk heads and entrance blinds.)
==================================

Experience has shown acoustical consultation, and the follow through recommendations that are implemented,
cost less during construction than the cost of repairs after the fact25. Doesn't two thousand dollars in extra block
work on a supporting wall during construction sound like better planning than removing the wall and rebuilding it
three weeks after the church opens the doors? Often, that is all it takes.
Acoustical and Audio experts who specialize in churches spend a great deal of their time fixing other peoples

Central Baptist Church in Brantford, Ontario (Seating 600) required serious acoustical repair. It required two levels of room treatment.
The first treatment was done 10 year earlier. There is no record of who or how the 12 square panels were determine. All anyone could
remember was that it was a cash deal and it cost over $20,000. In 1993, the church installed 80 ASC Tube Traps. They used 11 half
rounds in 5 foot lengths. That cost them another $20,000. Total cost for acoustical repair - $40,000.00. The second treatment corrected
almost all of their acoustical problems. The sound system was also replaced because of age. As it turned out, the church did have a
central cluster. Everyone hated it until the acoustic treatment was done. After the acoustic treatment, the church member thought that
the new sound system was installed. That was installed a month later. As it turned out, a church member who installed the cluster was
finally vindicated of installing a bad sound system, when fact he installed a good sound system be the acoustics were so bad, not sound
system would have worked.
The design of the church is a square with curved walls to visually give the impression that the room is rectangle. However, the room
reacts to both the standing wave problems that are common to square room and the curved walls which created hot spots and phase
cancellations throughout. Although the RT60 was under 1.5 seconds, these wall shapes had the same effect as if the church had an
RT60 over of 5 seconds, destroying the ability of speech a music sounding right. Even the Organist was impressed at how good the
Organ now sounded, even after spending thousand of dollars trying to tune it. One person stated that the acoustical treatment cost less
than tuning the pipe organ.

mistakes. Logic says, churches should hire an acoustical expert and graphic artist before an Architect is hired
and before the design of the church is chosen. This can and has saved churches a lot of engineering fees, even for
a packaged church with seating for only 240 people.
Acoustical experts are specialists in what they do. They are often willing to take full responsibility for the
performance of the room and the full design and performance of the sound system. House painters don't paint
family portraits very well, but they often do use the same equipment and tools artists use. Church acoustics

25
Generally, a church will not repair an acoustical problem in a new building. Usually, it is because they have run out of money and they are afraid their bank
will not give them extra funds to correct the problem. Truth is, churches are afraid to ask in case their request is rejected. In some instances, I went to the
bank and denominational head office and explained the problem. Once the bank was aware of the problem, money was no longer an issue.

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39
require the aid of artists (Acoustical Experts who specialize in churches), not painters (Architects and noise
control acoustical experts). The same applies equally to the Sound System designs.
The chain of events over the past 50 years has caused massive confusion and havoc in the church community in
many ways. Most of these
poorly built buildings and bad
sound systems (estimated to be
around 80 to 90%) have a
physiological effect on people.
Many older people, 40 years of
age and up, who have some
hearing loss but who can have
normal conversation with anyone
3 feet away, often can not hear
well in churches 50 years old
or newer. As a result, these
people will do one of three
things: Some will come even if
they are deaf. (These are the
highly praised faithful.) Some
will come if you provide a
hearing impaired system for
them or they will attend another Once again, one of the thousands of Cathedral Style of church that works really well. Since this picture was
church. (These are the ones taken, some diffusers were added to the side walls to offset the effects of standing waves. As in most churches,
the central speaker is hard to find once it is up.
who want to practice their
faith.) Others, who don't really need hearing assistance, will stay home because they say the sound on the TV is
clearer (These are the one who are seeking faith). In some communities, these groups of people can total over
20%. Hearing speech, the organ, the choir, the piano and the congregation singing affects us all.
If you have a good sanctuary and a high quality sound system, the only people who are left complaining about
the sound are people you have to yell at to talk to them. These are usually the profoundly deaf and a wireless
hearing impaired system will serve them fine if the sound system is up to par. Good Acoustics and Good Sound
mean people with hearing aids will have little or no problem hearing in such a church.
Young people who have good hearing want better sound for a different reason. Every day they are exposed to
HI FI, high quality car radios and so on. Young people spend all kinds of money to get good sound and they get
it. When it comes to churches, we should make the same allowance for them. The facts are, if your church has a
sound system that meets the needs of older people properly, it will also meet the needs of young people and vice
versa.
Churches need to re-examine the purpose of the Sanctuary and think long term. How often do we hear of a
church that is paid for in less than 15 years and the average age of the members is 30. Where are the older
people in a fast growing church? What will happen to the fast growing church as the young people get older?
Will they leave as they do in many other churches? Young people can hear no matter what but once they pass
40, they need a better listening environment. Again, it's all physics and physiology. If churches thought long
term, they would invest more in their buildings and would more than likely have a better return on their donations.

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 The Basics in Room Acoustics

Regardless of the acoustics, shape and performance of a listening space, there are some very fundamental re-
quirements regardless of one's physiological hearing cycle. The first issue is coverage.

Coverage
It is possible to provide at least a 6dB variance or less everywhere in the church pews. It is often rated as a
3dB range. There is no reason for any church sound system to have anything less than this. As in many cases,
the HIS System can have 2 or 1 dB variance. What this basically means is that clear, understandable sound
pressure is consistent throughout the pews. This makes every pew seat the ideal listening position. Remember,
a 3dB change in sound pressure is the smallest sound pressure change the average person can detect and 9dB is
double the loudness. A 6dB change in your church sound system is noticeable if it occurs within 1 foot but is less
noticeable if that is the difference between the front and rear pew.
1. Spec. 1. The acceptable sound level change within 12 inches or from seat to seat is 3dB or 1.5dB, within all
of the pew seating area.
2. Spec. 2. The acceptable sound level change from the front row to the last row of pews or chairs is 6dB or
3dB, within all of the pew seating area.
3. Spec. 3. The same as spec. 1 and 2 for all balconies under or over.

Articulation-Intelligibility
Intelligibility is the understanding of words or phrases broadcast over a sound system in a large room. The av-
erage church and sound system usually fail standard tests for intelligibility. Some experts believe this figure to be
over 90%.
Intelligibility is the understanding of words or phrases without any context. An associated problem with
intelligibility is Listener's Fatigue. Listener's fatigue occurs when a person spends most of their time trying to
hear rather than understanding what was spoken. It is a known fact that low intelligibility as well as high
listener's fatigue add a considerable amount of stress which will shorten a person's attention span as much as
60%. Thus your comprehension of the said sermon or discussion could very well be zero.
Many times I have heard scholars state that people remember only 10% of what is said during school type lec-
tures. One of these scholars was Dr. George Bell of Central Baptist Seminar, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Ac-
cording to him, of the best studies on what people will remember 1 hour after a lecture in a small room with ideal
conditions, is only 10%. If this value is true, what happens to your learning ability if the intelligibility drops
15%? What happens if listening fatigue is introduced with a poorly designed sound system? What happens to
your remembering of the sermon if the echo's from the side walls are distracting you? If remembering 10%
occurs in ideal conditions in a classroom, what is an average persons retention ability in a church with poor
acoustics, poor sight lines, poor lighting and a poor sound system? Does comfortable seating matter? Common
sense should prevail. When designing your church, these things must be factored in.
Intelligibility scores are often associated with reverberation time, echoes and poor sound system design. Lis-
tener's fatigue carries the same frustrations plus sound source locations, poor diction, poor sound quality,
feedback and level.
Testing for intelligibility has not always been as easy as firing up a $11,000 computer system. At one time, it
took 30 to 60 volunteers, 2 or 3 days and a week of analyzing the data to get one set of intelligibility scores as

JdB Sound Acoustics

41
designed by Bell Telephone. These tests were originally developed to establish the best listening curve for the
telephone in the 1920s. These tests were frequently used until the 1980s. In 1969, a mathematician developed an
equation that determined intelligibility in a matter of seconds with a computer and some audio test equipment.
The TEF system was not commercially available until 1981. In 1986, a team of audio and acoustical experts set
out to test the accuracy of the equations.
To the delight of the scientists and experts, the results were good enough for the technical community to agree
that the %Alcons and RASTI tests were valid articulation measurements for judging sound systems, room
acoustics and industrial communications. The MLSSA System is considered by the experts to be an equal along
with Bruel & Kjaer, Western Digital, TEF and Hewlett Packard, the test equipment giants. The following chart
shows the % Alcons standards and score. Please note that a score from 0 to 11% is desirable. A score higher
than 11% is a real problem for churches.

According to Bruel & Kjaer & Crown, the acceptable loss in Intelligibility of speech is as follows:
% Alcons
Excellent = 0 to 2.8%
Good = 3.1 to 6.6%
Fair = 7.4 to 14.1%
Poor = 15.7 to 33.6%
Bad = 37.4 to 57.7%
There is no description for a score below 57% Alcons.

The 90s -- The Age of Hope

As far as information goes, there are several good books on Audio.

The best general book on sound reinforcement is called "The Complete Hand Book of Public Address Sound
Systems" by F Alton Everest. Although it was written in 1978, and is now out of circulation, it will not be out of
date for a long time. Other books that can assist you with the physics and math in audio and acoustics are:

Sound System Engineering

1st and 2nd editions by Don Davis, published by SAMS

Architectural Acoustics
David M Egan, published by McGraw Hill
Unfortunately, there is only one other independent books that deal specifically on church sound or church
acoustics26. Therefore, much of the information from the previously mentioned books will require some
interpretation.
Good Church sound and Acoustics can be had all the time but it comes at a price. Currently, the HIS System
(Highly Intelligible church Sound System) and other companies that install systems like the HIS System give the
church the highest performance and the best RETURN ON INVESTMENT. (See Appendix A, Tables 1, 2, and
3.)

26
Yamaha has a very good technical book on church sound that is full of very good theory general used in secular application. It is much like the book Sound
System Engineering by Don Davis.

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42
 Young people often seek high quality sound and are always ready to pay for it. Elderly people often
demonstrate their desire for better sound with a bequeath. Regrettably, this is how funding is arranged for many
of the high quality sound systems installed today.
This confusion in church sound has led to some very well known statements that have proven true repeatedly.
One statement says,

"There is never enough money to do the job right in the first place but there is always enough money to do it
four times."

Another statement goes something like this:

The average Church buys four27 sound systems. The first sound system is often installed by the lowest bidder
when a church is built28 and buys its first system. The second system is often installed by the local "Expert", who
is often a sincere, hard working and a well meaning church member who is an audio hobbyist (with the books and
with the purest of intentions,) or from a local music or electronics store. The third sound system is often designed,
engineered and installed by a professional audio company who does all types of sound systems, earning the title of
"audio expert". The fourth and final system is the system that becomes the permanent system that will not be re-
designed ever again. This system will last the life time of the church building and will have equipment upgrades
as equipment fails due to age and wear. These final systems are designed and installed by the few who have a true
understanding of the peculiar audio and acoustical needs of a church. These people go to great lengths to educate
the members of the church before a proposal is even submitted.
Isn't it sad that the church community works so hard to show a common unity to the world while demanding
total business independence. It seems that church communities and almost all of the different church de-
nominations have no automatic method of passing on information to each other about business experiences, either
good or bad. As a result, each church has to educate themselves in every process they encounter for the first
time.
For example: When planning a new church building and checking a builder's reputation, most denominations
can only say they have dealt with the contractor before. The head office can not say how often the builder came
in on budget or whether the church was satisfied with the performance of the sanctuary for worship after the
building was finished. There is no record keeping of building techniques or styles verses building maintenance
costs over 10 year and 30 year periods. The church community can't even tell you how or whether or not the
appearance of their church serves the best interests of the surrounding community.
What is also disturbing is how many churches accept sub-standard work from secular and "Christian" con-
tractors. Churches do not write any performance standards into their contracts as far as listening requirements
go. As a result, there are many churches with organs they don't want, sound systems that are a hindrance and an
obstacle rather than a tool, and sanctuaries that sing like a funeral parlor. There are churches that have heating
or air-conditioning systems that make so much noise that the sound system is able to amplify the noise. Imagine a
church that orders brown carpet and accepts pink carpet instead because a clerk made a mistake. The church
community has placed itself at the mercy of the outside world because they have swept their own standards under
the rug. However, church standards can be set in such a way that each church can increase their treasured
independence.

27
Paraphrased from the book "The Complete Hand Book of Public Address Sound Systems" by F Alton Everest.
28
Fact: Many churches that have bought several sound systems often don'
t realize they are still paying for their first sound system that was usually included in
the original building budget many years ago.

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43
 Church standards need to be imposed. They can be implemented in one of several manners. The best method is
by setting performance standards that best represents each denomination's service to the communities they serve.
In terms of church sound and acoustics, there are standards of performance that are a must for all churches and,
for every area you compromise, you have to include the cost in people too. This does not take away churches
being responsible for their own design. In fact, it would ensure that every sanctuary meets their own local needs.
Perhaps a church sound system and its acoustics could be viewed as a reflection of how a church treats its
members. Perhaps people are doing this at a subconscious level. Perhaps Jesus' own words may have greater
meaning now.
In Luke 11: 27-28, a woman calls out to Jesus, blessing His parents at the conclusion of a miracle but Jesus'
reply was, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it." Why did Jesus answer the woman in
this way? Did Jesus give us a view into our future of the importance of being able to hear? Is poor sound and
acoustics keeping people from hearing and missing the blessing? May your faith direct you and may these words
be loud and clear enough for you to draw your own conclusions.

Defining Independence
Webster's Dictionary defines independence as:
1. Not subject to control by others.
2. Acting free of the influence of something else.
3. Not looking to others for one's opinions or for the guidance of one's conduct.
4. Refusing to accept assistance from others.
5.
Another way to describe independence goes something like this:
A rut29 (in this case, called independence) is when you have no rules, no structure and no motivation. People
without structure often fall apart according to North American standards. Ruts are also rules and structures that
are self destructive. People and organizations that are in ruts are slaves to the very things they want the most --
to be successful. These people get on this treadmill of perpetual failure because they are often afraid of change
and they often hold onto traditions for the wrong reasons. After all, wasn't the tradition a change from
something else? Perhaps the tradition30 was started because the people before were in a rut and they needed
something to move them forward.
The successful are those who have rules, structure, motivation and discipline to follow the codes they impose
on themselves. Many people who look at a person with a structured life style often believe they are free to do
anything they want. These are the people who accomplish their goals and purposes most often.
Independence is a two-edged sword. On the one hand, it does make you free of the influence of others but
what do you replace it with? On the other hand, those who embrace the rules have greater freedom. When a
church standard in acoustics is established, you will see creativity in church designs that can surpass anything
done before.

29
Old Chinese Proverb - A rut is a monkey with his hands caught in the cookie jar.
30
When a tradition starts to cause division, it is time to honor the old tradition and start a new tradition. Sometimes this is what progress is about

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A Construction Detail to Consider and much needed
Cable chase ways: Since there has been no standard in church sound systems, the idea of a cable chase way
seem pointless. However, if a cable chase way for lighting and sound were planned, then the church could have
flexible options in the future. Cable chase ways are not new. In fact, offices have had them for years. Cable
chase ways cost more during construction but later when changes are done, there would be no need for expensive
conduit work after the fact.

Secret Banking Tip

If your church is using a bank for a loan, you can ask for longer term mortgages. It is not uncommon for a
church to get 40, 50 or 75 year mortgages. By doing this, your church can increase the building budget to build a
better building, better acoustics and a better sound system.

Churches, Banks, Acoustics, and Sound

What do churches, banks, acoustics, and sound have in common? Banks are giving some Churches a hard
time. In the United States, there is a growing number of banks who are rejecting or postponing church loans
because the church board has left out one very important detail. When a new or expanding church goes to a bank
for a loan, they have to submit Architectural drawings showing all aspects of the church building. A growing
number of U.S. banks are asking for an Acoustical and Sound System report before the loan is approved. Banks
are tired of lending money to churches that choose building designs that are more suited as funeral homes or ware-
houses. These buildings become a bad investment for the bank, the church, the denomination and the community.
It appears lending institutions have learned there is a direct relationship between good sound, acoustics and
attendance. Banks see good attendance as a guaranteed return on their investments.

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Nuts & Bolts & More
When to start training?
Before we can suggest a sound system design, we must look at the larger picture. It is one thing to give a
church a sound system that finally does what it is supposed to do, it is another thing to know how to use the
system to enhance the worship, rather than degrade it.
The operation of a church sound system is a team effort. That team includes the Minister, the Organist, Pi-
anist, Choir Director, Song leader, Soloist, Musician, Lay readers, Guest Speakers, Guest Soloists, Guest
Musicians, Children, Teenagers, Lay members, Ushers, Deacons, Elders and of course, the sound person.
(Some women have proven to be the best sound system operators in North America.) Every person in a church
needs to be taught how to use a sound system, what to expect of it and how to get the same high quality results
every time.
We are now approaching the third generation of churches with audio and it seems that 98% of the people
haven't a clue about what they are doing. The purpose of the sound system is to have the people in the pews inti-
mately involved with every part of the worship.
Example: In some churches there are lay people who pray out loud during a planned part of the service. Often,
they will simply pray out loud from where ever they happen to be standing. In small churches this works just fine
but in larger churches, a person's voice needs to be amplified. It is interesting to see what happens when a
microphone is put in front of most people. Give a person a microphone and their automatic volume control turns
down. Furthermore, they often hold the mic so far away they give the impression that the mic has teeth.
Sometimes they hold the mic as if it has the pickup capsule in its side. Now, if you combined these two
responses, you may conclude, as I often do, "what that person has to say must be so personal they don't want to
share it with others." The only reason for these responses is lack of education. People have to be given
permission to speak out with the equipment they have. Would you build a church to protect you from the ele-
ments and then have all of your services out of doors because you're afraid to wear out the building!
The worst offenders of not using a microphone properly are ministers. Most ministers act as if the microphone
is a hindrance or an obstacle that well meaning people put in front of them. Considering what Bible Colleges
teach and what those institutions own, it is no wonder ministers are afraid of using audio equipment. A poor
system in a church literally drives people away. All the mic techniques in the world will not help. However, in a
proper sound system, the microphone becomes an extension of your voice so everyone can participate. If you
treated a microphone like an ear of a very close friend, you would be well on your way to taking advantage of
your ministry.

How To Use A Microphone

The way this works is very simple. If you were speaking softly, as you would with a close friend with whom
you have an important message to share, you move closer. This means getting within 4 to 12 inches from a mic.
With a good system this is whispering. When you are talking as to a friend across a living room with general
comments, you should be 9 to 20 inches from the microphone. When you have important statements or a special
point on which you want to raise your voice, you should be 15 to 36 inches from the microphone.
The reason for using this method is straight forward. When your voice is low, there is a lot of detail that
people often miss. This detail is needed because it's not what was said but how you said it that will carry the

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largest impact. Your words of comfort are meaningless if people only hear 30% of them. Therefore, getting
closer to the mic allows people to fully understand the importance of those supporting words.
Likewise, when you are excited, you need to move away from the microphone. When you speak louder, you
will blow more air. As you blow more air, you will pop31 to mic with strong bass sound. This is annoying, dis-
tracting and easily avoidable. If you are able to move away from the mic (if you are hand holding it, it works the
best), you will also keep the volume down while getting your message across more effectively. Getting louder
often does not mean getting clearer. In fact, as you increase the volume of a sound system, the room starts to
fight back. If the acoustics are good, the sound can be louder but, as in most churches, there is a narrow
window at which the volume can be set and it is up to the person speaking or performing to know the limits. It is
insulting to everyone when a sound system is so loud you can not understand what the minister is saying.
There are many churches today that are abusing our hearing. Did you know the average sound pressure level of
congregational singing in a conservative Protestant church is about 95 decibels (dB) and in a Pentecostal type
church the singing is about 5 to 10 dB louder? According to most of the Health and Safety Acts around the
world, long exposure to sounds at these levels will cause some hearing loss. In one church, the congregational
singing could last up to an hour and a half. In this 2000 seat church, the sound levels were often over 108dB.
According to OSHA32, your exposure time is 30 minutes without hearing protection. Perhaps if people started to
ask for hearing protection in some churches, the sound levels would come down. (Many of these churches have
serious acoustical problems and most sound men and audio companies have the attitude that if you turn up the
sound loud enough, eventually, the room will not have any affect on the sound and it will eventually get clearer.
Folks, the opposite is true. Turning the system down will not only make it clearer but people would get more out
of it than just abuse.)

Is the "Q" Factor Important?

It is now generally accepted that a church is best served with a central cluster speaker system. The speaker
system is often placed somewhere over the front of the pulpit or platform area using directional speakers that have
a predictable and constant dispersion of sound. Omni directional speakers such as spheres, column speakers, low
"Q" speakers and HI FI speakers fail to perform in so many critical ways they are not worth the paper to criticize.
Not all speakers are the same and these other speakers work better in application where non-critical listening is
required. Finding so many Soundspheres in church closets, for a "State of the Art Technology" that is consid-
ered current, is a clear case of buying the wrong tools for the wrong job. Between spheres, column speaker, flat
speaker other speaker designs and audio products, if all of the churches who owned them donated this equipment
to other churches who are determined to waste their money on this inappropriate equipment, the equipment could
be recycled many times and churches would spend less of my money foolishly. However, as one church board
chairman said, "I wouldn't want that equipment wished upon anyone else...." Those strong opinions are often
made after a church has had the opportunity to compare a proper church sound system with one designed with
good intentions.
In the early days of church sound, speakers generally were all horn types with horn loaded woofers. Amplifiers
were expensive and rarely over 100 watts in power. (Today, many amplifiers can produce over 400 watts x 2
channels at a 4 ohm rating.) A term often used and often misunderstood is "Q". "Q" is the directivity rating of a
speaker. High "Q" speakers are designed to project sound over large distances. A low "Q" speaker is a speaker

31
Pop - a father - a soft drink - a lot of air vibrating the surface of the microphone diaphragm generating an undesirable, low frequency rumble or bang.
Words with the letter "P" or "B" are often the cause of blowing too much air = pop
32
OSHA = Occupational Safety and Health Administration

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47
that allows the listener to get comfortably close without serious degrading of the sound. A HI FI speaker is a low
"Q" speaker. A police bull horn is a high "Q" speaker.
Just as the installation of the Organ was resisted in the church because it was once played while Lions were
feeding on Christians in Roman arenas, churches have also been slow to embrace the sound system for similar
reasons. At first, churches used their sound systems strictly for speech only. Today, some of the best sounding
systems in public places are in churches.
In the beginning of church sound, people soon learned that a sound system was very limited and often the room
had to be fixed. Many churches did fix their sanctuaries33 with very good results. The reason for limited sound
system performance is because they only knew of one way of doing church sound reinforcement. It was
understood then as it is now, a proper sound system is a reflection of a room acoustics. People then were not
confused about audio verses acoustics. It was when people started experimenting to find a cheaper ways to do
sound reinforcement was when the first dead spot and intelligibility problems showed it's ugly head. It was also
understood that the higher the "Q" of the speaker, the less you had to invest in acoustics. Of course music
programs in churches in those days were acoustic oriented rather that electronically oriented today.
In the mid 50s, bigger and less expensive amplifiers arrived in the market place. At the same time, speaker
engineers began to understand what "Q" was and how to measure it. A high "Q" rating could be from 10 to 25.
A low "Q" is from 2 to 9.
There is a direct relationship between reverberation, "Q" and how much direct sound arrives to the people in
the pews. Poor reverberation limits the performance of a speaker system. By increasing the "Q" of the speaker,
you can compensate for the increase in room reverberation. However, there is a limit as to how high you can in-
crease the reverberation of the room and have a speaker with enough "Q" that will still give the best sound cover-
age possible.
As more churches began to accept and use sound systems, audio contractors suddenly had to deal with
churches that had reverberation times of over 1.5 seconds. (Most audio contractors rarely have to deal with as
hostile an acoustical environment as that which occurs in churches.)
There are some speakers that have a "Q" of 50. A police bull horn has a "Q" of over 50. Police bull horns
don't sound very good. Many church sound systems sound like bull horns but regular two way speakers are
being used which should sound very natural. Once a speaker "Q" rating passes 25, it generally no longer
sounds natural due to too much compression of the sound within the bell of the horn. (Horns compress sound is in
terms of ratios. A highly projecting horn can have a compression ratio of 12 - 15 to 1. A natural or musical
sounding horn has a compression ratio of 4 - 8 to 1. Low compression, high "Q" speakers give the best overall
performance in a church.) Speakers with a "Q" of over 22 generally are not very musical. They have to be
supplemented with woofers or sub woofers. The end result is the sub woofer34 drags the "Q" rating, over the
full speaker range, down.
Later, someone discovered that if you stacked several horns on top of each other, you could increase the "Q" of
the speaker system and maintain a reasonable quality of sound. This works fine but where do you draw the line?
When is it time to stop looking to sound equipment as a magic wand to solve poor building designs or poor use of
construction materials?
In one photograph (page 348 in the book Sound System Engineering by Don Davis), it shows a speaker cluster
of 4 horns and 4 woofers stacked one on top of the other. It was demonstrated that the test worked very well but

33
Poor reverberation is usually when reflected energy is focused back onto the microphones in the platform area. This inhibits the choir, organ and sound
system
34
Note: Some of the best looking and most impressive spec. sheets in the industry have sometimes been found to be some of the worst sounding speaker

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the speaker system looked awful. This was an example of creating a high "Q" array using a column speaker ap-
proach. (In this case, it would have been better to fix the room rather than having a speaker system that looked
like a monster. Besides, if you have to go to this length to make a sound system work, doesnt that automatically
tell that there is a room problem? And so what if you have better speech, if congregational singing is poor and
choral singing sound muddy, wouldnt it be nice to be able to speech and music problems at the same time?)
There have been several studies
and charts suggesting the limits of
reverberation35 and the "Q" of the
speaker system for churches. (These
charts can be found in the books
mentioned earlier. Klark Teknik has
a manual that has excellent charts on
this subject.) From experience, a
church with a reverb time of 2.4
seconds or longer at 200 hertz will
not be able to count on their speaker
system to work properly for every
part of the worship service.
"Q" is important but there is a
limit. The higher the "Q", the more
speaker compression. For churches
that have ambitious music programs,
a medium to low "Q" speaker that
sounds very musical and low
reverberation are a must because in a
loudness war, the room always
wins. (A list of the 5 top speakers
for the HIS System discussing their
good points and bad points and when Some pictures only tell a portion of a picture. In the same church as in the photo above, the church
to use them will be in the next wall behind the pulpit has a unique acoustical feature. The dove is made out of carpet. The dove is
white, the carpet is a solid gray and the stripes are royal green. Behind the carpet are 3 outround
update.) diffusers. By adding diffusion such as this, the stage noise that was reflecting back into main setting
Note: Dome tweeters and bullet was reduced. (This was a new church and there was no before an after testing. However, it is
horns have a very limited use in a estimated that the reflections were reduced by 10dB.) The music director said something to the effect
that in their old church, you couldnt hear the congregation because of the monitors. In this new
church. They have two major prob- church, the find they dont have to play the monitors as loud and that they can hear the congregation,
lems. If the speaker system was even when the monitor get as loud as before..
only controlling prerecorded music
all day, they would work very well. However, speech requires a lot of speaker output in the mid range. Many
domes and bullets fail and fall short of the power demands of speech. Secondly, most domes and bullet horns
have such wide dispersions that gain before feedback is seriously limited. Although domes and bullets allow you
to make a lower cost speaker, the performance limitations and high rate of failure make them impractical for use
in a church.

35
There is a chart in the appendix which shows the ideal RT60 based on style of worship.

JdB Sound Acoustics

49
Are All Speaker Clusters the Same?
It would be fair to say there are huge differences in speaker components and the jobs they are designed to do. It
is also important to know that the position of a speaker in a room is super critical. Every room has a sweetspot
A speaker out by 1 foot can make $2,000 speakers sound like 50 "a.m." radio speakers.
Some speaker systems are less critical than others and in some rooms there is no room for error or flying by the
seat of your pants in design. You should have a detailed knowledge of your sound system supplier. The fol-
lowing is a list of things you should know about your supplier:
1. 1. Learn everything about the speakers you are being recommended. An audio contractor doesn't have time to know about every
speaker that is available or how they sound.
2. 2. Avoid custom built speakers. A custom built speaker is often designed on a given set of assumptions.
3. 3. If you have a custom built speaker for an original design, ask for the printed test results. Usually, there is no laboratory
testing on custom speakers so you have no way of knowing 100% how the speaker will behave under church conditions.
4. 4. A good sound contractor will have a limited number of speakers they use and will know them inside and out.
5. 5. Learn how to read a spec. sheet and understand what it all means.
After selling over 100 complete sound systems, it never ceases to amaze me how a church can spend huge
amounts of money based on a proposal without going to hear the finished product in other churches. Many
speaker clusters look the same. Many audio companies use the same equipment. The end results are like day and
night. When you buy a church speaker system, it must be assembled and strategically located in your church.
What good is it to have a speaker shoot-out at your church when the audio company doesn't know how to install it
for the best performance. Speaker testing is often a waste of time for the client. It is very important for the
contractor.
In many speaker demonstrations, people are often caught up in how a speaker sounds rather than knowing how
a speaker performs. In reality, the differences between speakers from the major speaker manufacturers is very
small. It is the ability of choosing the right speakers for a given job, that takes skill.
In a recent speaker demonstration36 in a church, three different horn speakers from three manufactures were
represented. Before equalizing and before setting the volumes at equal levels, all three speakers had very distinct
sound differences. However, after equalizing the speakers and setting the volume levels to equal loudness, the
differences were very small. In each case, the speaker system was limited by the performance of the room. Once
the room was factored in, the sound quality of the speakers became very similar. What was more noticeable was
speaker coverage and control. One speaker was more musical, the other could play louder and the final speaker
had better control. What does the church need? Does the client know?
Speaker clusters have a very small window in which to work. When you buy a sound system for your church,
it must include the skill of your contractor and his sensitivity to the needs of the church and the acoustics of the
room. It is nice to buy the speaker system that sounds the best, but if the best speaker system can't sound better
than the others because the room gets in the way, isn't it better to find the best combination supplier, speaker and
room repair?
When a church asks for a demo in their sanctuary, the smartest sales person is going to win. When a church
takes the time to visit other churches to hear the system in action during a worship service, the best performing
system will win. Not all speaker clusters are the same and not all audio contractors know how to find the room's
sweetspot.

36
Shoot out - OK coral - Frisbee contest - various speakers set on a stage for side by side comparisons. All speakers must be equalized and set at the same
volume using pink noise and a SPL Meter.

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50
One Rule - One Fact
One of the most important rules for all sound operators is simple: Once the minister begins to preach, you are
allowed only one volume level adjustment throughout the whole sermon (unless your minister instructs you
otherwise). With a good sound system, the minister should be able to control their own volume by using the
microphone properly (more effectively). However, there is one adjustment most ministers won't mind.
Most sermons begin 3 to 7 minutes after singing. Since most singing is very loud, your hearing of low sounds
is stressed for a while. Speech is intermittent. Speech gives our ears a chance to rest between words. When the
volume is set right after a Hymn, chances are it is too loud. Some people get the impression the sound system
has been turned up. Rather, it is our hearing that became more sensitive to lower level sound. Often the sound
person can lower the volume of the system by 3 to 5dB at about 5 to 10 minutes into the sermon. The interesting
thing is, if you don't do this and you need more volume from the sound system, it won't be there.
Another rule is to turn off all other microphones not in use during the sermon. The more mics that are on, the
less gain you have before feedback. This is important for the times when your minister has a throat problem but
is determined to continue in a lower voice. Furthermore, the sound tends to sound clearer because there are no
open mics to reinforce the first sound. There are other reasons for turning things off or down, but for now,
these reasons will do.

A Powerful Person
One of the most important
facts is, the soundman, in
churches with a good sound
system, is the most powerful
person during a worship
service. The soundman can
either enhance everything
and assist people sitting in
the pews to be more in-
volved with the service or,
the soundman can under-
mine everything the minister
does without the minister
knowing it. It is time we
wake up to the fact the 95%
of all churches have a sound
system of some kind.
Unfortunately, only 5 to
10% of these churches have
a sound system really usable
This is the soundmans view of the church. The soundman stands and sits during service like everyone else. The
as a tool. All other churches only time the soundman has a problem with mics on the lower floor is when a person has not been rehearsed in
have sound systems that get using the assigned mic. In church sound, not only does a soundman need training, but the people who use the
sound system need to be trained too. This is a major problem that is over looked. (The man in the picture is reading
in the way. When the plaque and it says hymn is number 108)
something gets in your way,

JdB Sound Acoustics

51
it undermines everything. Even a good sound system can have the same problems of getting in the way.
For example: In a good system where people expect to hear properly, the minister or a lay person may move
to a mic that has been turned off to give the other mic better control. The sound person should be alert and see the
minister moving to the other mic. If the mic is set right, the mood of the service continues. If the minister speaks
for 3 seconds or longer with the mic off, and the minister notices it, what happens? It breaks the mood and
often, his concentration. This single event upsets more ministers than anything else. Moving from one mic to
another at the closing of a
sermon may be just what
the minister needed to do
to make his final plea or
point. A soundman asleep
at the controls is
unacceptable.
Of course some will
suggest using a wireless
lapel mic. In my opinion,
a wireless lapel micro-
phone has some noticeable
limitations. Most
churches do not have the
acoustics needed to use a
lapel mic as effectively as
a hand held mic. With a
wireless, all you get is
plain vanilla in the presen-
tation. Just as some Typical Speaker concealment in a new building - This is a warehouse and the
ministers wear the well- Architect was asked not to help with the interior of this church.
earned title of Word smith,
a person can also be an
Amplified Voice smith - a person who knows how to present a message using all of the inflections of Voice. Ca-
sey Kasim has the most recognized voice on TV today. He has made millions of dollars selling his voice to
Television.
On PBS, the public broadcasting service, there is a weekly show called NATURE. The success of NATURE
and its continuance is based on the voice of George Page. This is a voice that brings life to the screen. Jason Ro-
bards, Lorne Green, Robin Williams and Dick Van Dyke are all examples of the use of voice. As they say in
the business world, it's not what you say but how you say it. A good sound system accurately reproduces
everything you say and how you say it -- the key to a successful presentation. A lapel mic can not give you much
more than a vanilla presentation. Then again, there are many gifted ministers who know how to make plain
vanilla taste like chocolate. Of course, this is only an opinion based on many experiences. What have your
experiences been?
This is not to say wireless are not effective. For drama presentations, plays and other specialty events, a lapel
wireless setup is just the ticket. Today, some ministers make the usage of a wireless microphone a condition of
their employment. Getting a wireless mic just to have "freedom" must be combined with planning to be more dy-

JdB Sound Acoustics

52
namic with body language. What a church should avoid is getting a wireless lapel mic for a minister who does
not use body language in their presentation when they could have done better buying 6 regular microphones for
most of the other events they wish they could do better. A good wireless lapel is a lot of money. If all you have
is $1,000 to spend, 6 mics with stands and cables could be the wiser choice.
Assessing The Sanctuary

Room Shapes
There are six basic room floor plans with hundreds of variations of each. There are rectangles, squares, dia-
monds, ovals, triangles, circles and pentagons. In roof designs there are several basic shapes with many varia-
tions of each. There are Domes, "A" frames, Flat, Sloped, Vaults and waves. Almost all the known shapes will
work but you need to know at which end of the church you will preach and at which end you will listen.
The type of room shape must match the nature of the service or denomination. There is no such thing as an
ideal or perfect space but, it is important to recognize the shape, how it works and where the speaker system must
go. Don Davis wrote in his book on Sound System Engineering that a speaker system often goes where a wall or
ceiling should be. This is very true. But as you get into larger spaces that seat 200 people or more, you need
more than a reflector. The wall must amplify as well.

Sound System Design Types

In churches, you will see a variety of system designs used. Some designs are chosen because of appearances,
others are chosen because of the perceived cost savings but most are installed to compete with room acoustics.
Unless you have a ceiling lower than 12 feet, the best system in any church is a Central Cluster design.
The Central Cluster design forces you to look at the person speaking or singing. It offers the highest levels of
intelligibility. It has the lowest levels of Listener's Fatigue. It is usually the best layout for operating and
hearing the speaker system. It usually has a higher level of gain before feedback. It is a system that you notice
the least. Therefore, you can say a central cluster system is the least obtrusive available. The other sound
system designs are either creators of dead spots or very expensive if done correctly.
The following is a description of the various system types and why they are not appropriate in a church.

Pew Back Systems

The pew back system is most often attempted in churches with long reverb times. It is based on the idea that if
you get the sound sources closer to the people, the listener will get more direct sound and less interference from
the reverberation of the room. If it is to work, it can only be a speech system. It will not work well for music
because music has to be played loud enough for the musicians to hear themselves. This means, in the pew back
system, a listener could hear both the direct sound and the amplified sound coming from many directions,
depending on how the listener moved their head during the live music. Music, at a medium level in a pew back
system, will increase the reverberation time37 of the sanctuary. Remember the reason for the pew back system?
From the experiences known, there is no church that has a pew back system that works as good as a properly
designed cluster system. Generally, a pew back system is abandoned after several years of trying to make it

37
Sound travels through wire faster than through the air. Sound travels at 1125 feet per second or 660 miles per hour. A frequency is speed of sound divided
by the length of the sound wave.
1125 '10 ft. = 112.5 hertz
1125 '3 ft. = 375 hertz
1125 '6 inches = 3,125 hertz

JdB Sound Acoustics

53
work. Robert Schuller's Crystal Cathe-
dral in California is a prime example.
They went from a cluster system to a pew
back system and now they are back to a
cluster system. The next step is to find a
method of reducing the reverberation
without interfering with the appearance of
the "Glass Slipper".
Design principal.
The pew back system will have speakers
mounted either on the back of the pew,
under the pew or on the floor under the
pew. A speaker is placed every few feet to
give even coverage in each row. Each
row, or in some cases, every other row
gets speakers. Some people have tried one
speaker for every other person or a 2 to 1
ratio, while others have tried up to 10 to 1
ratio's.
For every 2 or 3 rows of speakers, you
have to install a delay system. The delay
is used to delay the electronic sounds from
one row of speakers to the next and to
delay the electronic sound from the source Typical Steel Bracket Installation. The Choir monitor does have a
of the sound. Without the delay, you will chain to keep the speaker in position.
hear echoes.
Costs can vary. For a speech only
system that works reasonably well, the cost per seating position can be well over $80. This makes it the most
expensive way of doing sound. Would it not be better to spend $35 per seat on sound and $45 per seat on
acoustics?
Contractors who have tried pew back systems have used all types of speakers at all angles. It doesn't seem to
matter whether it is a $10 speaker or a $200 speaker, overall performance is low. Some systems are on a 70 volt
or 100 volt distribution layout, while others have tried a mini amplifier for every 2 speakers. Others have also
tried to series38 speakers together to try and keep the amplifier cost down. Running an audio signal from speaker
to speaker does create other sound quality problems as well.
The only place for a pew back system is in town halls, city hall counsel chambers and in churches that have no
music in their services.

The Left/Right Mono System

38
Series wiring is when you take the negative terminal of a speaker and contact it to the positive terminal of the second speaker. This can be with full-range
two way speaker boxes or from driver to driver. This is a low cost method of matching an impedance load. 8 ohms series to 8 ohms = 16 ohms. 8 ohms
parallel to 8 ohms = 4 ohms. This most often degrades the overall signal because the signal path includes the voice coil and the crossover in two or three way
speakers.

JdB Sound Acoustics

54
 The left/right mono system has always been called the poor man's system. It is installed out of convenience and
a direct copy of what entertainers do when they only have a few hours to put on a show. Of all the books avail-
able on sound reinforcement, not one book shows how to install a left/right mono sound system. Rather, they go
to great lengths to explain what is wrong with it. Instead, they all support the cluster system as the best way to
install a permanent sound system. The left/right mono system should be viewed as strictly a portable or tempo-
rary system setup39. It was (and still is) a fast and convenient system by which entertainers can put on a show for
their public. (Most public halls and auditoriums do not have the proper room shape or acoustics for a quality
performance. Owners of such places usually have the attitude - "As long as people are willing to pay and the hall
is making money, I don't care what the show sounds like!" Six months later a new owner takes over the
establishment with the same attitude.)
There are four main reasons for not using such a system in a church:

1. Dead Spot
When you have two mono sounds separated by 10 feet or more, the left and right speakers will start canceling
each other out in the overlap areas and whenever you are at a different distance from each speaker. When you are
at an equal distance to each speaker, the sounds are summed together, often increasing the sound level 6 to 9 dB.
When you include wall reflections, the problem is compounded and it creates additional dead spots. When the
speakers are 25 feet apart or wider, the areas of overlap increase dramatically. A dead spot can be easily
measured with an inexpensive sound level meter such as the one Radio Shack stores sell.
In many testing experiences with computerized measurement systems, some very interesting pictures of sound
began to appear. In many churches with a left/right system, it could be seen how the sound from the left speaker
was louder than the right speaker but, the test microphone had been placed in front of the right speaker. This
position would be about 30 to 55 feet out and about mid point of the right side of the church. By standing at this
position and running the test signal, you could indeed hear which speaker was louder. Please, remember that
dead spots are often frequency dependent. That is, since every frequency has a different wave length, not all
sounds or notes will cancel or boost at a given position. A sound level meter can tell you whether the sound is
lower or louder. A computer system is needed to determine if certain sounds are missing in a given position. In
translation it means that in this pew the vowel "a" and a "Mc" are not audible and all "b" and "ch" sound are too
loud. Some people can fill in the blanks better than others. People with hearing aids have problems in this
setting.

2. Gain Before Feed Back

In a left right speaker installation, the speakers are often placed behind the pulpit at equal height or slightly
higher than the pulpit. Most speakers have great vertical dispersion control but poor horizontal control. This is
like placing a microphone in front of the speaker, and we all know that will cause the system to feedback.
The causes of feedback are a combination of acoustics, angles of incident, proximity effects and oscillation.
As you turn up the level of a microphone, it is able to pick up and amplify everything. This includes any low
level noise generated by your electronics (i.e.: mixer, amplifier, equalizer, pre-amps, effects devices and other

39
It was once said that if you bring too much attention to a problem, people will either try to prove you are wrong or they think that you are hiding something.
Isn' t this like watching someone else burn their hands in the fire and then putting your hands in the fire to see if you will burn too! Is experiencing other
peoples mistakes for yourself more important than learning from others?

JdB Sound Acoustics

55
pieces of electronics connected to the sound system that is unstable. Poor wiring and electrical induction are other
causes of noise.) As a result, the low level noise from the speaker or speakers will transmit to the nearest
microphone will cause feedback sounds.
Any speaker that has a signal path with an angle of incident that reflects sound back to the microphone will
cause feedback. Again, it is the low level, inaudible noise that is being recycled through the audio chain.
When the gain of the mic is turned up so loud that the noise from the system is being recycled (that is when the
noise in the system is being produced by the speakers and picked up by the microphone, the level increases in a
cycle many times until you hear it. This can appear to happen instantaneously), it causes feedback.
The acoustics part of the picture is more complex. All large rooms are constantly flexing and moving. This is
a constant effect altered by room temperature and humidity. Speakers move air. Microphones will amplify
everything whether you can hear anything or not. At a level you can not hear, the room's flexing is being picked
up by the sound system. As long as the level of sound system is kept low, the sound system is stable. When the
levels of the sound system are turned up, (or amplifying the noise until it is audible) decay time of the rooms
flexing becomes longer. Now, at the same time, the speaker system is moving air and exciting the room,
multiplying the energy output hundreds of times. This creates a chain reaction in which the sound system
amplifies the resonant frequency of the room (room flexing) and causing feedback. Acoustics play an equal part
in the causes of feedback. When there are multiple speaker locations in a room, the number of wave forms that
will excite the room increases. Also, the number of hot spot reflection points increase which causes feedback.
This is only a partial explanation."

3. Intelligibility
Intelligibility is the understanding of individual words. As discussed earlier, in a 45 minute sermon a minister
can speak about 10,000 words. A sound system with a score of 80% intelligibility will mean that 2,000 words in
a 10,000 word sermon were missed or misunderstood. Depending on your seating position, one speaker will ei-
ther boost or cancel certain frequencies. That means every "ch" sound is canceled and every "a" sound is am-
plified. As a result, many words and word fragments are missed. Fortunately, our brains are usually fast
enough to fill in the blanks because of familiarity with the subject matter and the person speaking. A visitor to the
church does not have this advantage. For this reason, no church should accept a sound system that scores below
87% intelligibility. Below 87% people can misunderstand complete phrases. The TEF or MLSSA acoustical
measurement systems can test a room's intelligibility in minutes.

4. Localization
Churches always say they don't want to see or hear the sound system, but it must be loud enough and crystal
clear. When you have a sound source at ear level, you are automatically programmed to first look at where the
sound comes from, then to look for the source of the sound. This is a basic protective instinct all creatures
possess -- to be able to tell where danger is coming from is natural. Since humans have no natural enemies that
attack from overhead, man has his eyes and ears where they are, on the front and sides of our heads. A mouse
is most often attacked from overhead. They need their eyes and hears closer together, near the tops of their head.
A mouse can also rotate the ears to find the noises.
When the sound is coming from one direction (Speakers) and the visible source is in another direction (the per-
son speaking), the human brain goes into overtime matching up the two events. When you compound low levels
due to feedback problems, low intelligibility and multiply sound sources, you have classic listener's fatigue syn-

JdB Sound Acoustics

56
drome. It has been shown that a poorly designed sound system can help people loose their attention span or
cause them to nap sooner than when a proper sound system is used. The difference can be as much as 20
minutes.
When the eyes and ears can focus on the same event, you spend most of your time understanding what was
said. When a left/right, or distributed or pew back system is used, you really spend most of your time just trying
to hear.
It would be fair to say most church sanctuaries, by themselves, do not have dead spots. Rather, most
churches are so large they need amplification. If all you need is extra level, then why would anyone install a
sound system that creates dead spots?

What about a Stereo System in a church?

Some churches have successfully installed Stereo Reinforcement Systems. With the arrival of electronic in-
struments, stereo keyboards and tape accompaniment, some churches have felt it necessary for this kind of invest-
ment because they had the facility and talents.
Remember, a Stereo system at home is the opposite from a stereo system in a church. At home you position
yourself between two speakers and the recordings play tricks with phase to give the impression that sounds are
coming from different places within the sound field. In a live situation, you can see where the sound is coming
from. Therefore, the sound system must give the impression the sound comes from the same place otherwise the
performer will hear an echo and it will disrupt their playing ability. A live stereo speaker system is really many
speaker clusters over the performer's head. The nearest cluster amplifies and the other speakers are silent. This
gives the effect that sounds are coming from the different parts of the stage where the performer is, giving a better
picture of localization. As a result, a true stereo church sound system can cost 4 to 5 times more than a good
quality mono single cluster. (Church stereo systems will be discussed in detail in future editions of the book.)

JdB Sound Acoustics

57
 Speaker Guidelines
Speaker Location
The location of the speaker system in a room is the most important step in clinching the desired results. If the
speakers are in the wrong location, the rest of the system will sound mediocre despite the quality of the equipment.
In almost all churches, there is only one proper location for a speaker system. Any other location is a noticeable
compromise in comparison. he speaker system in your church is the most important part of the audio link. If this
part of the system is not correct, you will not be able to successfully make any improvement through electronics.
It is vital therefore, to make your speaker system the first step in correcting your sound problems. Not treating
the speakers first will result in needless experimentation and expense. (It is amazing to see all of the gadgets
churches try to invent. If only they knew the laws of audio and acoustical physics, they would spend millions of
dollars less on audio products that don't work.)
In rectangle shaped rooms, a single point is ideal for all church application. (According to Dr. Dave Eagan and
Dr. Don Davis, there is no other shape better than the shoe box or rectangle church. Boston Symphony Hall is a
prime example.) Often the speaker location is always several feet in front of the pulpit, overhead. Other times it
is directly overhead while in some rooms it is 2 or 3 feet behind the pulpit. The exact positioning must consider
ceiling height, pulpit height, width of room and pulpit to back wall distances.
In wide or fan shaped rooms, localization of sound does present a minor problem. Those sitting on the ends
will perceive two sound sources. This will not reduce intelligibility. However, it will introduce minor amounts of
listening fatigue.
For this reason, it has been our practice to divide the sanctuary into several rooms. This gives all people a
point source for listening comfort. Sub clusters are very effective. Phasing problems are controlled by
separation, crossovers between horns and sometimes digital delay circuits.

Cluster Height
The maximum height for a cluster should be no higher than 40' and no lower than 13'. However, height is also
determined by the speakers throw distance and other room restrictions. Remember, the closer to the ceiling, the
more bass the speaker system will produce. If the room is bass heavy, hang the speaker lower if there is room to
do it.

Height Ratios are as follows:

Height 13' Max Length 48'
" 20' " 72'
" 25' " 85'
" 30' " 110'
" 35' " 130'
" 40' " 145'
* The target point is usually the third row of pews from the back wall.

If you require a throw distance greater than 145', a sub cluster system may be required. Ceilings below 13' may
require other system designs. This book will not discuss these requirements in detail in this edition. Send for a
Supplement for your church.

JdB Sound Acoustics

58
Speaker Safety
Hanging a speaker from a ceiling presents some concerns that need to be addressed:

1. Cabinet construction: Ceilings in many churches have a wide temperature range. During the summer in some churches, the
ceiling can exceed 120 degrees for many days on end. Many speakers are only fastened with nails and glue. There are a number
of stories circulating the Audio Engineering Society (AES) and the National Sound and Communications Association (NSCA) that
describe how speakers are falling apart and falling down. Look for a speaker cabinet that is reinforced for roof suspension.
2. Do not use chain: Speakers vibrate and it can cause metal fatigue to the chain links. Also, a lot of bass sounds are lost with chain
suspension.
3. You should not use aircraft cable because of sound quality in the bass. It has the same problem as chain.
4. Speakers should be supported from the side walls, not from the top of the cabinet only. (Some speakers have metal rods or bars
that run through the speaker box to support the bottom of the speaker from the inside. Also, look for a speaker with a space
frame type of construction.)

The best illusion of them all!!!

There are three very strong effects only a central
cluster can do. The first, which has already been
mentioned, is localization. From 80 to 90% of all the
seating in the church, when someone on the platform of
the church speaks, sings or plays, everyone's attention is
on that person. Since the cluster is positioned in the
vertical axis of our ears, the sound arrives to both ears
at the same time. The reflected sounds will give the
direction. Since the reflected sounds are much lower,
your first reaction is to look at the pulpit area or center
to the altar area. At the same time, your eyes will focus
on the first moving object or to the tallest person
standing at or around the pulpit. The only people who
will notice the cluster are people seated at the extreme
right and left of the front three rows of pews.
The second effect clusters give is the illusion that the
minister is only four or five feet away. Since you are
listening to only one speaker in your seating position,
there is no presence cancellation. Generally, this effect
is for 70% of the seating and when the RT60 is below 2
seconds. When the RT60 is longer, not only does the
sound system lose intelligibility but the music program
is degraded.
Multi sound source speaker systems can never give
this effect. This system gives the illusion the minister is
further away than what he is in reality.
The third and most exciting illusion a cluster has to offer is movement of sound. Since 80 to 90% of the people
seated have sound arriving to both ears at the same time, it is very difficult to say where the sound is being ampli-
fied from except from the source, the minister, lay person or singer. When the person moves, the sound appears

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to move with them. There is a limit to this. If the minister moves from a central pulpit position to the extreme
left, talking the whole time with a wireless lapel mic, it leaves the audience thinking the sound followed the minis-
ter until he had moved half the distance, then the speaker is high. Example: If the cluster is 20 feet high, the
minister can move 10 feet to either side of the pulpit and have the illusion that the sound is following him.
(These guidelines are based on a full range 2 way speaker with an efficiency of 99 dB from 50 hertz to 18,000 hertz and a 300 watt
into 8 ohms handling capacity. Do not be confused with speakers that give a speaker efficiency rating at 1K.)

Traditional Churches

(Episcopal, Catholic, Orthodox, etc.)

A church with little or no music. 90% of the speech is done with fixed microphones at fixed distances. A church where the sound
pressure rarely goes above 85dB, in level, except during congregational singing which can be as loud as 105dB.
- 1 Full range speaker 15" woofer with matching horn for 100 to 1000 seating
- plus side speakers (if needed)
- plus speakers to cover above and under balconies. (Under balcony speakers will require a delay.)
Therefore, a traditional church with a rectangle shape will have the lowest costing speaker systems. However, these churches are
often the most complex to install a speaker system due to the architecture. Extra money will also be needed for the aesthetics of the
speaker system.

Evangelical Churches

(Baptist, Christian Reformed, Methodist, etc.)

A church with a regular music program in which most of the music is acoustical or from tape playback. This also means churches
that do not have drums or electronic keyboards plugged into the system.
1 Full range 15" speaker with matching horn for every 450 people
- plus equal quality and size side speakers (if needed)
- plus equal quality and size speakers to cover above balconies
- plus high quality speakers on a delay for under balconies.

Pentecostal/ Charismatic Churches

Churches where a heavy program of music is offered to it's members. Where drums and synthesizers are plugged into the sound
system. Where the Organ is plugged into the sound system. Where the song leader gives singing direction or instruction while the
congregation is still singing. Speech needs to be 10dB louder than the music in order to hear instructions reasonably well over
congregational singing.
1 Full range 15" speaker with matching horn for every 200 people
- plus equal quality and size side speakers (if needed)
- plus equal quality and size speakers to cover above balconies
- plus high quality speakers on a delay for under balconies.

Since it is natural to look at what we hear, the central cluster approach to church sound is the only truly natural
method of sound reinforcement.

How many speakers in the cluster does a church need?

Once again it must be pointed out that the audio industry has no specific standard to determine how much of
anything is needed. Some people do use the "sound pressure" method. This method is too simplistic and it does
not provide enough headroom in the system. The sound pressure method simply looks at the desired average or
maximum level that you need. Next you look at the efficiency rating of the speaker you plan to use and add the
correct number of speakers needed to do the job. Some of the better sound engineer then suggest you double the

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60
size of the system for headroom. Remember, doubling the size of the system will increase the sound level by only
3dB. 3dB of headroom is often not enough. At this point there has been no consideration for sound quality or
performance limits. There must be a better method of determining how many speakers for the type of service you
are designing the system for.
For the first time ever, the church community
will have a guideline that will ensure a church
does not under design their new sound system,
as is often the case. Furthermore, these
guidelines will also sound warning bells, if you
think that someone is trying to over sell you
equipment.
The speaker system must be designed for the
room as a complete space. What some
churches have tried to do was ask for speaker
coverage only where the people sat. If your
church attendance is only 40%, the speaker
system must be designed for the entire regular
seating area and auxiliary seating areas.
Otherwise, the first time people come to the
church when it is full, if they can't hear, they
most likely won't come back. If the event is a
funeral or wedding, people will be very upset Mixer desk before it get stuffed with equipment.
if they are sitting in a spot where the church
decided to compromise in speaker coverage.
There are two main elements that determine the number of speakers in the cluster and there are several variables
to consider. For most churches up to 3000 seating, the two main areas are coverage angles and sound pressure
levels. Generally, churches under 3000 seating will do very well with a two way full range speaker system.
Where heavy music is required, adding a sub woofer system is needed. As a guideline, here are some easy points
to follow: (See List Above)
The variables in the speaker system are many. The efficiency of the speaker, the coverage area of the speaker,
the power the speaker can handle and the size of amplifier to do the job are just some of the variables before you
can determine you needs. Once these variables are accounted for, these guidelines will be of great value.

How much power for the speaker system?

A safe way to ensure enough amplification(wattage) in you speaker system, is to determine how many watts
per person according to the type of service you have. By using the same outline for the number of speakers
needed, we can see the amount of power needed.
Traditional Churches: to 1 watt per person.
Evangelical Churches: 1 to 2 watts per person
Pentecostal/Charismatic
Churches: 4 to 8 watts per person

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 Remember, power is cheap and the more
power you have, the less distortion at louder
levels. The less the distortion, the less annoying
a speaker will sound. A speaker playing at 50
watts with 30% distortion will sound louder than
a speaker with 400 watts with 1% distortion.
Here are some examples you can expect:
Example # 1
600 seat Episcopal church in rectangle room
1. - 1 speaker with a 300 watt40 amplifier.
600 seat Episcopal church in fan shaped room.
1. - 3 - 12 inch full range speakers with 3 x 100 watt of
amplification
Example # 2
600 seat Baptist church in rectangle room
1. - 2 speakers to cover the same area, one stacked
above the other with 2 x 300 watts of amplification or
increase the efficiency of the speaker to 104dB at 1
watt 1 meter over the rated bandwidth of the speaker
and 1-300 watt amplifier (Many speakers that are
this efficient are often not very musical)
600 seat Baptist church in fan shaped room Mixer Desk in the Close position.
1. - 3 - 15 inch full range speakers with 3 x 200 watts of
amplification
Example # 3
600 seat Pentecostal church in rectangle room
1. - 3 speakers to cover the same area, one stacked above the other with 3 x 800 watts of amplification or increase the efficiency of
the speaker to 104dB at 1 watt 1 meter over the rated bandwidth of the speaker and 1-500 watt amplifier
600 seat Pentecostal church in fan shaped room
1. 6 - 15 inch full range speakers in pairs, one stacked above the other with 6 x 400 watts of amplification.

These rules have worked as a minimum guideline in so many churches, that if you use it, everyone will treat you
with respect for your insight.

Sound Operator Tip

One of the rewards of installing a high quality and affordable sound system is in the listening of the system.
When a system is properly adjusted, for the many different parts of a worship service, you will have the impres-
sion that the sound system is not on at all. Although many listeners like the effect, a new problem keeps showing
up.
For every new system, you try your best teaching the volunteer operators of the system. In recent years, video
taping the training session has become a valuable tool in reminding the sound operators of all the tricks to using
the new system. However, as good as some sound operators are, training can take many sessions.

40
Unless specified, power is usually associated with watts into an 8 ohm load

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62
 As stated earlier, many people with audio experience have generally picked up many bad habits. The one
habit that is hard to break is the most
obvious. In many retraining sessions, I
have found the operator has changed the
channel equalizers or the main equalizer
in such a way that the sound system
sounds like a bull horn.
It seems that hearing the minister as
though he were only 2 feet away is not
enough. Many sound operators want to
hear the sound system sound like a PA
system so they will be convinced the
system is working. The bottom line is,
they don't trust their hearing. Although
this is not a serious problem, it has
caused some embarrassment to the
suppliers of such systems.
If you operate a good sound system,
trust your hearing. As long as you can A mixer desk set in the pews before it is stuffed with electronics,
understand the minister, everyone else
will too.

Mixer Locations
The best location for a sound operator in a church is on the main floor, 1 to 3 rows from the back of the church
and in the pews. Preferably, just inside of the outside isles. If there is a balcony with seating under it, the mixer
desk is best located 2 or 3 rows out from under the balconies front edge. Although it is a new concept to most
churches of today, historically, churches started the idea of having a sound operator controlling the sound system
from within the congregational seating area in the 1940's.

As it turns out, it is impossible for a person to adjust sound levels from one area for people in another area. It
doesn't work. The idea of having a mic mixer in a place like a pulpit or a room behind the altar is very awkward.
How many times have you been to a church with such a setup and have heard the sound system ringing41 or
sounding like someone is speaking through a tin can through the whole service. People come to church to pray
and hear what the Minister/Priest has to say. It is annoying, insulting, and rude to have to put up with something
that could have been adjusted in seconds. And of course, when someone complains, the Minister/Priest says he
didn't hear it! Well of course not. You have to be in front of the speakers to know what is happening. Well,
enough with people frustrations.
It is no secret that the fewer mics that are turned on, the higher the system can be turned up. Most churches
that have tried to use an automated mixer system wind up having the bypass switch on all of the time. This
translates into a $10,000 expense that is not being used. The only place where an automated mixer will work well

41
During the late 50s and early 60s, many churches did live radio broadcasts of the service. This resulted in many churches building an enclosed sound
booth combined with the broadcast and live sound. This was not just a compromise, it was a handcuff to both the live and radio sound.

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63
is in rooms with RT60s that are below 1.3 seconds and the NC is 15. There is nothing better than a person
operating the mixer for live sound reinforcement.
Having a sound operator and a lockable secured wooden or steel mixer desk is the best choice. For some de-
nominations, that have a very structured hour of worship, in most services the levels can be pre-set with 3 or 4
mics and no one needs to operate anything. The only problem with this or any automated system is that everyone
speaks differently from week to week, day to day, minute to minute. Even with the most professional presenters,
no one is able to speak at a constant level for everyone to hear all the sounds at the same volume. True, you can
get expensive gates, limiters and compressors but their use is very limited. For example, if you set your limiters

Mixer desk stuffed with 16 Channel Soundcraft Mixer, A cassette player and
Cassette Recorder, 3 wireless mics and remote power switch on relays which power
up the Equipment rack.

for a person with a powerful voice who is speaking very close to a microphone and seconds later pass the same
microphone over to pick up the choir at 10 feet away, you will hear nothing. Move the mic 5 ft away and you
still hear nothing. But if you bypass the limiter, compressor, and gate you will find that you have more than
enough audio level. If there are several things going on at the same time in which many mics need to be turned on
or off, having a sound operator is the most natural and best way to run the sound system. With a good operator,
most people will not be aware that any adjustments are being made. Besides, when the operator is in the pews, he
cannot day dream or fall asleep. He is forced to stay alert.
Balconies are an option under certain conditions and if the sound operator is young and in good health. Stairs
are not fun. Setting up a service that has special music or concerts takes three times longer when a balcony is the
location of the mixer. Operating from the balcony is a two man job unless you are willing to hold up the service
from time to time to let the sound man finish the set up.

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 From a listening stand point, the balcony must not have an arch or beam above the railing. If there is a beam
or arch, it automatically reduces the sound level considerably unless the sound operator is in from the beam by 10
feet.
A good quality custom mixer desk that matches to pew design and color can cost from $900 to $1500 to make.
The mixer desk would only contain the mixer, tape machines, wireless receivers and remote controls for lighting
and AV (Screens).

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65
Speaker, Microphone Wires and Wiring

Microphone Wire
Recommended Pin connections should be:
Pin 1 ground, drain wire
[do not solder pin 1 to the shield or connector shell] 42
Pin 2 ( + ) Hot Red wire
Pin 3 ( - ) Cold Black wire

This is a standard followed by many contractors and audio companies. However, some manufacturers use pin 3
as hot. Check the manufacturer's specification sheets before you interconnect your electronics as it can often
cause some hums and noises when pin 2 and 3 are incorrect.
All microphone { LINES } shall be of a LOW IMPEDANCE TYPE.
All microphone { CORDS } shall be of a LOW IMPEDANCE TYPE.
The line will consist of 2 stranded lines with 1 drain wire or ground and foil shield.
Shield MUST be aluminum foil wrap for permanent wiring. This is currently the best available shielding that will
give 100% protection from RF. This wire is not suitable for mic cords as the foil shield is prone to breakage or
unraveling.
For moveable mic cords use a stranded shielded wire. Depending on the manufacturer, the best braided shields
are between 85 to 93%. However, short mic cords will maintain a shield under stress from bending. Braided
wire is not suitable for permanent installation work as it will not give a 100% shielding from RF interference.

Installation Do Nots
1. Do not run parallel to AC (Alternating Current) electrical lines.
2. Do not run parallel to ballast routes or fluorescent lights.
3. Do not run parallel to unshielded speaker lines which operate over 100 watts.
4. Do not twist wire or have any 90 degree turns.
5. Do not splice mic cables. All mic line should run from stage to mixer without breaks. (There is one exception. If you need to
split the signal for TV or Radio broadcasting, you need to go through a spliter box first.)

Conduit Tips
Using Beldon 8451 or equivalent and 14/2 stranded speaker cable:
Conduit Size Mic Line Speaker Lines
" 4 1
" 8 2
1" 12 3
1-" 20 4
1-" 30 6
Never have more than two 90 degree turns in each conduit run. In any system with more than 8 channels as a
starter system, you should consider conduits for the following projects that require conduits:
1. Mic cables
2. Speaker cables
3. Video cables

42
Always leave yourself a way out. By not soldering pin 1 to shield, you can easily isolate your audio components to trouble shoot your system for noises,
hums and levels. If you need additional grounding to reduce a specific problem, try soldering pin 1 to ground in the right location can make a world of
difference. However, if pin 1 is already grounded throughout the system, trouble shooting can be a nightmare.

JdB Sound Acoustics

66
 4. Remote lighting
5. Remote platform lighting
6. Electrical
7. Audience mic inputs
8. Distributed system

How Many Mic Lines?

The number of mic lines you need is also the size of mixer you should have. The only thing to determine a
larger mic input requirement is the size of your music program.
Generally, you should have 1 mic input for every 70 square feet of altar or platform space. This does not
mean you can't group all of your mics to one location. What this does ensure is that for 99% of your churches
functions through the year, you will have enough mixer channels and mic input so that you should not have to
rent equipment for special services.
To calculate this you have to measure the size of your altar area and divide by 70. The following chart will as-
sist your in you decisions.
x 70 = ? Mixer Size
1 to 9 8 channel mixer
10 to 13 12 channel mixer
14 to 18 16 channel mixer
19 to 26 24 channel mixer
27 to 34 32 channel mixer
34 to 42 40 channel mixer
There is an exception to the rule. For smaller churches, you should always install at least an 8 channel mixer
with 8 mic lines.
If you can, avoid patch bays. It is often cheaper to buy a larger mixer than to go through the expense of
building a patch bay. Besides, most churches I know of who have a patch bay never use them more than once a
year. Rather, these churches wished they had larger mixers.

Mixer Tip # 8
Always number your stage and the mixer the same with mic stage number starting from left to right from the
soundman's position. Therefore, if you pulpit is in the middle of the church and you have a12 channel system,
the pulpit control on the mixer will be either 6 or 7. This is very helpful for people who only operate the mixer a
few times a year.

Speaker Wire
For those people who are looking into the audio industry and wondering what all of the hocus-pocus is about in
speaker wire, have we got some bad news for you. Are the claims of the seller of expensive speaker wire telling
you the truth about speaker wire? Does wire matter in a church installation?
For Hi Fi people, this book will not settle any disputes. There are dozens of claims that speaker wire manufac-
turers are making every day. Sometimes one would think that somebody, with nothing better to do, is figuring out
what the next scam for wire will be. I wonder how far they will push before they are unable to get away with it
any longer?
For the church, there are several solid reasons for doing some of the things needed for a church installation.

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 Let's start with a high current amplifier. A 200 watt into 8 ohms 2 channel amplifier can generate a con-
siderable amount of current. There is enough current in two of these amplifiers to trip a 15 amp. fuse.
In some of the large current 200 or 300 watt amplifiers that boast they can work at 2 ohms, the outputs either
have a 10 or 15 amp. fuse for each channel. That is enough current to run two drills drilling into steel
(intermittently). Fortunately, all of that power is momentary. Different frequencies and rapidly changing vol-
ume levels often avoids thermal shutdown in a church setting.
However, we must recognize that even for a millisecond, a 200 watt amplifier at 2 ohms can generate a poten-
tial of 10 amps per channel of the amplifier. If this amplifier were 90% efficient, it would require a 20 amp serv-
ice to plug into. As it turns out, audio amplifiers are not very efficient but the amount of current generated does
raise some safety and fidelity issues.
Will expensive wire help the church sound system to sound better?
In most cases no. The reason is simple. Sonic differences in wire is usually subtle. Many churches have an
NC above 25dB and/or they have a reverb time longer than 1.8 seconds. This is a very hostile environment for
playing games with fidelity. If your church has either of these two problems, there will be too much interference
to hear the difference. Furthermore, if the speaker is further than 30 feet away, as it is in most cases, room effect
will also interfere with the sound quality.
If your church has neither of these problems, then the wire issue becomes a cost consideration. Some high
tech wire can cost over $15 per foot. In a 150 foot run, the cost of 1 wire run would be $2,250. The wire costs
more than most professional speakers. Therefore, unless you have the speakers to justify expensive wire,
common sense should prevail. And one more point, expensive wire on cheap or poorly designed speakers is a
waste of money. If you have to chose between speakers or wire, spend the money on the speakers.
It would be fair to say in most cases, the average person in the pew and the musicians will not hear the wire
difference in low cost, budget speakers. The magic wire has to offer can easily be defeated by choosing a better
sounding speaker.

Does wire size matter?

Yes it does. Wire size determines the amount of current you can send over a given distance. In the appendix
there is a wire chart that shows the wire gauge to use over distance with 100 watts - 8 ohm, 4 ohm and 2 ohm
loads. The length of the cable run, size of amplifier and the speaker's handling capacity have to be taken into
account.

The following list and rules should help in choosing the wire you need for the job:
1. Always run 1 speaker wire to each speaker cabinet or speaker component. If your cluster is a 2 way system with 2 woofers and 4
horns, run 6 speaker lines. If you have 2 full range speakers in the cluster, run two speaker lines. This is a real asset in trouble
shooting your system.
2. Whenever possible, keep your speaker cable runs under 100 feet. Otherwise, use 14 gauge wire on runs 100 feet or less. Use 12
gauge wire up to 200 feet43. For longer runs, double up on the 12 gauge wire.
3. Don't use inch tip sleeve jacks for your speakers. Some amplifiers will not tolerate a momentary short on the output of the
amplifier. Either the speaker will be damaged or the amp will fail.
4. Do not use 16 gauge wire or smaller for amplifiers with an output of 75 watts or higher.

43
Tip - If you don'
t have any 12 gauge wire available for runs up to 200 feet, you can double up on the 14 gauge wire.

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 Hearing Impaired Systems
There are four basic types of hearing impaired systems. Each one has an advantage over the other. In most
cases, the FM systems do better mainly because of price but an FM system is not for every church.
The four system types are:
1. Hard Wired Systems
2. Loop Systems
3. FM Systems
3a. FM Radio Systems
4. Infrared Systems

Hard Wired Systems are by default the best quality of the 4 systems. However, it is the most restrictive.
The design of the system is simple. From the mixer you run a distributed cable under the pews you want
covered. At each seating position you mount a box with a volume control, tone control and headset input. This
can be a line level system or 70 volt system. With a good quality full ear cup headset, you have the best signal
to noise ratio.
Drawbacks on the system are obvious, you can't move. Therefore, you have to provide many seats with input
boxes which drives the cost up. Churches with concrete floors or closed basement ceilings can not use this op-
tion. Installation is labor intensive. Cost of the system varies. For 10 people on two rows of pews, you can
spend as little as $400 plus installation. A good quality system will cost about $1,000. At 12 seats, a wireless
system becomes more attractive.
Loop Systems are making a strong comeback. A popular system in the 60s and early 70s, the loop system al-
most disappeared in churches. In recent years, loop systems have been very effect in simultaneous translation
systems, school classrooms and business meetings.
The design of the system begins with an amplifier, a coil of wire around the area people are seated and various
types of receivers. A person with a "T" switch on their hearing aid will not need any additional equipment to
hear.
Problems with the loop system are frequency range and uneven coverage. Where the loop system wins out is in
situations where you need more than one program taking place at the same time. For example, you can have as
many simultaneous translation languages you want for as much space you have available. There is no limit.
This may mean people have to sit in designated areas but no wires are required. The other advantage of the loop
system is privacy. Once you step out of the field there is no further signal pickup. For some churches, this is an
important issue.
FM Systems have recently become the most popular system while many public facilities have standardized with
infrared systems. FM systems are an alternative to the infrared systems, which are costly in comparison. The
FM systems are every bit as good as the infrared system but they have one draw back. When a person leaves the
sanctuary, the signal continues. Some FM systems can transmit over 1000 feet under good conditions. That
means someone could leave to go to the bathroom during the service and not miss a word. It also means that you
are subject to public airwaves being listened into with radio scanners. This also applies to FM microphones. If

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privacy is important, FM will not give you that kind of security. For simultaneous translations, you can have up
to 32 channels at the same time.
FM Radio Systems are very new. Recently, in 1995, many countries around the world have given low
powered FM transmitters to go ahead. This alternative means that churches can now use the millions of
walkmans to turn into hearing assist systems. This also allows churches to use used FM radios around a church
for sound in the office, nursery, washrooms and the seniors home next door. These system are the lowest cost
method of providing hearing enhancement in any church.
Furthermore, the tailoring of the person headsets and interconnection with existing hearing aid systems are
endless. If privacy is not an issue at your church, just getting a programmable FM transmitter is a great system
that does more than just hearing enhancement.
The Infrared System has been around long enough to become a standard in public places. Some churches
choose this kind of system because the theater or concert hall down the street uses infrared. Most infrared
systems seem to be compatible. The infrared system is secure for privacy and it is very good quality sound.
Some of the drawbacks are light and line of sight. In some churches with large windows, the sunlight can add
noise to the audio signal. Relocating the emitter can help but a second emitter is often the solution. Another
problem concerns the elderly. Some elderly do not stand when everyone else does. Depending on the receiver, a
person standing in front of them can block the infrared signal completely.
As a personal preference, the FM system is the best buy where privacy is not a problem. However, newer
infrared systems have been coming down in price. The hardwired system is the lowest price as long as volunteers
install it. The loop system is very useful if most of your church members already have "T" switches and then
they don't need anything attached to them.
For people who want more detail on this subject, the following is an article written by Paul Ingebrigtsen. Paul
is an expert in the field of hearing impaired systems.

Choosing the right hearing-assistance system

by Paul Ingebrigtsen, M.B.A.

Choosing between FM and IR hearing-assistance systems is simply a matter of weighing their advantages and
drawbacks for each job.
With the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1992, hearing-assistance systems have be-
come a hot topic for sound-system designers and installers. The ADA requires that virtually all public listening
areas accommodate people with hearing impairments. The ADA specifies that induction loop, FM and infrared
systems may be used to satisfy this requirement. What it doesn't specify is how the designer/installer should
choose the best type of system for each specific job.
Wireless technologies have pretty much driven the hard-wired systems out of existence for large-area hearing
assistance, so we will only discuss wireless systems here.

A Choice Of Three
Induction loop systems have a small but loyal following. The primary appeal of a loop system is that person
who has a hearing aid equipped with an inductive pickup coil (T-coil) can hear the loop signal directly with the
hearing aid. No separate receiver is needed, and the fitted hearing aid compensates for the individual's hearing
loss. Unfortunately, in the United States, most people with hearing impairments don't have hearing aids and most
hearing aids sold don't have T-coils, so separate receivers are needed anyway.

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 T-coil characteristics also vary widely among hearing-aid manufacturers, making system performance variable.
These factors, along with greater installation difficulty, smaller practical coverage areas, limited frequency re-
sponse, and susceptibility to electromagnetic interference have limited the use of loop systems.
FM and infrared (IR) systems are the most widely used systems by a wide margin. A common question is,
"Which is better, FM or IR?" The quick answer is that neither type is better than the other in all cases. Each
system has some unique characteristics and tradeoffs. For a given application, these characteristics will be a help,
a hindrance, or they won't matter. In some installations, either type of system will work fine. In others, a number
of factors will make one system more suitable for your particular needs. Following are the most significant
factors that will influence the choice of the best system for the job.

General Performance
FM and IR systems have many performance characteristics. Both types of system provide direct monitoring of
the audio system to maximize signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio for the listener. Because FM and IR systems are both
wireless, they allow generally unrestricted seating and accommodate any number of listeners. Although there are a
few differences, both systems are capable of excellent audio quality with extended high-frequency response for
optimum speech intelligibility:
Wideband FM uses 75kHz FM deviation and has a slight advantage in S/N ratio over IR, which uses narrow-
band 15kHz FM deviation.
Both types of systems use automatic level controls to compensate for differences in input levels and to maintain
a consistent audio level for the listeners.
Hearing-aid wearers can be accommodated with both types of systems, usually with neck-loop telecoil couplers
that plug into the receivers.
Headset and earphone options are available for both types of systems.
Rechargeable batteries and chargers are available for the receivers in both types of systems.
Other than these more minor details, there are some major differences you should take into account for a par-
ticular job.

Area Of Coverage
One of the greatest differences between FM and IR systems is area of coverage. Typical FM systems can cover
a radius of 300 to 500 feet (91.4m to 152.4m) from the antenna, depending on the building construction. Open
stadiums or facilities that allow greater line-of-sight transmission will have the largest area coverage. If we
choose the conservative 300-foot (91.4m) figure for our transmission radius, a single FM transmitter and antenna
will cover 282,600ft2 (25,434m2).
Coverage for infrared emitter panels varies by manufacturer, ranging from 3,000ft2 (270m2) to 11,000ft2
(990m2) per panel. The infrared light pattern is usually cone-shaped, with the emitter at the apex of the cone.
Multiple emitters are used to provide an overlap of the infrared pattern for reliable reception, and additional
emitters are added to cover larger areas. Reflection of the infrared light off light-colored surfaces also increases
the coverage area. In any case, many IR emitters would be needed to cover an area equivalent to a single FM
system.
If you are trying to cover a very large seating area, such as an outdoor sports arena or a large auditorium, FM
has a significant advantage. FM transmission can be used outdoors in full sunlight and will penetrate under tiered
seating areas. IR hearing-assistance systems cannot be used in full sunlight because the infrared energy present in
sunlight will overwhelm the audio signal. In auditoriums that have tiered seating or architectural columns that
block the infrared light, additional emitters might be needed to compensate for shadowed areas.

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 If the signal must penetrate walls or floors, FM is the best choice again. For example, in a church installation,
listeners might pick up the signal in an overflow seating area, cry-room or basement reception hall. Infrared does
not pass through opaque walls, so a separate emitter would be needed in each of these areas. This adds to the
installation difficulty and cost of the system.

Radio Interference
Infrared systems eliminate the possibility of receiving or creating radio interference. In areas where a multitude
of radio services creates a hostile RF environment, IR systems can be the answer if they meet the other installation
requirements. (You are still going to have a tough time doing an outdoor stadium with IR.)
One interference-related characteristic that IR shares with FM is that you can't have more than one transmitter
on the same channel operating in the same room at the same time. When multiple emitters are to be used in the
same listening area with a common program source, they must all be connected to the same modulator. Slight
variances in the 95kHz modulation frequency between IR units can cause some cross-modulations and poor re-
ception.
An FM system, as with any radio system, is susceptible to radio interference from other radio services. FM
systems can also interfere with other services. FM hearing-assistance systems do not require a license and do not
have exclusive use of their designated frequency band, so they must yield to licensed services if there is a dispute.
Because of the low power allowed, FM systems seldom cause interference, and a number of channels are avail-
able, so you can usually select a new frequency if you encounter interference. Systems that provide field-
selectable operating frequency make these changes easy. In practice, there are very few occasions when a clear
frequency is not available. Most hearing-assistance systems in use are FM systems that operate without
interference problems.

Security
In some applications, such as corporate boardrooms and jury rooms in courts, security of the transmission is an
issue. IR transmissions do not pass through opaque walls and curtains, so privacy can be maintained. Virtually
any radio transmission can be intercepted with a scanner by an eavesdropper (as Prince Charles found out the
hard way).
One argument for IR systems in live theater applications is that IR systems protect the performers from
eavesdropping bootleggers with tape recorders. Unless the performers are willing to give up their FM wireless
mics, this argument doesn't hold much water.

Installation
In most cases, FM systems are easier and faster to install than IR systems. The transmitter is connected to ac
or battery power and the audio feed. Most systems accept an additional microphone input. The transmitter is
usually located with the other sound equipment, and most have a rack-mount option.
Depending on the installation particulars, the antenna is attached directly to the transmitter, or a remote antenna
is located above the seating area for better coverage. Some large venues might require an additional antenna.
Obstructions, such as people, don't block the transmission, and the antenna can be concealed as long as it isn't
shielded by metal. Users can place the receiver in a pocket without affecting reception. The simplest installations
are literally 10-minute jobs. It's unusual to have to spend more than an hour on the tough ones.
IR system installation involves mounting the emitter panels in an appropriate location and connecting the ac
power and audio cable. Some systems separate the audio/modulator unit from the IR emitter. These separate
modulators are installed near the other sound equipment, and most are rack mount designs. Coaxial cables are

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then run from the modulator unit to the emitter panel. The emitters are usually mounted high on the wall facing
the audience. In some headset receiver designs, the IR detector "eye" is on top of the user's head, allowing the
emitter panels to be mounted in the rear of the listening area. Multiple emitter systems require cables between
emitters, and some require ac power outlets near each emitter. For large auditoriums, the number of emitters
needed for full coverage becomes quite large.
IR behaves like visible light, so the emitters cannot be concealed behind walls or opaque objects. This might be
a strong consideration where the architectural design or aesthetic requirements will not allow the emitters to be
mounted in a visible location. Obstructions can block the infrared transmission, so the emitter location is critical
for complete coverage. The infrared receiver eye cannot be covered up, so users can't put it in a pocket.
In general, IR system installation and wiring is more difficult and time-consuming than with an FM system.
Installation time will range from 30 minutes for an easy job to several hours for the tough jobs.

Portability
FM systems are quite portable, easily fitting in a briefcase. For installations that do not have permanent
seating, such as conference centers or hotel meeting rooms, FM systems can easily be moved, depending on the
activities and room configurations.
Most IR emitters are designed to mount on microphone stands for portable operation. The emitters and stands
with connecting cables are bulky, and a number of emitters might be needed for larger rooms. Some emitters are
designed with a wall mount bracket similar to a removable car stereo. The brackets and wiring can be
permanently installed in the rooms; the emitters slide out of the mounts when they are needed in another room.
These mounting locations must be carefully chosen for proper coverage of the room. Rooms with multiple
dividers for different room configurations can create difficulties in selecting appropriate mounting locations, and
the cable runs can be troublesome.

Multiple System Installations

Both FM and IR systems can work well in multi-room installations, such as conference centers and multi-screen
cinemas. IR systems work well in multi-room applications because the transmission is confined inside opaque
walls. You can use any number of systems in adjacent auditoriums without spill-over. The same IR receiver will
work in any auditorium and pick up the correct program. Provided there are no other installation considerations
that preclude the use of IR, it is ideal for multi-room applications.
FM systems use different channels in each room, but you will ultimately run out of available channels if there
are a large number of rooms. However, the FM capture effect can be used to minimize the number of channels
needed. When an FM receiver picks up two signals on the same carrier frequency, it will "capture" the strongest
signal. In general, the strongest signal is produced by the closest antenna.
By careful antenna placement and alternation of frequencies in adjacent rooms, the same carrier frequency can
be used in more than one room. The receiver will be reliably captured by the carrier signal produced in the room
in which the receiver is used. There are successful FM installations in 12-to-14-screen cinemas using only four
frequencies. The listener uses multi-channel receivers to select the correct frequency for the program in that
room. The receivers can be pre-set for each room, or the user can select the proper channel. Most users have no
difficulty in selecting the right program.
Cost
FM systems are usually less expensive than IR systems. For small auditoriums (up to 10,000ft2 or 900m2), the
price difference might not be that great. As the auditorium size and the number of IR emitters needed increases,
the gap widens considerably. For example, a 200'x 300' (61m x 91.4m) auditorium (60,000ft2 or 5,400m2) can

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be covered by an FM system for less than $1,000 at retail prices. Covering the same auditorium with an IR
system would cost $6,000 to $8,000 at retail (not including installation time), depending on the room
configuration. $6,000 might not be a significant part of a large equipment budget, but if there are no other factors
that require the use of IR (such as security or interference), it is hard to justify the extra cost. There are few
customers who could not find a better use for the extra $5,000.
FM and IR hearing-assistance systems have their advantages and drawbacks. Choosing between them isn't
difficult, however. Just think about the key requirements in each installation: facility size, indoor or outdoor
location, security, radio interference, multiple rooms, portability, installation and cost. Then pick the right system
for the job.
Reprinted with permission from Sound & Video Contractor, March 1993.

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How would you best describe Good Acoustics?
The term "Good Acoustics" has several meanings. Good Acoustics for a musician will be very different than
acoustics for drama. A minister often wants a flat and dry room with little reverberation and no echoes. A choir
often wants a wet and live room with a reverb time long enough for them to sing to. What do these terms mean
and how can we get what we want?
Acoustics for speech or music has specific properties and terms. The following list helps to describe them in
laymen's terms:
1. Frequency
2. Reverberation
3. Flat dull room
4. Dry room
5. Echoes
6. Flutter Echoes
7. Boomy room
8. Attack
9. Coloration

1. Frequency: Just as a speaker or microphone has a frequency response, so has a room. A flat response room is as natural as
outdoors on a still and peaceful night.
2. Reverberation: This is the time it takes for a sound to drop in volume. The standard is 60 decibels (dB.). The old method for
measuring reverberation was to shoot a starter's pistol and use a sound pressure meter to measure the 60 dB. drop44. Today, com-
puters with test measurement add-ons can do the measurement even when there is an event taking place.
3. Flat dull room: This often describes a room with a very short reverberation time. It also refers to a room sounding much like a
living room with thick, heavy carpets and large fabric-covered furniture. The reverb time is often 1 second or less. Not good for
singing or acoustical instruments. Ideal room for loud music bands. Great room for theater or the playback of pre-recorded music.
Not suitable for church services.
4. Dry room: This often describes a flat room with a slightly longer reverb time .9 to 1.4 seconds. It often has noticeable reflections
that borderlines being called an echo but it usually does not interfere with speech. Not good for singing or acoustical instruments.
Good room for loud music bands. O.K. room for theater or playback of pre-recorded music. Not suitable for church services.
5. Echoes: Echoes occur when a sound has a path of 60 feet or more in which the reflected sound is almost all reflected back to the
origin. As a room gets bigger or longer, the area in which you hear the echo increases. A simple clap of the hands will indicate
echo problems. The worst echoes are those that bounce off the rear walls and interfere with the people on the platform of the
church. In some cases, an echo can be so strong the sound system will amplify it. To the listening audience, it becomes noticeable
that there has been an increase in the overall reverberation or that they hear an echo as well. In either case, echoes degrade
intelligibility. The simplest method of treating an echo problem is by using diffusive hard materials. Ready made products
include ASC Tube Traps, RPG diffusers, Poly cylindrical diffusers. Echoes are also a mid to high frequency event. Frequencies
from 800 hertz and up. Low frequency echoes are not likely and are uncommon in most churches.
6. Flutter Echo: Flutter echoes occur when very short and rapid echoes that sound like ping pong balls on cement are audible.
These echoes describe an effect when two or more hard and ridged surfaces reflect sounds back to the listener in rapid short
bursts. Often, a flutter occurs when the walls are less than 80 feet apart. Flutter echoes can also be audible during a loud event
or when a percussion instrument is used. For most churches, a weak flutter echo does not interfere with speech.

44
Since no one is going to turn a sound system off during a service, the longer reverberation time or echo will not be perceived as coming from the sound
system. People will blame the room and use the comment, "the sound changes a lot when the church is full or empty." For a sound system that works
properly, the more people in the room the better it works; and all of the testing was done when the room was empty.

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7. Boomy room: A boomy room describes a church with high amounts of absorption of high frequency sound and high reflection of
low frequency sounds. It is the combination of materials and construction techniques that causes this effect. Carpet is often
condemned as the culprit. However, in a newer church, 12" stud centers, 2 layers of 5/8th drywall on the walls and ceiling and
off set walls can make a tremendous difference. This boominess problem happens in a majority of churches. Often the sound
system can work OK, but the room is usually poor for congregational singing. A boomy room can have any length of re-
verberation. The longer the time, the more it interferes with speech and the less effective the sound system becomes.
8. Attack: A room with a good attack is a room that allows the consonants of speech or the percussion of an instrument to be heard
without so much reverberation that the sounds run into each other. This is a very desirable characteristic. Rooms with a flat
frequency response and a reverb between 1.5 to 2.2 seconds are likely to have this characteristic.
9. Coloration: An event that occurs when an electronic or pipe organ is played. Often the vibration of building parts creates the
effect of Organ distortion. Many church organs are replaced because of coloration due to building problems. Often the new
organ shows the same problem but the organ supplier can change the organ's frequency response to correct for room problems.
Usually, older organs do not have this ability. The new organ will be replaced as the room degrades further. Coloration rarely
happens with acoustical sound sources such a singing, speech or pianos.

The language of Acoustics

In acoustical language, most of the terms used describe what is wrong with a room. When someone wants to
describe a good room, the description must include what the room is best suited for: Speech, playback of music,
choral singing, congregational singing, Organ recitals.... There is no such thing as a perfect room because it is
impossible to satisfy all of a church's requirements with construction techniques alone. What you can
realistically have is a balance of room effects for your denomination's type of service. Therefore, when someone
says, "I like the acoustics at the church down the street," you have to include the type of church, what kind of
room effect and for what purpose the room was used.
Then there are those who measure and test a room's acoustics and give the sanctuary a passing grade even when
the acoustics are so bad that a school gym's performance would sound better. How is this possible? Simple.
Some people will give a spec. at 1000 hertz for a reverberation of 1.6 seconds and call it good. Such a spec. can
be very deceptive. For example, Church "A" can have a reverb time of 5 seconds at 200 hertz, 1.5 seconds at
1000 hertz and .5 seconds at 4000 hertz and still score 1.6 seconds. A room like this will be very boomy and fail
to meet a church's needs. In Church "B" the reverb time can be the opposite. Church "B" can have a reverb time
of 1.1 seconds at 200 hertz, 1.4 seconds at 1000 hertz and 1.9 seconds at 4000 hertz and still score 1.6 seconds.
However, this room can sound thin and have a serious echo problem.
To design or alter a church's acoustics for a good balance is possible. Furthermore, with today's modern
electronics, a church's acoustics can be altered at will, but the shell has to be designed for it. It would be safer to
say that if a church were built or altered to the following spec., you would have acoustics everyone in the church
would enjoy, including the demanding Organist.

The Achievable Acoustics Spec.

1. RT6045 for traditional and liturgical services should be 1.9 seconds from 170 hertz to 3000 hertz .2 tenths of 1 second. You
can increase the reverberation by 2 tenths of a second if the church only does classical music programs. If the church plans to
include contemporary music, shorten the time by 1 tenth of a second.
2. RT60 of 1.5 seconds from 170 hertz to 3000 hertz .2 tenths of 1 second for Evangelical and Protestant churches with light to
medium music programs.
3. RT60 of 1.3 seconds from 170 hertz to 3000 hertz .2 tenths of 1 second for Charismatic and Pentecostal churches with a heavy
modern music program.
4. There shall be no parallel walls.

45
RT60: Reverberation Time over 60 Decibels drop

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5. Any wall further than 70 feet from a speaking position and larger than 600 square feet should have an object mounted on it for
diffusion purposes. Or, the wall can be constructed into smaller walls which will reflect sound into other areas.

This spec. is measurable and not unreasonable. From blueprints, it can be determined if the room will perform
properly. This spec. of performance should be made conditional in your contract with the architect or builder.
Remember, this church is being custom made for you and you now have a detailed method of expressing your
needs. If you have read this and you accept a new church that fails to meet your needs, not only do you lose, but
all of the members of your church lose as well.
Now that a description in detail is possible, you can go out and identify what you like or dislike in church
acoustics.
A Protestant46 church with good acoustics can be described like this: The room sings well for the congregation.
The choir sounds bright and clear. The Organ sounds detailed and clear. The Attack seems intricate and without
coloration. The reverb is not so long that the words run into each other during speech. The choir and Organ
seem to be able to perform to the room, turning it into an instrument.
You don't need test equipment to determine the acoustics in your church. All you need is the Language and an
average pair of ears.

But what about Concert Halls?

Some concert halls and churches have excellent acoustics and the reverberation times are longer than 2.5
seconds when they are empty. These rooms get better with people in the seats. In such cases, we can see the
building has no large parallel walls. Where large bare surfaces would be, there are objects mounted on the walls
which give high amounts of diffusion. This also means there is no focusing of sounds back to performers or in
the audience.
The construction of such places are not expensive. Planning for long reverb times can be to the advantage of
the church as long as the amplified music is kept to a minimum. If your church plans to have floor monitors in a
reverberant church, chances are the spill from the monitors will be very high. This will reduce intelligibility for
the audience.
Another valuable tip. In the book Sound System Engineering, it states that as the RT60 increases, the noise in
the room increases. In order to hear clearly, the person speaking should be 25dB louder than the room noise. It
is rare for a room with an RT60 greater than 2.5 seconds to be quite enough for good intelligibility without a
sound system. Remember, reverberation will become the noise when you try to amplify the person speaking.
Only if the RT60 has a 25dB decay can you have enough gain to amplify a person's voice to comfortable levels.
In these cases, you will most likely not be able to have a microphone pickup a person 18 inches from a mic and
have a signal 25dB greater than the noise of the room. In such cases, that room should be treated or everyone
has to accept close micing for everything. You can forget about reinforcing a choir.

46
The term "Protestant church" will sometimes refer to traditional churches such as the Lutheran Church, Anglican Church, Christian Reformed Church etc....

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 Problem Reflections In Church Acoustics
The following is a Reprint from Religion and The Communicator Magazines

R. Bob Adams is a Senior Consultant with Hoover & Keith Inc. in Houston, Texas. Specializing in auditorium
acoustics, Bob works with church and religious projects throughout the United States. In his 20+ years working
with church sound, he has worked in almost every aspect
from operating small church systems to professional
recording and TV production. He understands and
conveys well the importance of the room itself to the
sound reinforcement system and the overall worship
experience. He may be reached by calling (713) 496-
9876.
By R. Bob Adams

In many parts of the country, the flower and grass

season is over. However, for many in the South, our
grass still needs watering. Watching a small child with a
water hose, I observed an analogy to explain an acoustical
problem.
When a child sprays water against a flat surface
perpendicular to the ground (such as a wall or the side of
a car), the child experiences a sudden return of that water,
sometimes even splashing himself in the face. Sound en-
ergy reacts in a very similar manner when directed toward
vertical, perpendicular surfaces. The energy will return
back to the talker confusing him with the abundance of
available sound.
Although the child has an abundance of water, much of
it is wasted and hinders the child from concentrating on
the goal of where to put the water. Likewise, the excess
energy returning to a talker can confuse him and affect his
concentration.
While such an action on the part of a child can be
amusing, it is seldom amusing to a pastor or performer.
These unwanted returns or reflections of energy, in
addition to creating timing problems, can cause feedback;
which, if uncontrolled, can result in damage to the sound Figure 1:Flutter energy returns from both pairs of parallel wall surfaces in a
rectangular church. The pulpit is positioned near one long end of the
reinforcement system. church.
Where do these reflections come from and why are they
important to a performer and sound system operator? More important yet, what do we do about them?

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REFLECTIVE PATTERNS
In His wisdom, God provided very consistent
guidelines for the travel path of acoustic energy.
Sound waves travel in straight lines from their
source. Also, if during their travel they encounter an
object larger and stronger then they are, the sound-
wave will always reflect away from the object at the
same angle it traveled toward the object. The wave
will then continue again a straight line unless it
encounters another object substantial enough to cause
it to reflect again. Of course, as it travels and
reflects, God provided that the sound wave would
lose energy and eventually dissipate (or "die")
altogether.
Now, with those thoughts (God's laws of physics)
in mind, we can very carefully begin to predict the
travel of sound waves inside a church sanctuary.
In most churches there are actually three sources of
acoustic energy when someone talks from the pulpit.
The most familiar source is the sound reinforcement
system. Most people quickly understand that the
sound they hear comes out of the speakers. However,
few people realize they are also surrounded by
reflections from room surfaces surrounding them.
Additionally, to some degree, they hear the sound
directly from the talker.
At the source position, the talker may experience
problems created by both natural energy from his
voice and electro-acoustical energy from the sound
reinforcement system. The energy returning to this
position may be described as returning in these types
of energy patterns.

FLUTTER RETURN
As he speaks, the natural energy from his voice Figure 3: This shows the same room as Figure 1. and the energy generated
from the choir reflects back as echo or muffed reflections
travels both to the microphone and beyond, to the
surrounding surfaces of the sanctuary. If energy repeatedly reflects between two nearby parallel surfaces, a
flutter can occur. This flutter can be very disturbing to the talker.
The distance between the parallel surfaces determines the time between the flutters. If both set (front to rear
and left to right) of surfaces are parallel (see fig 1) the talker can experience two distinct flutters.
If the talker should be a musical performer, the energy returns of a flutter can be quite disturbing. If the
distance is far enough and the return energy level strong enough, the flutter becomes a distinct echo and the
performer can experience a problem keeping the appropriate beat.

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SLAP RETURN
If the return is not a flutter, but is a single strong
"slap" of energy, timing can indeed be a problem,
because the returning energy can be equal to or
even greater than the original sound. One specific
location this slap return is often noticeable is from
the rear wall (see fig 2) when the choir is
performing. The combined natural energy from a Figure 4: The Sound source is a Central Cluster above the pulpit. The sound is
reflected from the balcony face to the pulpit position. This is a very common path for
choir can produce a substantial slap return from the feedback.
flat rear wall of many churches. Usually never
heard with a choir due to the nature of singing, its
more noticeable with speech and contemporary
music
If the source of the energy is the sound
reinforcement system, the same slap can be present
(see fig 3). Often this slap from the flat face of the
balcony is very noticeable.
A very common method of attempting o control Figure 4a: Not only is the front face of a balcony a problem, so is any rear wall of a
energy within sanctuaries is to absorb the energy by church. Although audio expert do their best to use very directional horns, sound will
still splatter off the rear walls.
the use of sound absorbing panels mounted flat on
these surfaces. This method however has two
drawbacks. First, the panels tend to absorb a
portion of the reverberant energy which affects the
musical warmth and quality to the room (see Rever-
beration and Sound System Operation. The
Communicator, Vol. 1 Issue 4). Secondly, these
panels are effective at only specific frequency
ranges on the upper side of the musical scale. The
Figure 5: As in figure 4, this example shows the front face of the balcony with
flat surface will often continue to reflect the lower absorbing material. The dotted lines show less reflected energy in some frequencies.
frequencies which the panels cannot absorb. The Generally, a frequency that is 4 times the length of the fiber will be reflected back into
the room as if no absorbing material was being used. In this case, low frequency
result still a slap return, but now at a lower energy is reflected back to the pulpit which usually causes feedback.
frequency (see figure 4).
In the case of the balcony face, this problem can be overcome by careful design of the face to control the
reflection (see fig 5). In the example shown the balcony face causes the acoustical energy to travel up into the
ceiling or down to the near seating area. The actual angles must be carefully computed by an acoustical con-
sultant to prevent time arrival problems in the seating area.

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FOCUS RETURN
When traveling at night car headlights use a small amount of energy to illuminate the road ahead. The source of
the light is at the focus point of a parabola, the energy from the source is spread out usefully after reflecting from
the parabolic surface.
Similar to the reflective surface of the
headlight, many of the rear walls of our fan
shaped churches are also parabolas.
However, the direction of travel for the
acoustic energy is a sanctuary actually
focuses the energy inward to a given point.
The problem arises when the energy
traveling out from the talker's position
encounters the parabolic rear wall and
Figure 5a: Killing the back wall of a church with absorptive materials only, often
returns. As it returns, it focuses (see fig 6) leaves the room boomy and makes choral and congregational singing more difficult.
and actually increases intensity, when
compared to a situation where no curve
exists.
If the focus point is the platform area, an
inordinate amount of energy (sound) will
result. The talker or performer will perceive
himself as louder than he really is in the
seating area. Sometimes he will lower his
voice volume because of his mis-perception Figure 6: This is the same setup as in figure 4 and 5. If the front face of the balcony is
of his sound level. sloped or curved with an Architectural Out Round, the energy is directed to another
This focused energy can also effect the surface before coming close to the microphone.
performers ability to hear the music in his
personal monitor. He needs more music level
to overcome the sound he is receiving from
the energy returns.
Additionally, the focus return can create
problems for the sound system operator. If
the operator allows the performers monitors
to be too loud, the sound from the monitor
will be heard in the seating area creating Figure 6b: By using out rounds on the whole rear wall, a wider range of frequencies
another problem altogether. (this problem are absorbed through phase cancellation, a lower level of desired reverberation energy
is allowed to continue and few frequencies will reflect back to the pulpit microphone.
will be discussed in a future article dealing A fixed size of out rounds can be used to off set the effects of carpet and padded pews
with stage monitor mixing techniques). In a while staggered sizes can be used to give life and diffusion to a room.
fan shaped church, the balance between
monitor sound, house sound and feedback is very delicate.
One method for overcoming focused reflections from parabolic rear wall is to serrate the rear wall (see fig 7).
Again however, the importance of using an acoustical consultant must be emphasized. To make a generic
serrated change in a rear wall without consideration for reflective pattern and time arrival control could create
additional problems.

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 Microphone
choices and tech-
niques become very
important in
churches with
flutter, slap, or
focus reflections.
The operator should
know the individual
patterns and
frequency response
of the microphones
being used.
Occasionally a
change of micro-
phone type can help
a feedback problem
(a subject for a
future article).

CONCLUSION
Again, problems Figure 2: Flutter energy returns from both pairs of parallel wall surfaces in a rectangular church. The pulpit is positioned in
have been addressed the center of one of the wide ends of the church.
which are
architecturally based and therefore not directly adjustable by a sound reinforcement system operator. It is not
unusual for performers or staff members to expect the sound reinforcement system to overcome the effects of
acoustical problems. Hopefully the difficulty of his situation can now be understood. If your worship center has
some of these problems or others which are difficult to identify, consider requesting the help of an acoustical
consultant. He may be able to recommend corrections not discussed due to space limitations in these articles. If
our church is now or is soon to be involved in a building program, consider hiring the acoustical consultant
directly rather than through your architect. If the consultant reports directly to the church, the importance of
acoustics is emphasized to the architect and the design team.

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 Reverberation and Sound System Operation
by R. Bob Adams
In previous articles, ideas on structure,
selection and training of technical committees
have been presented. Once a committee is trained
and functional, they may encounter unrealistic
demands and expectations from church staff and
members.
There are many physical factors that affect the
operation of technical systems which are not
controllable by the operator. For example,
presentation of a slide show or movie at a
daytime service in natural light would wash out
projected images, making them appear weak or
totally unrecognizable. A projector operator has
no control over this problem as is results from
physical parameters (the laws of physics). Figure 7: This is a Contemporary Fan Shaped Church Without rear wall treatment.
The energy is not just returned to the front of the building, but focused towards the
Lighting problems are often easier to overcome, pulpit.
as they are more widely understood. Sound and
acoustics are not as well understood. This article
will address the physical acoustical
considerations in churches, over which the op-
erator has no control.

Reverberation
An important, yet often misunderstood, factor
in church acoustics is the concept of reverbera-
tion. There are many technical definitions and
applications to describe reverberation but simply
stated, reverberation is the amount of time sound
will remain in a space after it has been initiated.
The energy of that remaining sound
(reverberation) reflects from various surfaces and
combines with the direct energy (energy from the Figure 7b: Like figure 6b, out round in either the horizontal or vertical plane can be
very effective in controlling reverberation, keeping a good singing quality and echo
original sound traveling directly to the listener) to free. Know which way to use out rounds is important and there is no real standard in
create the overall "sound" heard and experienced making that choice. Recently in a 500 seat church, they spent only $2,500 in
material and use volunteer labor to build 12 out rounds which were 14 feet high, 10
by the listener. feet wide and 9 inches deep. It was all built out of 2 x 10s and 1/2 wallboard.
Reverberation adds richness and fullness to Blown insulation was added later.
music quality. Organists prefer rooms with long
reverberation times, also known as "live" rooms. In these live rooms, the sound is allowed to surround the
listener. This feeling of envelopment comes at the expense of the clarity (intelligibility) of speech. Organ music is
enjoyed for its own unique sound qualities, without voice compliment.

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 When speech is required in a reverberant space, a different set of concerns must be considered. Words, made
up of consonants and vowels, react differently when verbalized. The stronger of the two, vowel sounds, will carry
in reverberant field with minimal interference by the sound being sustained over a period of time.
Consonants, however, are much weaker sounds and do no carry well. Additionally, the sustaining of the vowels
in a highly reverberant field will actually make the consonant harder to identify. With this in mind, music
directors stress the importance of accented consonants and careful enunciation to choirs.
In addition to the sung word, a church relies heavily on conveyance of the spoken word. To a pastor, depending
totally on words to convey his message, long reverberation is a problem. In a highly reverberant room, he must
enunciate carefully and speak more slowly to be well understood. If he is soft spoken, he finds he cannot solely
depend on his natural voice volume, but must deliberately project his speech.
In some churches, small priority is given to music. For those churches, design is geared toward the
intelligibility of the spoken word. To achieve this intelligibility, the spaces are designed to be less reverberant
than one designed for music. Spaces used primarily for speech are known as "dead" spaces.

Design and Budget

It often happens that, at the inception of the sanctuary design process, a music director requests a reverberant
room. It is equally common for a pastor to give the architect or acoustical consultant opposite instructions.
If acoustics, which will support both music and clarity of speech, are desired, a church must make decisions
early in the design process to allow for controlled amount of reverberation. Again, the reverberation factor is
often a compromise made between a pastor and music director. With consideration given to music and its
resulting reverberation factors, priority must also be given to budgeting and planning for an appropriate sound
system.
This sound system budget may be larger than anticipated, but is essential for several reasons. Primarily, an
increase in the amount of reverberation will require a comprehensive sound system to overcome reflections and
deliver a desired level of intelligibility. Secondly, with and aggressive music program, demand will be placed on
system for performance purposes which requires additional funding.
Design Considerations

Platform Area
Important contributions to the length of reverberation are the materials and finishes in a room. In general, hard
surfaces increase reverberation while softer, absorbent surfaces decrease reverberation. Consideration must be
given to the location of hard and soft surfaces. In areas where sound will originate such as the choir loft,
absorbent or soft surfaces should be avoided if the sound is to carry properly into the sanctuary seating area. For
this reason, plush carpet in the choir area should be avoided. Choir chairs should be hard backed so as not to add
absorbent material close to the choir. Likewise, the walls behind the choir (see FIG 1) should be hard to a height
of at least three feet above the heads of the top row of the choir. Draperies should never be hung behind a choir
because they prohibit sound reflection (see FIG 2).
Equally important consideration must be given to the reflective support gained from side walls and the ceiling
near the choir. If the walls are spaced too broadly apart, as in some fan-shaped churches, (see FIG 3) the
opposite sections of the choir have difficulty hearing each other, and this effects the blend of the group. Also, the
sound from the choir tends to focus to the extreme corners of the room instead of spreading evenly throughout the
seating area.

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 The ceiling is a major reflective surface for projecting sound from the choir (see FIG 4) to the sanctuary. If the
ceiling is to high above the choir, it provides little support which is also a common problem in fan-shaped
churches. Ideally, a ceiling should start approximately four to six feet above the heads of the top row of the choir,
rising at a rate equal to the drop in the floor created by the choir risers. This creates a funnel or megaphone shape
to project the sound.
Obviously, a ceiling of this height creates problems with some of the traditional fixed elements in our worship
spaces. One such tradition is the location of the baptistery in the center of the rear wall of the chancel area.
Historically, as congregations grew and church buildings grew, churches continued to locate baptisteries in the
center of the rear wall of the chancel area. However, with increased height for improved pulpit visibility and
increased space for large choirs, the baptistery is distanced from the congregation.
In these larger churches it is difficult to create an intimate baptismal atmosphere. This lack of intimate
baptismal atmosphere was experienced by the author during the baptism of his daughter. Sitting in the
congregation of his 1,000, seat fan-shaped church, he witnessed only the top of his daughter's head when she was
baptized.
large churches are having supporters, who pledge to pray for the person being baptized, stand during the
baptism. This promotes a feeling of involvement. An innovative idea which increases congregational
participation is to relocate the baptistery to a better vantage point. For example, First Baptist Church, Del City,
Oklahoma has two baptisteries positioned on either side of the front edge of the platform.
Such arrangements also allow for a lower ceiling above the choir thereby helping the natural acoustics of the
room. Traditionalists often oppose such innovative ideas. Such opposition often compromises the purpose of the
ministry as well as the acoustics. They would do well to remember this tradition originated in small, rectangular -
not large, fan shaped sanctuaries.
Without the support from side walls and the ceiling, the major surface of sound reflection into the sanctuary
seating area is the platform surface between the front of the choir and the rear of the pulpit. This platform surface
should be made of hard wood, linoleum or tile so as not to absorb the choir's efforts before reaching its audience.
Preferably, the substructure should be solid concrete not light plywood, which is a standard construction material
often used. If footfall noise is a concern, a small throw rug at the pulpit could help contain it without adding too
much absorption.

Congregational Seating Area

In the congregational seating area, the ceiling, pew construction and floor covering is important to the overall
congregational singing. When there is an abundance of absorptive materials in ceiling tiles, pew cushions or thick
carpeting, members of the congregation can feel isolated while singing. Psychologically, they react by lowering
their voices so as not to stand out which results in poor participation in the song service. Harder materials in the
immediate area of congregation, tile or linoleum floors and hard pew backs and harder ceilings, result in good
reflection; therefore, members of the congregation hear others around them singing and tend to join in. Also, side
wall reflections are useful to promote congregational singing. The major area to carefully design is the rear wall;
this subject will be discussed in a future article dealing with unwanted reflections.
Conclusion
Consideration to seemingly small details such as carpet, chair covering, floor finishes, ceiling height and wall
spacing can make an improvement in the overall acoustics of a sanctuary, resulting in a clearer presentation of the
message. However, areas restricted by physical parameters often cannot be enhanced electronically by a sound
system operator. These areas, instead, must be understood and considered by both the operator and the staff in
delivery of the message.

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End

Successful Operation For Worship Centers

When it comes to hearing the Word, you can have:
The best Vision for a church.
The best Architect to design the building.
The best Consultant to design the Sound System.
The best Manufacturer to build the best equipment.
The best Contractor to install the system.
The best Pastor who is totally prepared.
He can deliver with absolute eloquence.

Yet the entire message can be ruined by the overburdened or untrained sound system operator.
The sound system operators and their support committee are often problematic areas in many churches. Small
churches with only one operator and large churches with separate crews for the house sound system and the
TV/Video production programs, share many of the same problems. Because of this commonalty, this article will
attempt to address them with guideline applicable to everyone.

HISTORY OF THE SOUND COMMITTEE

Because few churches have the budget available to have paid, professional sound system operators, the vast
majority of churches depend upon volunteer help in these areas. The sound system operators are typically willing,
ministry oriented individuals who got the job because they were either familiar with the technical aspects or they
were willing to learn. Those who are heavier on willingness may actually have skills in the understanding of
acoustics or sound systems which are very limited; but because they care, they have applied themselves and read
or studied to acquire technical skills.
However, over a period of time these operators tend to get tired or burned out. The operating crews are
generally very small, closed groups who do the same job over and over. Typically they have learned to run the
systems a certain way with minimal problems and can become closed to many changes or suggestions.
What started as a ministry has evolved into a JOB. Considering this a job, the responsibilities of their duties
isolate the operators and prohibit them from receiving needed personal ministry through the service. Sometimes
these individuals are even isolated from their families and church friends because of their "duties."
This scenario is not unusual and can be a tragedy. Often it is assumed because they are physically present at so
many services that they hear and comprehend the messages preached. Actually, if they are doing their job
properly, they do not listen for comprehension at all. They will instead, listen for clarity, consistency of the
sound and always prepared to make necessary corrections before the congregation knows a problem exists.
Additionally, because of their closeness to the operating needs of the system, these same people are expected to
set up, run tear down, and repair the system over and over again, typically with little support from other church
members. Normally, due to the ongoing budget concerns of churches, they have very limited funds with which to
do an expensive task. Many have used their own funds (often anonymously) for repair or new equipment
purchase.
They do care, they do want to do a good job, but they need help. One possible way to support these operators
would be as follows:

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A NEW COMMITTEE STRUCTURE
The operation of the technical support systems (sound, lighting, recording, etc.) should be structured in two
groups.
1. The Operating Team(s)
For each discipline (i.e., Sound Reinforcement, TV, Lighting, etc.) there should be an operating team. These
teams are the people who run the systems on a regular basis. They are made up of the most qualified personnel
available, and trainees for future operators. The need for qualified people is easier to understand than the people
themselves are to find. That is why new people must constantly be trained.
Often, the youth of the church provide a good source of future operators. They sometimes even have exposure
to systems through school or home; and, almost always have better hearing. However, youth must have a mature
operator to work with them to provide guidance. These same youth are wonderful help on choir and mission trips
to work with portable systems.
One consideration must be made before depending upon youth involvement. Youth are not in charge of their
own lives. They answer to higher authority at home who can create sudden changes in the youth's schedule.
Therefore, always schedule a dependable adult to operate with a youth.
In sound, every member of the operating team should be in the appropriate choir for their age group. This point
is so crucial, yet so misunderstood. The usual response is, "I can't sing." The appropriate answer is, "so what,
you still need to be there." The purpose of being a choir member is to learn to listen. A sound system operator
must know how to differentiate between a "C" as sung by the tenor and/or by an alto. Only by being in a choir
and practicing, practicing, and practicing can an operator truly learn how to hear. If they really can't sing (most
can and won't) then they should stand in the appropriate spot and mouth the words learned in practice. The
congregation will never know the difference and the choir director will usually appreciate the extra "singers."
The operating duties should not be performed by the same individual Sunday after Sunday. This duty should be
rotated. Actually a four Sunday rotation is ideal. It would be as follows:
4 Sundays - operate the sound system
4 Sundays - sing in the choir
4 Sundays - sit with your family
then repeat
This rotation would allow time to operate, time to practice listening, and time with the family. In this way the
operating team members can serve and also receive ministry as members of the congregation.
Each operating team should have a team leader to establish the rotating schedule and monitor the operators
technique. If you have a large church with various duties (i.e., board operation - mike set up - tear down, etc.),
rotate these duties also. Do not continually allow the same person to operate on the board; share the experience.
However, for major productions use the best individual in each position regardless of the schedule.
The team leader is often the principal trainer for the new operators. Also, the team leader is often the
appropriate member of the team to include in another group called the Technical Support Committee.
The key to a successful operating team is RELIABILITY. Know who is responsible and provide checks and
balances within the system to prevent problems.
2. The Technical Support Committee
The second group would be the Technical Support Committee. This committee would be elected by the church
as is normal, with the members terms rotating as is also normal. The structure of this committee should be
composed of some members of the Operations Teams, but not more than one or two from each discipline (i.e.,
Sound, TV, etc.). There should also be individuals on this committee with interests outside the technical systems,
such as, finance, furnishings, or music. The chairmanship of this committee should rotate no less than every two

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years, but a new chairman should always come from within the existing committee members themselves to
maintain continuity of the committee's previously established goals.
The purpose of the Technical Support Committee is to provide guidance and support for the operating teams.
They should be aware of needs such as maintenance problems and expected equipment life, as well as budgets and
operating loads. New members being added to the specific operating teams should be approved by the Technical
Support Committee.
This rotation and structure for an Operating Team and Technical Support Committee will promote
understanding and a sense of teamwork between the church and these technical ministries. It should also prohibit
any one individual developing one of these areas into an internal, personal 'kingdom' instead of a ministry.

THE SUCCESS TRIANGLE

In addition to the Operating Team and The Technical Support Committee the Church Staff plays a major role in
the overall success of these operations. The staff must notify, as far in advance as possible, the operating teams
of forthcoming needs. Unscheduled services or events (such as funerals or weddings) can allow a complete
breakdown in communication, and make everyone unhappy.
This is a triangle. As the Operating Team must communicate with the Technical Support Committee, the staff
must be free to communicate as well. Only working together, as a team, can the message of Christ be delivered
successfully.

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 REHEARSAL ROOM ACOUSTICS
Performance Space vs. Teaching Space
by R. Bob Adams
Did you ever think...
The choir sounds good, but something is wrong. or
The choir just doesnt seem to sing out or blend as well
in the sanctuary as they do during rehearsal. If I could
just get them to sing like they do in the rehearsal room.
Does this sound familiar? What is it about the
rehearsal room that makes a choir sound so much
stronger?
The rehearsal room is a critical part of the entire
rehearsal process. The size, shape, materials, and layout
of this room can work with the director or can inhibit the
directors efforts. What are some of the things a director
can look for regarding the choir rehearsal room?
If you are experiencing the joys (?) of building a new Figure 1. View of rehearsal room from behind director. Walls and
ceilings have no acoustical absorption. Therefore, direct sound plus
choir rehearsal room or are considering changes in your strong reflections (shown as rays) are heard by other choir members.
existing facility, here are a few basic guidelines to be
considered.

EXPECTATIONS
A good beginning point is to examine expectations.
Keep in mind the rehearsal room is a practice and
teaching space. The sound of the choir will seldom
reach performance quality in a rehearsal room.
The physical differences between the choir rehearsal
and the sanctuary will result in very different acoustical
characteristics. The smaller rehearsal room doesnt
allow sound to develop as in a large sanctuary. The
shorter distances and the absorptive or reflective
properties of surfaces negatively impact the quality of
sound the director hears during rehearsal.
While the director often hears a degraded quality of
sound, choir members hear themselves as strong singers
Figure 2. Same room as shown in Figure 1 except walls and ceiling have
with a good ensemble blend. This results in choir absorptive panels added. The dashed lines indicate a significant reduction
members developing a false sense of their size or power in reflected sound energy.
because the entire choir is surrounded by surfaces
which reflect their vocal energy back to them.

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VOLUME
The most important element in a rehearsal room is size. Space requirements for rehearsal rooms are generally
thought of in terms of the square feet of floor space necessary for a given number of choir members. However,
the overall volume of the space in cubic feet is more important. Even if the room is large in terms of floor space,
if the ceiling is only 8 or 10 feet above the floor, the room will not provide the balance desired during practice.
For instance, if the director is standing near the soprano section it will be difficult to hear other sections clearly.

CEILING SHAPE
Acoustically, the most useful rehearsal room
surface is the ceiling. Both the ceiling height and
shape are important. As discussed above, if the
ceiling is too low, singing parts become difficult to
distinguish properly. Conversely, if the ceiling is too
high, reflections arrive late and are not useful in
developing the appropriate ensemble sound. Good
rehearsal room design dictates that ceiling height
should be a minimum of 14 to 16 feet above the floor,
with 18 to 20 feet preferred. However, the ceiling
should be no higher than 22 to 24 feet.
Additionally, it is very beneficial for the ceiling to
be diffuse rather than flat. That is to say, the ceiling
is composed of several surfaces at a multiplicity of
angles that cause the energy to be reflected into
diverse directions. These reflections contribute to the
random arrival of sound energy at the singers ears. Figure 3. Same room as in Figure 1 except walls and ceilings have diffuser
panels which scatter the sound randomly, thereby reducing the reflected energy
The diffusive elements can be included in the basic heard by an individual listener.
architectural design or can be commercially available
products added to an otherwise flat surface. If the
basic architectural design approach is chosen, many small, dissimilar surfaces are preferred over a few large sur-
faces.

WALL SHAPE
Wall shaping is another important factor. Parallel walls allow sound to repeatedly bounce back and forth in
what is appropriately termed flutter echo. Flutter echoes degrade intelligibility and can even make it difficult for
singers to keep correct time with the music. If walls are designed to be non-parallel, flutter echoes can be
controlled or eliminated. If the space chosen for the choir room must have parallel walls due to the needs of the
other spaces in the building, consider constructing the room with at least two non-parallel walls. Force the room
into a shape other than a square or a rectangle.
If a parallel wall problem exists, consider using wall mounted sound diffusers of various shapes and sizes. The
size of the diffuser directly affects the frequencies it can disperse. The larger the diffuser, the lower the diffusable
frequencies. Therefore, purchase the largest diffuser that will fit on the wall.

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DIRECTORS WALL
One of the most important walls to be
considered is the wall directly behind the
director. In a performance situation, the direc-
tor faces away from the large open portion of
the sanctuary to direct the choir. The sound of
the choir passes the director and travels to the
far end of the room, then returns as reflected
energy. This travel path allows the air to ab-
sorb some of the sound energy. Additionally,
there are often architecturally diffusive and ab-
sorptive elements that inhibit the return of the
choirs sound. Therefore, a considerable
amount of vocal power is required to fill a
large sanctuary.
In most smaller rehearsal rooms however, the
sound of the choir passes the director and
immediately encounters a large flat surface. If
this surface has not been acoustically treated, Figure 4. Plan view of choir rehearsal room showing multi-angled non-parallel walls.
that energy is reflected back to the choir. This
can sound great to the choir, but is not exemplary of a performance situation.
There are many ways to address the problem of the Directors Wall. The best way is to make the wall go
away. Just make the rehearsal room as large as the sanctuary! That makes everyone happy except the Finance
Committee.
A more practical approach is to treat the wall acoustically so that it does not reflect the choir sound. The most
obvious treatment would be to add absorption. However, the room may be too dead with the directors wall
completely absorptive. Some diffusive treatment that provides an irregular pattern of energy reflections from the
wall would help create the illusion of an open auditorium space behind the director.
Two elements already found in most rehearsal spaces can be used to help overcome this problem. These are the
hanging choir robes and shelf storage. If the choir robes are hung behind the director and exposed to the room,
they will act as absorbers. Also, if put in this same general area, the slots for storage of music or purses can work
as diffusers. To use these existing elements acoustically, there should be no solid, reflective doors used. Using
robes and storage shelves in this way can provide economical and efficient use of the rehearsal room space.
Obviously, there are a variety of acoustical treatments that can be used successfully. Each has an aesthetic
and cost impact that must be carefully considered.

FLOORING
A solid floor base, such as concrete, is preferred. Hollow floors, in addition to adding a boomy sound to
heavy footsteps, actually work as low frequency absorbers.

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 While the surface material on the floor should reflect sound, the right type of carpet will control noise from
people shuffling feet without deadening the room. Carpet for choir rooms should be short-nap, tight weave,
synthetic, glue-down carpet.

PHYSICAL FITNESS
Another problem
experienced by
directors is lazy
singers. In the smaller
rehearsal room choir
members are not
required to project
their voices much to
develop a good
ensemble sound.
Because of this choir
members dont
exercise their
diaphragms well.
When singing in the
larger sanctuary, more
energy required to fill
the room. The singers
just will not have the
power and stamina to
reach the needed level
of performance. Figure 5. Elevation of Directors Wall showing robe storage (absorption), open sheet music shelves (diffusion), and
Often, they push to absorptive panels.
compensate and tire
quickly. Therefore it is very important for rehearsal room acoustics to encourage more powerful singing.

CONSTRUCTION
The construction techniques and materials used in the choir room are less emphasized during the design or
construction phase. Choir rooms are frequently constructed with less expensive, lighter weight materials such as
wood or gypsum board. By comparison, the sanctuary is often surrounded with considerable mass through the use
of cinder block, brick, or plaster materials. These material differences contribute to the difference in sound.

CONCLUSION
One technique being used by some choir directors is to rehearse in the sanctuary. This is an excellent answer to
the problems discussed. However, this does not eliminate the need for a choir room. The many other uses of this
space, such as youth choir rehearsal, small ensemble rehearsal, pre-service warm-up, etc. justify providing a
properly designed room.

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 The sanctuary is where the choir performs. The rehearsal room is where preparation is made for performance.
These two rooms will not sound the same. Even if the reverberation time characteristics of the two rooms match,
they will still sound different. Therefore, each space must be designed to meet the criteria of its intended use.
End

!
" " #
When speaking to the people When speaking to the people
on the left of the pulpit, on the right of the pulpit,
stand on the right side and stand on the left side and
speak across the mic. speak across the mic.

This is one of the most important microphone tips a public speaker need to know. Doing this
also keeps your notes in front of you if you are one who depends on them. Soundmen are
supposed to teach minister and whomever these important techniques. If you, as a soundman
dont and people are complaining that they cant hear, then its your problem. If you have
taught and practices the person speaking and the refuse to cooperate, then it is truly their
problem.

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 Electronic Acoustics

Is the church ready for the 21st Century?

Modern science is constantly contributing to the
needs of the church. Adjustable acoustics has been
attempted many times. In one church, the Architect
made a noble attempt to adjust the acoustics of the Architecture,
church with motorized curtains. During singing, the
Acoustics
Organist opened the curtains and then closed them for
solos and speech. At first, everyone was very pleased Audio,
with the results because there was such a dramatic and
change from speech to music modes. Articulation
However, when a new music director moved in, he The four master steps to excellent hearing conditions and
set the church straight. He noticed the room was too maximum performance of the audio system recommended
boomy for speech and too alive for music. This for your Church.
happen to be a Baptist Church that often had
contemporary music presentations. He knew that by
adding some bass traps to remove the boominess of the room the speech end would improve dramatically. Then
he insisted on adding diffusion panels behind the curtains for the music. This part took a lot more effort because
they had to balance the music with the speech. After all of that, the church finally had adjustable acoustics that
were more enjoyable. These items could have been built in during the cost of build the church - which the
Architect claimed he had expert help doing things in the first place. Bass traps and diffusers could have been built
during construction for about 1/4 the cost of the sound system. The after market solution was installed for 12
times the cost.
The other method of adjusting room acoustics is with an Electronic Reverberation System or (ERS). At this
time, there are about 5 different systems on the market. They all have limited installations because people are
afraid of the cost and there is also a fear of owning obsolescent technology. That is a poor argument. Everyone
knows that the day you buy a computer, it is obsolete before it gets to the store but people still buy them because
they need a job done. The price of these ERSs are high, but not as high as building a church structure that can
have the same acoustical performance.
The first systems which date back to the 60s had a lot of feedback problems when the audience was too loud.
Today, most of these problems have been solved and cost is the only hold back.
Remember back in church history. Back to the 1930s and 40s when churches were first substituting room
acoustics for amplified sound? Church construction costs dropped 20 to 30%. That is, if a church in 1948 cost
one million dollars to build with proper acoustics for a 1000 seat sanctuary, a less expensive building would have
been completed for $700,000. The amplification system would have cost about $35,000.
Today, a 1000 seat church could cost as low as 2.1 million dollars U.S. including education facilities, air
conditioning, padded pews and offices. However, if proper acoustical techniques were used, the sanctuary
might only cost about 50 to 100 thousand dollars, about a percent more. Constructed in the old ways, this
building would cost over 3 million dollars.

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 Newer building materials and standardization in building techniques, with no consideration for acoustics, has
kept the cost of church construction well below the rate of inflation. Whether or not modern construction will
stand the test of time remains to be seen. In many cases it does not. Church repairs in the first 20 years often out
strips the savings of a lower quality building in churches 30 years old or newer. Older buildings' costs are high to
preserve them. Their cost only seems high because people are afraid to gut a sanctuary and add newer services
and insulation for heating and cooling. However, this is another issue that needs attention in a future edition of
this book.
All of the above is to say that in a 1000 seat church that wants all of the benefits of adjustable acoustics,
spending $130,00047 is not unreasonable. Going in this direction can add another benefit - lower building costs
than what they are now. Surprised? With a church that plans electronic acoustics, the only detail that must be
planned is the shape of the room. Once the right shape is determined, a church can be built with the cheapest
construction materials available. This may not be a large savings but it does mean the church can lower the
ceiling48, carpet all of the floor and use shapes that require less steel.
In our 1000 seat church model (Church size is irrelevant. Cost per person increases in smaller churches and
decreases in larger churches.), an acoustical control system will have the following components:
1. 1 speaker per 20 people. Less if the ceiling is above 20 feet. More if the ceiling is below 18 feet. In this model, no less than 50
full range bookshelf sized speakers.
2. A separate speaker cable to every speaker.
3. If possible, have the speaker flush mounted. Do not use wall speakers without back boxes.
4. A small 10 to 50 watt amplifier for every speaker.
5. 6 to 10 computer controlled equalizers.
6. Reverb matrix system. (A custom built item)
7. 4 to 8 stage mics and 12 to 20 audience microphones.
8. A separate mic cable to every microphone.
9. IBM type computer or clone. A 40 MHz 386 computer is more than enough. (Not needed for smaller systems.)
There is almost no maintenance cost because once the system is set up and a series of preset programs selected,
the system stays on 24 hours a day and the only part people have access to is the computer (for those who have
the computer option and the preset button rack at the Organ Console).
Installation costs are high if total system concealment is desired.
What the reverb system will let you do is amazing. It allows you to build a church with the acoustics a
recording studio would desire. As described earlier, plan on an RT60 of 1.3 seconds from 170 hertz to 3000
hertz .2 tenths of 1 second. With a quiet room, you automatically get a great church for speech and drama.
Then, when the organ begins to play, the organist can use the Cathedral setting. When the choir sings, not only
can you change the reverb time, you can also change the shape of the sound with the programmable equalizers.
Finally, there is the Congregational setting. This is the setting many churches would love to have. Imagine 20
people sounding like 50 and 50 people sounding like 200. Electronic reverberation for the church is real and
affordable.
The benefits of electronic reverberation and proper sound systems far out strip any other investment a church
can make. Tunable acoustics for a church is not a dream. Many churches in Europe already have been enjoying
the benefits of these system for years. It is a door waiting to be opened and used.

47
A 300 seat church can have a modified system for adjusting acoustics electronically for under $40,000. Try and fix a church this size for $40,000. In most
cases it can not be done.
48
Lowering the ceiling is modest. Typically, a 300 to 1000 seat church should have a ceiling no less than 28 feet. If you are planning a ERS, you can lower the
ceiling by 4 feet.

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Back to the HIS System
But your sound system is so expensive!
Is it? Does your church have an air conditioner or a heat pump? Is it noiseless? If you have said yes and you
know the cost of an air handling system, a good church sound system will cost about the same or less. The
investment in acoustics is about half or one quarter as much during construction and doubles for fixing the
problem after the fact.
Good church audio costs about $30 to $45 per seating position for a complete basic system. That is about the
same cost of an air conditioning system. Both products are designed to move air over distance. For smaller
churches, the costs can be slightly higher and for larger churches it can be slightly less. Bells and whistle can
add another 15 to 30%. But what are the alternatives?
A properly designed church sound system that is used correctly in suitable "church acoustics" is almost as good
as giving every person in the pews a portable Walkman stereo headset. At a $100 each, there are better
alternatives that really meet everyone's needs. Is there a system that gives $100 per person sound quality at $30
per person? Yes.
As mentioned earlier, there is a System called the "HIS System". It is a complete church audio system custom
manufactured at each church. It is more of a formula, combining the best electronics and speakers at three price
levels. The formula begins with a room analysis and a no compromise design. If the compromised components
are too many, the church will not qualify for a HIS System or be recognized as a HIS System. Secondly, if
there are acoustical problems, they must be corrected first or no HIS System.
The HIS System has been around since 1984. Over 500 churches have the HIS System design formula. This
design has been successfully applied in churches from 150 seats to 6500 seats. For you the listener they have one
thing in common, they all perform the same.
Do other companies design and install a system as good as the HIS System? Yes. There are a few companies
using a similar formula with equal overall results. However, the HIS System represents a defined standard of
performance. The church community needs to set a standard such as the HIS System to keep themselves from
being misled. Churches with this information are rarely ripped off.
Unfortunately, what does happen is church people often listen to those who are filled with good intentions and
they get caught in the hype. This usually leads to people being hung up on a name brand for a speaker, a mixer
or just on the price without full understanding of the consequences of a poor decision and design.
Is there anything better than the HIS System? No. The HIS System represents a standard and the standard is
not unreasonable. Every church can afford the standards set by the HIS System. It is possible for one system to
sound better than another because church "A" invested more money than church "B", but in overall performance,
they both work the same. For most churches, the HIS System is like having a racing car performance and
controlled with super market prices. (To the best of my knowledge, there is no company that build audio prod-
ucts dedicated for churches to the high standards that churches require.) Unfortunately, many churches don't even
have the performance or equipment to get them a full bicycle.
For example: A church that seats 300 people should spend a minimum of about $8,000 to $12,000 for a HIS
System completely installed with all new parts, wire and equipment. A church that seats 1500 people should
spend a minimum of about $40,000 to $50,000 for a HIS System completely installed new. (A traditional church
may spend only $22,000 while an Evangelical or Pentecostal church may spend as much as 70 or 80 thousand
dollars with all of the extras.) If both systems are installed correctly in the church sizes described earlier, both

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systems will have the same level of performance. Both systems will have the same foundations in design and
performance.
It is the options, type of worship and music requirements that increase the cost of a basic HIS System or
equivalent system. The most expensive HIS System ever installed which included 3 wireless mics, floor
monitors, choir monitors, acoustical treatment, hearing impaired system and other option came in at $108.00
per person in a 250 seat church. However, the basic system was quoted at $33.00 per person. This
conservative little town church had the vision and understanding of what good sound would mean to the com-
munity. Five years later, this little church is running two services, they are expanding to video for the shut-ins
and they are planning a daughter church in a denomination that rarely sees this kind of community involvement.
This growth continued through changing two ministers and the third minister was asked only to preach, the board
say the church members will do the rest.
To say that all churches have this kind of experience after getting their sound and acoustics corrected would be
misleading. When more that 60% of the churches that own a HIS System have shown some amounts of
significant growth (and 10% growth is significant,) it would be fair to say that there is a pattern and that pattern
says that a proper system in you church will make a difference you church's future. This growth has been seen to
be spiritual, communal and monetary.
The success of the HIS System is based on:
1. -design.
2. -product knowledge.
3. -the interaction of products with each other.
4. -the interaction of audio equipment with room acoustics.
5. -the interaction of speakers and speakers systems with room shapes and acoustics.
6. -knowing which product is the easiest for laymen to operate.
7. -highest intelligibility possible.
8. -even coverage in the seating area.
9. -highest possible gain before feedback to give people the most comfortable microphone usage possible.
10. -knowing how to make the sound system easy to use.
11. -teaching the sound operator proper equipment use.

The Sound Contractor from Another point of View.

A church sound system is a collection of parts brought together to form a complete product on site. Hence the
word "System". But is the word "System" the right word to use? Webster's Dictionary says the word "System"
means, "order or method, coordinated arrangements of working elements." If this description of the word were
that simple, then all church sound systems should sound and perform almost the same with only small degrees of
differences in their fidelity. (Like a car, the more you pay the more luxurious it becomes and in the end you still
have a car. The same should apply to church sound systems. The more you pay, the better the fidelity.
However, the overall performance of the $8,000 system will be about the same as the $50,000 system if your use
the standards outlined here in this book. Fidelity, options, flexibility and size can be miles apart.)
However, this is not the case. Many church sound systems have no order or method to them. Many of them do
not meet the needs of church members. Most of these churches either have or had a sound system installed in an
un-coordinated arrangement, often attempting to defy the many laws of physics. Furthermore, such a sound
system's elements are usually installed in such a way, they are unable to work together effectively.
The end result is a sound system that serves only 40 to 50% of the people adequately. The equipment is only
working at 25 to 40% efficiency. A church sound "system" that does not provide a high level of intelligibility,
high level of gain and freedom from dead spots should not be called a system. However, there is no single

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familiar word to describe equipment slapped together that produces something that people put up with until
someone complains enough. But, the words "Assemblages of chaos" is best used to describe such a sound
system.
System also means "method". From my observations and many experiences, most church sound systems have
no method to their design. When you ask people why things were done as they were, the answer often has no
science or physics behind it. Instead, the answer, 90% of the time, is based on hearsay and words of urban
folklore. Audio urban folklore in the church does nothing more than deceive people into buying more equipment.
Let's be honest with ourselves, if the sales pitch sounds good and the competition does not have as good a story to
tell, people will buy the folklore legend.
The other interesting observation of the church community is this: If a person or company provides a bad
service to a church, no one ever hears of it. This is probably because churches value their independence so much
they don't want the people or public to know of their business failures. Therefore, all church business is kept
within each church body and no one shares as a community. The interesting part is that the bible says we are to
share our successes and failures individually and communally in the hope that others do not fall into the same
trap. Is this what is meant by selective reading of the scriptures?
A church sound system should be designed and built on a solid foundation. There should be a goal set that
meets the needs of the minister, the people with musical talents, the people with good hearing and the people who
are "hearing handicapped" or hearing impaired. The sound system should be simple to use and controlled from a
place that is easy to hear and adjust. Just as television controls moved from the front to the back and back to the
front of the TV set, the positioning of the sound system controls has gone through the same evolution. The
question is, what church sound system design should you use and how should it be installed?
A complete sound system is much like a car. A car is the sum of many parts. (A sound system is made up of
many parts.) Some of the auto parts are made on site but most of the parts are made by others to the car makers'
specification. (Sound system interconnections and custom mounts are often made on site but almost all the
equipment is made by other manufacturers to a required specification.) The car manufacturer assembles the parts
to form a product called the Car. (The sound contractor assembles the parts to form a custom made product
called the "Sound Reinforcement System.")
A sound system designer/contractor is in fact an engineer first and then a manufacturer, very much like
automobile companies. The sound company orders the selected parts from suppliers for the customized system
and then brings the portable assembly plant to the church. The sound company then begins the assembly process
to come up with a finished product.
However, when the consumer buys a car, it will have already been engineered for them and the purchase price
will reflect the engineering cost. When you bought a mixer for a sound system, did you buy a sound system or
just a part for the system? A mixer is just a part and it has to be engineered into a product called the "Sound
Reinforcement System".
The finished product is a system that can help everyone to hear clearly, without dead spots and without fatigue.
It is a product by which a minister can speak into a microphone 18 to 30 inches away in a normal conversational
voice and have their voice amplified evenly throughout the room. It is a product that allows every possible input
and output needed for the task the sound system is expected to do over the course of a year. It is a product that
attracts people to come and participate in what is being offered.
A sound system is not about a mixer or speaker or who sells the best gimmicks. When equipment suppliers
advertise a product for a certain application, do they instruct you in detail on how to use it? In many cases, no!

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It is the independent sound contractor49 who makes the products work well in a system. What good is it to buy
the speakers from one store, the amplifiers from another store, and the mixer from somewhere else, to save a
large sum of money when you wind up with a sound system that sounds mediocre? We don't buy cars like this!
At this point the great deal becomes something you can hardly give away.
One could say all sound contractors are like auto manufacturers and you can judge a sound system by its
performance. It is the sound contractor that makes the mixer, speaker, microphones, amplifier and equalizer
sound great or bad. It seems that the contractor that is more interested in solutions rather than selling equipment
reaps the benefits of a no compromise attitude. What also needs to be said is that a poorly trained sound operator
can undermine the performance of a great sound system.
A church should be able to choose a sound system the same way people buy cars. This sound company sells
Fords, this sound company sells Chevys and this sound company sells Cadillacs. If you walked into a Ford
dealer and said, "I would like that Ford car with a Chrysler Turbo engine in it," what do you think the Ford
salesman would think? Yet, when it comes to a sound system, the client gets whatever they want, often without
regard to the final performance of the sound system.
Sound companies are indeed manufactures of a product that is custom made for every client and that is how a
sound system should be judged. However, it is not that simple, or is it?
The audio and acoustic world has too many opinions and too many standards in writing a spec. sheet. Since
there are so many ways to say similar things, it leaves a lot of room for almost everyone to have an opinion on
their personal preferences which can be shown as valid as any other opinion. Those opinions are often based on
hearsay or from what the specs sheet says, with real experience of only a hand full of product lines that are
upgraded every two or three years.
In amplifiers alone, there are over 50 manufacturers with more than 4 models each. It is impossible to test and
evaluate over 200 amplifiers in two years and still provide an income for any business. In that time, 50% of the
manufacturers will have added new technology to their lines of products that require more testing. Furthermore,
how can you fairly test an amplifier when there is no 100% common reference to test from. Which speaker,
which wire, which pre-amp, which sources do you use for the test? The truth is, every manufacturer has their
own testing method hoping they have the "right stuff". As a result, the contractor must rely on their exposure as
to what is available to them to do the best job possible. The comments they make of other products are just
opinions and we should always remember that they are just opinions. This is why you will get 10 people with 10
different opinions50 on the same amplifier and half will say its a great amp and half will find an excuse for not
using it.
Sound is an experience of the senses of hearing, feeling and emotions. When the sound is clear and loud
enough, people enjoy it more. When there is a good comfortable beat and the floors are gently vibrating and the
sound is not offensively loud, people enjoy the feeling of sound. When you have such a system, people will
become emotionally involved with the messages shared. This is a universal law of the listening audience whether
or not they are in a club, a church, a theater, a home, a shopping mall, an airport, a hotel, an auditorium or
sports facility.
One of the strongest points that must be made is that every sound system will have major compromises if you
do not understand the extent to which acoustics affects the performance of any sound system. Acoustics limits

49
There are a few manufacturers that offer excellent help for some audio companies.
50
Remember, there is no known school that teaches church audio or church acoustics. Most other audio and acoustics programs teach you how to use
equipment in a large space, not how to listen to it for the best performance. Those individuals who are sensitive enough to care how a system works usually
gets the best results.

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the performance of all sound systems. Therefore, you must be able to change the acoustics if you feel the sound
system is not performing adequately and you know you have good equipment and have allowed for the maximum
room of compromise.

$ % % &

Architects who hold Churches Ransom

This book was intended to be just a book on church sound and church acoustics. While gathering tips and
information, a disturbing pattern surfaced that needs to be addressed. Regrettably, the Architect will be getting
the dirty end of the complaint in this pet peeve, but churches also have to bear a large chunk of the responsibility
as well. In the secular world, people are hired and fired based on their performance. When a person continues
to fail to meet their responsibilities, that person is eventually fired.
When it comes to Architects, there seems to be a magic wand that automatically protects them no matter what
happens. Have you ever heard of an Architect being fired from the job? It does happen and it should happen more
often.
This pet peeve is about Architects who seems to use stalling tactics, which automatically increases the cost of a
project, or they approve work that was not authorized which also increases costs.
After seeing and hearing several stories about church renovations, expansions and new buildings, the time has
come to give churches some perspective on how wide spread this problem is. Also, it is important to know how
much money is involved. To many Architects, a renovation project that has a 30% cost over run seems to be
considered normal. A 50% cost over run happens often. Without exaggeration, churches commonly use the term
ripped-off and railroaded when describing their Architect. Many churches feel cheated and taken advantage of
and there seems to be nothing done about it.
Here is another aspect of these problems. When was the last time you heard of a church suing someone? When
was the last time you heard of someone settling out of court with a church?
In the Old Testament, there are several fine examples of the execution of shrewd and fair business dealings.
Read about Abraham or Solomon. These people prospered and stood their ground no matter what happened.
In the New Testament, Jesus said that He came to fulfill the law, did that not also include business law as well
as spiritual things? Then why does it appear OK for someone to take advantage of the church but the church
doesn't seem to be able or willing to take some kind of action to protect themselves? Turning the other check did
not mean turning your back on the problem. Turning the other check meant standing your ground for what you
believe in. Are we not measured by what we believe?
Here are some suggestions that can help you protect yourself and your church's money:
1. Have all of your building designs copyrighted and make it clear that the church owns the plans, not the Architect. Make it
conditional that if the church decides to switch Architects, the work done to date will be paid for by the church and the blue prints
become the property of the church. Put the rate for completed and non-complete drawings in writing.
2. Promise yourself that the Architect will only get one 20 day extension to deliver the plans. After that, the Architect will be fired
and the plans are to be turned over to the church.
3. Always remember that the Architect is your employee and the building is that of the church. The moment the Architect starts
talking about the project as his design or uses expressions like "my building" make it clear to him that it is not.
4. Demand a 60 day waiting period from the completion of the plans to the issuing of a tender and a 75 day waiting period for design
building projects. This waiting period should be made clear to everyone from the start of the project planning.

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5. During the waiting period, have the building committee meet with all of the teachers, leaders, custodians, secretaries and anyone
else who is responsible for a space in the church, to get their reactions to the plans51. Meet with them one at a time allowing
between 30 to 45 minutes to evaluate their areas. Later, have two general evening sessions for all of the leaders to have their final
input. Include the Architect for the second meeting. All of this should be done and settled before final approval is sought from
the congregation.
6. During the waiting period, have the building committee go to or invite the city planner and building inspectors to review the
drawings without the Architect. Have the Architect make any modifications before building starts.
7. For new buildings only: Have your building design decided before approaching the Architect. Don't let the Architect talk you
into his own ideas of what your faith represents. Buildings designed by church members usually cost less.
8. Before going to the Architect, decide what standards or level of acoustical performance you expect for your church. Make this a
standard and conditional agreement and hold the Architect responsible if he fails to deliver.
9. Have your contract reviewed by a Lawyer to ensure there are no loop holes if the Architect's designs fail to meet the churches
needs after the project is finished.
10. If you have not had your building designed by an acoustical expert, have the plans inspected by an acoustical expert before you
begin to build. Changing the plans are cheaper than moving walls. Do this during your waiting period.
11. Design build projects save money only if the acoustics of the church are what you paid for. A church with poor acoustics and poor
sound loses money every week (see Tables in Appendix A). A better church building pays greater dividends over the long term
than churches built on short term goals.
12. Look for longer term bank loans. Churches can get 40, 50 and 75 year mortgages. A long term loan gives a church the ability to
either invest in a better building or more operating capital to fund day to day programs.
13. Don't be afraid to switch banks mid-stream. Banks generally make more money available to churches that are better built. A
better building gives a church more strength to negotiate terms.
14. Don't let the Architect know of funds that come from sources with time limits such as Government Grants, bequeaths and
headquarters' budget schedules. Architects seem to like squeezing churches into time frames that prevents church members from
accurately determining if the plans are correct.

Example: In one church, the plans were being completed as the church was being built. Today, the church
has 2 rooms about 20' x 25' with no doors or windows. Nobody knew the rooms existed until an air conditioning
system was installed 10 years later. The rooms were not on any plans and neither the builder nor the Architect
knew of their existence.
In another church, there was a Government grant due on a given date. The Architect was 6 months late with
the drawings. When the drawings were finished, the church had only 25 days to issue the tenders, have the ten-
ders submitted and have a signed contract with a builder. As a result, there were extra doors installed that were
not needed, there was no design for the ventilation system additions, a 4,000 watt battery backup lighting system
that turned on all of the sanctuary lighting for 30 minutes was added (when a 500 watt system would have done
the job) and a second elevator was also added. All of these things were not approved by the Chairman, nor the
minister nor the building committee. The Architect simply told the church they were required.
In each case, the Architect was told of the time frame for the money. This kind of maneuvering happens to
many churches who hire an Architect.
There are Architects that do excellent work. As a suggestion, hire an Architect that has been building large
buildings for over 15 years. Inspect projects other than churches for maintenance and operating costs. Ask to see
at least two buildings over 10 years old. If you are considering hiring an Architect that has been specializing in
churches for over 10 years, ask to see two other buildings 10 years or older. This will assist you in determining
the best company for your new building project.

51
The group meetings can become heated debates. Try asking each person first for their last requests before opening the floor to everyone. Those listening
may soon find there is either general consensus or general concern. Using time limits for each person helps keep the meeting fair and fruitful. Chairman,
here is where you will earn your title.

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A final detail from your Architect
An over looked detail happens so often that the church community could save time and money if this one thing
were done for every church. Every year, many churches make additions and renovations that require a fair
amount of engineering. Much of the engineering cost comes from not having accurate original blueprints when
the church was first constructed. Churches could save thousands of dollars in architectural and engineering fees if
blueprints reflected the whole building as it was constructed.
As a church is built, there are many changes from the original drawings. When a church building project is
finished, the church is not usually given a set of drawings with all of the revisions included. What the church
most often has is a set of drawings done 3 to 10 months before the church started construction. With all of the
changes made during construction, it is no wonder Architects usually start from scratch for additions and
renovations.
When installing a sound system in an existing building, blueprints could go a long way to help the installation.
Speaker brackets, cable runs, access to various areas of the church could all be planned better if accurate blue-
prints were available.
When a church finishes construction, they should make it part of their contract with the architect to have a
complete and revised set of drawings. These drawings must have all of the changes made during construction.
Also, most architects usually do not have accurate drawings of the platform and altar areas. As a result, extra
time is needed in locating cable runs through many churches. This, of course, adds to the cost.
It is recommended that two complete sets of drawings be given to a church at the completion of the building.
The first set should be stored in a air tight tube in the church office. The second set of drawings should be
submitted to the head office of the denomination. The denomination copy can then be copied and given to other
churches that are planning new buildings. A church could save thousands of dollars in design costs by adding
their own personal touches to existing drawings. What this also does is give churches access to successful designs
that with a proven track record.

'
Reader's corner respond to your questions, comments and experiences.
QAre you not being as narrow minded as the Architects you chide?
ANo. To begin with, I never questioned the Architect's skills as an Architect. All that has been said is that
Architects generally, don't know enough about church needs to be effective. Furthermore, I have tested,
measured and proven everything here to the best of my ability. Architects, generally, do not test church acoustics
and sound systems to prove their church designs work and meet church requirements. Architects do not hold
themselves accountable for the performance of a church. My business offered a money back guarantee when I
was installing systems in churches.
The one statement I have not made is "my design", "my building", "my theory". There is not one statement of
possession of a design in this book. There are many recommended standards with a track record to support a
standard. However, Architects are very possessive of their work and their designs. An architect, generally, will
not get fired, nor will he back down or quit. It also seems that many architects will do anything to get a job and
say anything to keep it.
The one approach which has brought a lot of success, has been one of an attitude of no compromise and the
maintaining of a reputation. On many occasions, a church calls and makes unrealistic demands. What they are

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asking for won't work and they are not interested in learning about sound. These churches call back years later
and acknowledge why I was so hard on them. I would rather not do the job if it can't be done right. True, some
audio people can't afford not to accept a job that puts food on their tables but when it comes to spiritual warfare, I
will do everything possible to provide the best designed system for that church.
The strong language is used only to get your attention. If this approach has gotten you to respond, then it has
done more than the other very good books on general audio and acoustics, which are a treasure of information on
theory but lack guidelines for churches.
Q Will there be more technical details in future editions of the book?

Ameasurements
That depends on what you call technical. If you want to know how a speaker works or how to do test
for acoustic materials, I suggest you read the books listed in the appendix. If you are looking
for the ten best speakers and the ten best budget speakers most recommended for churches, please be patient, they
will be sent to you in future newsletters. Also, in future editions you will find more illustrations, more details in
installation, detail of all of the controls of the most popular mixers churches use and details on how to build your
own speaker brackets that are safe.
As stated before, the goal of the book is to give you information you can not get anywhere else. In most
libraries and major book stores, there are well written and up to date audio and acoustical books.
What I have discovered from others in the audio business, is surprise that one can write this much about
church sound and acoustics. Many people who first received this book told me they expected 5 pages of type and
many pictures. Instead, they have found themselves reading this book many times over. It is my hope that this
book is never finished and over 350 pages. If I were to add the kind of technical information you are asking as
written in Don Davis's book, (which is 665 pages) there would not be a single binder large enough for everything.

( )
Recently, a book about Urban Folklore Legends was published. It tells of stories greatly embellished as the
stories were passed on from person to person. The author tried to trace the origin of the stories to discover if
there was any truth to them. After a considerable amount of research, the author found that most legends were
based on one or two actual events, but from the legends, one would think these stories have happened in every
town and community. In this section, the following stories come from you with all of the embellishments
included. Whether or not the stories are true is not important. The lessons they teach are.

Pastor electrocuted in Baptistery

In a Niagara Falls church, a minister was killed moments after baptizing a person. It was reported that the
minister grabbed the microphone while still in the water. Normally, a microphone in an audio system would not
cause a shock when dropped in water, however, two nights earlier the church sound man saw a person cut the
ground pin on the AC cord to reduce or eliminate 60 cycle hums in the sound system at a gospel concert. The
next night the sound man cut the ground on the mixer, equalizer and amplifier on the sound system in the church.
As a result of his actions, the soundman did indeed eliminate the hum noises and the minister at the same time.

Church paints walls in sanctuary causing thousands of dollars in damages

In Hamilton, Ontario, a 600 seat church had their walls painted without consulting an acoustical expert. The
church was over 120 years old. When the church was first built, it was lit with natural gas and heated with coal.
After many years, soot built up on the bare stone walls. Later, when a gas boiler and electric lights were installed,

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the soot build-up slowed down until a steel refinery was built down the street. Finally the church thought they had
two options: Clean the stone walls or paint them. The church chose to paint the walls.
Immediately the church noticed a serious echo problem and the Organist hated the way the room had changed.
After trying several new sound systems, the church admitted they made a mistake in painting the walls. Six
months later, work was started to restore the church walls with sand blasting. The church had to close the doors
for 6 weeks to complete the work. After some hard questions, the church admitted the cost of painting the church
was $4,500. The cost of cleaning the stone would have been $10,000. The cost of sand blasting, wall repairs
from the sand blasting and cleaning was over $45,000. The church would not say how much they spent on audio
equipment. The church wrapped up the restorations by using the original sound system before the walls were
painted.

State of the Art sound system a bust

A Baptist church in London, Ontario, spent $70,000 on a sound system. The 800 seat church was not happy
with the results at all. The supplier walked away from the project and didn't even ask for the final 10% payment.
After two years of putting up with the sound system, the church found a company that could finally help them.
The cluster was rebuilt with the existing speaker system. All of the wiring was replaced. All of the equipment
was re-patched and reinstalled. The additional work cost the church over $10,000. Today, the church is very
happy with the result and has since added to the sound system. The company that did the repair work said they
could have done the whole system originally, with slightly better overall performance, for about $40,000.

Church with wireless sound system gets wiped out

In Morristown, New York, a Lutheran church insisted on a completely wireless sound system. The system
worked perfectly for threes month until the St. Lawrence Seaway reopened in spring. During services, some
ships would use full power on their transmitters during ship to shore communications. This action resulted in
serious interruptions during the services. They also discovered that sea captains can be very unpleasant when
negotiating around smaller motor boats in the canal system. After the unpleasant discoveries, the church tried
two other wireless systems before installing a wired system for the microphone.

A Prophet Is Not Recognized In His Own Town

In Own Sound, Ontario, a church wanted to build an addition. All around the church, there was unique stone
work done. The church was over 100 years old. After some research, it was learned that the stone mason
company that did the original work was still in business in England.
Meanwhile, as news of the special stonework required spread through the church, a church member who was
often absent from church because of his work, offered to do the stone work for free. After hearing the church
members proposal, the church board politely turned down his offer.
Shortly after this discussion, two members of the church flew to England to show the stone mason company
what the new addition to the church would look like. On the second day, the church signed a contract to go ahead
with the project. The stone mason company then informed the church that their top stone mason - who happened
to be one of the top three stone masons in the world who worked with the unique type of stone the church used,
would be ready to start work in 3 days.
After the two church members returned to Own Sound and reported to the church board of their successful trip,
another church member ask for the stone masons name. The two church members read through all of their
documentation and noticed that the stone masons name was missing.

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 The third day was a Monday. At exactly 9am., a truck with the
name of the stone company the church hired pulled into the driveway
of the church. Out of the truck stepped the often absent church
member who had offered to do the work for free. Everyone there
was surprised and some people even became upset because the day
before, the stone mason attended the church and said nothing about
his involvement. As it turned out, the stone mason received a fax
with the church renovation order just the night before. This is a true
story.

Mennonite Church Renovates Again And Again And Again

In Elmira, Ontario, Canada, a small Mennonite church had to
refinish their ceiling from water damage. The build was less than 40
years old and the church seats about 300 people. The shape of the
church was a simple
rectangle with a
cathedral ceiling.
Figure 1. Before water damage. The church had
more than 5 quotes.
Then the church asked an Architect if there was some way to
lower the cost of the repairs. Since there was not structural
damage, the Architect told the church to just install a T Bar
ceiling. This suggestion was indeed a low cost repair.
Before the project was started, a church member took it upon
himself to ask a church sound expert. First the expert was hired
to install a new sound system. Then the expert was asked about
the renovation. The expert told the church board that this
renovation will make many members of the church very unhappy.
You see, Mennonite love to sing. In fact many Mennonite
churches dont use instruments during congregational singing.
The church sound expert confidently announced that the new
ceiling will cause echos and increase the effects of standing
waves to the point where people will complain. Figure 1 After the first Renovation

As far as the spoken word goes, he said that the new sound
system the church bought would work great but - the minister speaking or people performing for special music
will be disturbed with the echo from the back wall if the back wall remained flat.
The Architect scoffed the church sound expert prediction and hired his own acoustical expert. This acoustical
expert specialized in studio acoustics and noise control. He had a Ph.D. in Physics. The acoustical expert said
that the recommended changed from the Architect will have no noticeable affect on the style of worship the
Mennonites had enjoyed the previous 40 years and there would be no echo because the room was not long
enough. (Please notice that the church sound expert gave his opinion free of charge. The church paid for the
acoustical expert $1,000 -who was actually hired by the Architect.) Architects are very good at hiring people who
will make their plan legitimate.

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 The church went along with the Architect and installed the new drop ceiling and the new sound system. Just
before the church ordered the type of ceiling tile to use, they ask the church sound expert. He said get a hard tile.
The Architects expert said get a soft tile. Once again the
church sound expert said that the back wall must be diffused.
When the renovations were done, all of the church sound
experts predications were 100% true. The low soft ceiling
killed the room for congregational singing. The standing waves
made any performance presentation seem too loud and the echo
off the back wall was so disturbing that the minister would only
preach with a wireless mic from the third row of pews.
It took 3 years before the church was able to raise enough
money to fix the room. Once again, the church asked an
Acoustical expert for help. The first expert only recommended
to flip the ceiling tiles, paint them and add fiberglass insulation
above the tiles.
While testing the room, the acoustical expert blew up the
sound system. Why he used the sound system for testing had
no logical reason. He was hired to measure and test the room.
The church was happy with the sound system. Figure 2 After the second Renovation
To fix the sound system, the church called the original church
sound expert. While fixing the sound system, the church sound expert offered the test data he measured just
before the first renovation and after the renovation. The church was very surprised that the church sound experts
measurements and the recently hired expert had the same results. The church paid $1,000 for the first experts
advice.
At this point, the church sound expert was very frustrated. So far, this small town church paid $2,500 for
expert advice that was very wrong. The church kept hiring a Psychiatrist when they really needed a Brain
Surgeon. When the church asked for the data from the church sound expert, he said it was going to cost them
$1,500. The church paid it. The total for their advice has now cost $4,000.
The church sound expert recommended to restore the original ceiling, use the ceiling tiles in the offices and
fellowship room and use outround curves to diffuse the back and side walls.

After the work was all done, the congregation was very pleased with the results. A few church members
donated extra money to help pay for the changes when they heard the difference.
This church had a very typical experience with room acoustics. Many churches every year have similar
experiences. About 3 month after everything was all done, I was told about this story. I then called the church
and made a request for the records dating to when the roof was first damaged from water during a serious storm.
In 1992, the roof was damaged from a storm.
The church had 5 quotes to repair the ceiling and upgrade the lights. These quotes were about $23,000 to
$27,000. When the church hired an Architect, the church went ahead with a $35,000 renovations for a flat T
Bar ceiling. By the time the project was finished, the church paid $38,000, which included extras, $4,000 for the
Architect and $1000 for the acoustical expert. Total bill, $43,000.
In 1995, the church paid $80,000 to rebuild the original ceiling, add a sky light, new lighting and reinstalled the
speaker system. There was an added cost to the project created from the first renovation. When the drop ceiling

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was installed, much of the original ceiling was damaged to attach ceiling hangers to the beams in the roof. Since
the blueprint of the original church building was lost, the details of the roof were assumed.
Apparently, the original roof was designed with an interior layer of plywood for roof support. So much of the
interior plywood was removed that half of the roof beams were cracked enough to cause the roof the sage. The
church replace all of the roof beams. The total cost since 1992 was $123,000.00. The insurance company paid
$23,000 - the original bidders quote for the original restoration.

(c) Copyright April, 05 by

Joseph De Buglio
JdB Sound Acoustics,
Toronto Ontario Canada

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 *

Putting it Together
Four Things:

What Are The Most Important Items In Church Sound?

The first most important part of the church
sound system is the placement and the type of
speaker used. Without this being correct, you
will be constantly fighting the sound system in
everything else you do. The second item is
Acoustics. If you have acoustical problems, they
will certainly show up in the performance of the
sound system. Room acoustics determines the
maximum performance of the sound system
regardless of the design, cost and "tricks" people
try, to cheat problems.

Part 1 - Acoustics
There are three parts to room acoustics. The
third is noise. Good sound needs to be 25dB
above the background noise such as street noise
and air conditioners. Fixing a noise problem
often means that the sound system doesn't amplify
it any more. If your church has forced air heating
and cooling, the noise you hear on cassette
recordings may not be the fault of your
Drawing 1 If you have a peaked ceiling or "Cathedral Ceiling" a single speaker
equipment. near the roof will look very small. Often, a cosmetically correct speaker can be
The other two parts of room acoustics is installed and people won't notice it for months. Often people believe the speaker
frequency and reflection. Reflections can either isillusions
an enhancement for the Organ and accept it right away. One of the best
of a cluster system is the fact that when sound arrives to both ears at the
be an echo or focused sound energy that is same time, the sound seems to follow the person speaking and the amplified
directed to where a pulpit is supposed to go.52 sound seems to disappear. In some installations, only when you turn off the
sound system do you realize the sound system was on. This is best noticed when
Either way, it limits the performance of the sound the minister walks inside of the illusion zone.
system. Studio designers use a term called
"Reflection Free Environment". Churches that have used such a technique work very well.
The last part of room acoustics is frequency. Reverberation and frequency go hand in hand. If you concern
yourself with the frequency of a room, you will always get the results you desire. If you only concentrate on

52
and this will also cause feedback problems too!

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average reverberation time53 at 1000 hertz(1k), you
most often don't get the performance. It is not
enough to say the average RT60 is 1.5 seconds. You
must know what the RT60 will be at 1/3rd octave
frequencies. A room that measures an RT60 of 1.5
seconds at 1K can have an RT60 of 4 seconds at 250
hertz and 6 seconds at 63 hertz. Churches that have
this kind of performance can never have crystal clear
sound.
Remember, speech is from 80 to 1200 hertz. If 1
you speak into a real-time analyzer, you will see
your voice producing most of its strength from 80
hertz to 800 hertz. A 1000 hertz specification for a
2
church is useless. Whether your church is new, old
or being planned, affordable major steps can take
place to breath life into your house of worship by
having the right acoustics for your style of worship.
The sound system in your church is nothing more
than a reflection of the acoustics it is installed in.
The problem most churches have is that they have in-
stalled sound systems in the easiest and most visible
Drawing 3 The Illusion Zone - is the area that is equal to 1/2 the height
manner possible and ignored almost all of the rules of of the speaker on either side of the pulpit. Example - speaker height 30
physics known. As a result, people hear feedback, feet. The illusion zone with be 15 feet to either side of the pulpit.
ringing and notice dead spots.

Part 2 - Speaker
Placement
Speaker placement
is so important in a
church, some say,
"you don't have a
sound system until
this is corrected."
Oh! We know that
anything can make a
noise and such a
system will have you
spending most of
your time trying to Drawing 2
Finding the sweetspot can often be easy in some churches and a nightmare in others. Watch out for beams, posts and
hear rather than arches. Please notice line A and B. In sound, doubling the distance means a sound level change of 6dB. If the
understanding what speaker is 25 feet away from the first pew and 60 feet away from the last pew, the sound level change will be less than
was said. As one 6dB. Therefore, you dont have to blast people in the front row in order for the people at the back to hear. At 75 feet
from the cluster, the sound level is only down 6dB in this example. This is well within a +/-3dB. Spec.

53
Reverberation Time = RT60 - the time it takes a sound to drop 60dB.

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minister said, "I used to
ask for extra tithes for
missions and no one
would respond. Today,
when we ask the
congregation to help a
mission, we often get
more than what was TAN N O Y

needed."
Unless your church
has a ceiling 14 feet or
lower, it should have a
central cluster. That is,
a speaker or group of
speakers centrally
located over and slightly
ahead of the front steps
to the platform or altar
area or slightly ahead of
a central pulpit. Some-
where in this area there
is a position called the
"SWEET SPOT". This
is the position that will
give your sound system
the maximum gain Drawing 4
The following diagrams will show many typical cluster system installations and details. This example is typical of about
before feedback, highest 50% of the churches built in the past 100 years. It is only in the last 40 years that Architects have tried new designs
intelligibility and helps without acoustical considerations - mainly the reason for going to church - hearing the WORD of GOD.
to draw everyone's
attention to the person or the event, not to the sound system speakers themselves. Over 98% of all the churches
out there have a sweetspot some where in this area. The sweet spot conforms to many of the rules of audio
physics.
In my own business, after working on over 150 projects, 4 of the jobs required relocating the existing cluster.
Generally, all clusters work dramatically better than a left right sound system. Moving a cluster into a sweet spot
area can be just as dramatic. When a church is 100% symmetrical on both sides of a room, the sweet spot can be
very large and easy to find.54 Most professional church sound system contractors can find such a spot in seconds.
When a church is not symmetrical, the sweet spot can be smaller and off to the left, right, higher or lower by
several feet or yards (meters). The sweet spot is critical for the ideal performance of any church sound system.
When you have found the sweetspot, everything you expect a sound system to do should happen, unless there
are acoustical problems. After 350 projects, 70% of them were border line in requiring acoustical changes.
This means that if they did the acoustical changes as recommended, the performance of the sound system could
have increased even more. Fifteen percent of the churches done had very good overall acoustics. Two percent
54
A stairwell that only goes up one side of a balcony will make the room non symmetrical.

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of the churches had acoustics that every other church
wished they could have. In the remaining projects, they
needed serious acoustical help55.
To date, 18 churches have heard the benefits of high
quality acoustical repairs, the others did not have the
money to invest in the acoustics but bought the sound
system anyway knowing why its performance is limited.
In all of these cases, the churches had already bought 3 or
4 other sound systems with dismal results. Although the
new sound system did not work as well as most of my
clients are accustomed to enjoying, the new sound system
worked far better than what they ever had, but they now
know how much better the system can perform when they
can afford to fix the room acoustics.
Drawing 5 When you have a flat ceiling, the speakers do become
Part 3 - Pew Back Systems more noticeable. However, if the cosmetics are correct, people don't
notice the speaker system because the system works. With a left/right
But what about pew back systems? With an unlimited speaker system people expect to hear "P.A.". The moment the PA
budget, you can make a pew back system work for speech. does sound like a PA, people assume they can't hear. Usually they're
correct. A flat ceiling has the same benefits for clusters plus some
You will most likely rent a sound system for all of your bass assistance. The Illusion zone works here as well.
musical events if quality is important. Again, it would be
cheaper to correct the acoustics of a church and
install a cluster.

In all of the churches where acoustical

treatment was done, people who were not
directly involved with sound noticed and liked
the changes. These people were the Organist,
soloist and congregation members. Imagine
adding an audible extra octave to a $400,000
pipe organ for less than the cost of a rank of
pipes! Imagine better congregational singing.
Imagine a warehouse sounding like a world
class performance hall. These are just some of
the bonus points available with shaping the
acoustics from chaos to music. A pew system
is not really a viable option in any church.

Drawing 6 When a church is wide or if the pew seating is too close to the front, two
Pipe Organs speakers can be used together. Comb filter is reduced when speakers are about 24
inches apart at the front corners and greater the 25 degrees from each other.
Just as the body of a rare violin makes its
unique sound, it is the body of the church that
determines the performance of a Pipe Organ. Churches generally do not have a problem with spending large

55
These are the churches in which I refused to sell a system until the acoustics were corrected.

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sums of money for a Pipe Organ that sounds good.
What most often
happens is a church will
make room changes56
such as painting walls,
adding carpet or
acoustical tile to get rid
of the echo on the back
wall. As a result, the
sound of the Organ
changes. If the Organist
does not like the
changes, before long
the Organ becomes
neglected. This is the
principal reason why
7 From a top view, coverage is even and there are no overlapping areas. Remember that a floor plan
many churches replace Drawing
suggest little coverage on the sides, however, the spread of the speakers coverage from the roof covers just fine.
Pipe Organs with Also, remember that people should be taught to speak loud enough for people in the first two rows to hear without
Electronic Organs. the sound system. This ensure enough soundDrawing 8:
level across the mic to amplify your voice and not the room.
If you are not sure if you more than one speaker to cover the angles, try
In most cases, once cutting a 2 x 2 ft. piece of cardboard and draw a line from corner to
the novelty of the electronic organ wears off, most corner. The get on the tallest ladder you have available and eye ball the
angles. Generally, most pro speakers provide a 90 degree horizontal
churches find that the new Organ does not perform dispersion. This simple technique will let you know if you need one 90
much better than the old Pipe Organ after they made degree speaker or two 60 degree speakers or whatever your needs are.
seemingly simple or minor interior room changes. This is because the Electronic Organ is restricted by the same
LAWS OF PHYSICS as the Pipe Organ. One should also note that the congregational singing has not been the
same since the room changed either. A church can sit on these problems for 30 to 40 years without ever solving
the original cause of the problem, acoustics. Oh well, next week, somewhere, another Organ company will get
another opportunity to spend the churches money and try to defy physics once again!

Part 4 - Speakers
The final key to a successful sound system is the speakers. The reason why this was left to the last should be
obvious. What good is a $500 or $5,000 speaker if the room and position of the speakers will limit its perform-
ance. In church sound, it is not enough to say, "you get what you pay for." A church has specific and well
defined universal needs. Many churches that have spent large sums of money for "state of the art" systems and
have had no special help on the design of the system, often get only 20 to 40% out of their equipment. Why!
Because somewhere along the line, the communication of information was broken or ignored.
In our work we most often use a point source speaker system. Its cost is between $1,100 to $1,500 per speaker.
Churches from 100 to 6,500 seating have found such speakers worth every penny. Since this speaker will most
likely be used for the next 40 or 50 years, you don't want a speaker you'll have to service frequently.
In the real world, every speaker system has its good points and bad points. In a point source speaker, it has
more good points than any other speaker design. If you study the physics of speaker design, the point source

56
A minor room change is changing carpet runner from 18 pound to 25 pound or repainting a back wall with a water base paint rather than an oil base paint. A
minor change can have profound effects.

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system has the most to offer the listener. Until recently, high powered point source speakers that could handle
over 200 watts did not exist. Today there are point source speakers that handle over 1,000 watts. Because of this
recent breakthrough in technology, many sound system designers are going back to the root of sound system
design.
Historically, the point source speaker was one of the dominant forms of speaker design and installation in the
40s and early 50s. As room sizes and sound levels increased, the need for high powered speakers was high. By
dividing the sound energy into a 2 way or 3 way speaker design, you could increase the sound levels much more.
This was a serious compromise to sound quality and it was, in reality, a step backwards. But, at the time, the
1950s to 80s, there was no other option. Today, many professional sound engineers are returning to the point
source designs.
There is no reason for any church to have poor acoustics or electronic sound reinforcement. Remember,
know the RT60 at 1/3 octaves. Check for parallel walls and focusing reflections. Find the point source sweetspot
and don't go cheap or get the wrong type of speaker for the system.

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 *

Sample 4: Waterloo Brethren Church. 600 seating in this gym. The speaker system has 2 Tannoy
P100s and a 12 channel mixer. Since the picture was taken in 1988, the system has expanded for mic
inputs to 16 channels. Before this, the church had never used more than 3 mics for a service for 20
years.

Parry Sound Pentecostal Church in Parry Sound, Ontario Canada. An eight hundred seat
church. What is not shown is the adjustable bracket the allows the speakers to move side by
side or apart as shown. In this case, the speakers apart worked best. It is 3 Tannoy CPA 15
speakers driven with Ashly Amps and EQ and controlled with a 24 Channel Soundcraft
Spirit Live mixer.

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 Sample 2a. This is the back wall before the room was treated with Acoustical panels.

Sample 3a This is the Back wall of the Prayer Palace. The walls are covered in stone on drywall. The wall panels should
have been made convex to lower the level of the echo, which only affects the choir.

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Sample 2:
Forward Baptist Church
Cambridge, Ontario, Canada
Seating 900
Speaker System 4 Tannoy P100
Amplfiers: Ashly Fet 2000
EQ.: Ashly
Mixer: Allen and Heath SR24
Installed: by Yake Enterprises in 1988
This church was a new church and both Dave Yake and myself were in contact with the Architect, even before the church started construction. We
warned the church of a problem with the back walls.
We knew that the back walls were going to store and reflect enough energy to interfere with speech and music. Everyone was not happy with the
performance of the sound system. Some church members found the sound in the Lobby to be better. The church also looked at replacing the sound
system. Every time someone brought in a demonstration system, the cluster still sounded better. What was funny about the whole mess was that
Dave Yakes original quote in 1987 included acoustical treatment of the church before it was completed but is was cut out of the budget as some
people thought that this was a luxury they could not afford.
In 1995, the church finally asked Dave to install acoustical panels. It was a great success. Not only did the sound system sound better, but the
Piano and Organ sounded better than ever. In 1996 during an interview with a church member, I was informed that the church audio demos had all
proposed sound system that were 3 or 4 times the cost of doing the acoustical treatment. After the demos failed to make an electronic improvement
over the existing system, the church finally realized that there were going to have to treat the room whether they liked it or not.

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 Sample 1.St. James Anglican Church Orillia, Ontario, Canada.
Seating 450.
Speaker System :Tannoy Custom P100 Amplifier: 1 Ashly Fet 2000
Eq:2 Rane ME30 Mixer: EV BK832 - 8 Channels
Installation time: 70 hours RT Time: 2.2 seconds
Option included:
Choir monitors, 70 volt System,
Floor monitors, 2 wireless mic
2 SM58 Microphones Cassette player and recorder units,
Telex hear enhancement system %Alcons: 90
Installed 1991 by JdB Church Sound Services. & Yake Enterprises
Can you see the new speaker system?
(It's at the top of the arch and below the cross beam.)
This church was faced with $150,000 of building repairs - not including the sound system. After getting the contract, I asked the Chairman
of the Board why fix the sound system first? His reply was, When the minister starts asking for money, we dont was people to start bring
food like the last time. It seem that this church board believed that fixing the sound system first would help raise the money needed to do the
building repairs, which were really to meet new fire codes.
In 1995 I visited that church. To my surprise, the new church secretary informed me of several new changes at the church, attributed in part
to the addition of the HIS System. Her biggest excitement was over the new church elevator. She claimed that the fund raising efforts were so
successful, that the church was able to afford an $80,000 glass enclosed elevator which reaches 3 floors. She was told that because the church
bought the sound system first, fund raising was made much simpler.

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These two photo show a before and after installation of a cluster out of the sweetspot of the
room and the new cluster, the lower picture, shows a cluster in the sweetspot. The old cluster
had 2 bass bins and drivers with 5 horns and some bullet tweeters. The new cluster uses 6
woofers and 6 horns in a 2 way configuration.

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Sample 3: The Prayer Palace.
Toronto, Ontario Canada
Seating: 2200 people (Could seating 2500 people if used traditional seating spacing.)
System installed by John Quanz and JdB Sound Acoustics in 1985.
Almost all of the equipment was Peavey for Mixer, Amps, EQ and Speakers.
In 1989, the speaker system was upgraded to Tannoy Speakers.
Both the Tannoy and the Peavey were working successfully. However, the ministry demanded higher sound pressure levels to
accommodate youth concerts which were never part of the original mandate. In 1995, the church switched to Meyer, which meet
the higher sound pressure needed, however, the Tannoy system is still being used for all of the worship services, citing sound
quality is preferred over loudness.
Acoustics were designed by JdB Sound Acoustics. The church made many changes to the original plans. The only change that
was not done was the off setting of the back walls. This would have taken the slight echo of the back wall which only affects the
choir. There are no walls with right angles and most of the outside walls are covered with stone on drywall.
This church often has services over 105dB on the main floor. Song worship can often be over 90 minutes at a time.
Amplification is 10,000 watts total
The house mixer is 24 channels
The Stage mixer is 24 channels x 8 monitor mixes.
The stage is wire for 36 lines.
The stage is built with steel trusses.
Since this picture was taken in 1990, the church added a TV ministry and more lighting.

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Typical view of a church audio mixer desk before people start sitting around it. When the people are sitting
in the pews, the mixer desk almost disappears.

Winter Park Baptist Church, Wilmington, North Carolina. A simple cluster with 2 subs, one large full range
speaker and two smaller speakers for side fills. The church seats 600 and the system is able to support 2400 watts
of power.

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As far back as 1987, churches were using rear projection instead of overheads to scroll the hymns. Also, this 6500 seat church
is so big, that in order to see the ministers face, they used video cameras just to help those who could lip read. There are 3
screens that are 9 feet x 9 feet. This fan shape need all this technology because only 20% of the audience could see the
ministers face at any one time. During a post construction meeting, the board member thought that a rectangle shaped room
with 2 balconies would have been better and would have cost the church about the same.

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Westview Community Church. A 400 seat church in a warehouse. The central cluster uses 2
JBL woofer cabinets and 3 Peavey Horns with CH2 drivers. Only 1 support beam had to be
removed to give the open view of the room. The ceiling here is 14 feet.

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 *!

Fluorescent Lights -
burning more than Electricity! They are stealing the church blind.
Many new and renovating churches have been turning to fluorescent lighting. The reasons seem obvious. They
disperse light better. They are lower in cost to run and maintain. They cost much less to purchase and install.
However, does all of this cost saving have any hidden costs?
Recently, at a Christian junior high school in Alberta, a school principal changed all of the low cost fluorescent
lights to high cost full spectrum or all natural lights. What the principal reported may surprise you.
Almost all of the children's school marks went up. Attendance was also up and short term illnesses like
headaches, colds and flues were down. Now when the principal turned the numbers into percentages, it shocked
many schools around the world into doing something about lighting in the schools. According to the school
principal, attendance absenteeism dropped 65%. The number of days lost from colds and flues also dropped 45%
and in school marks, almost everyone moved up one grade. The teachers also claimed that class tension and
arguments dropped as
well as the number of
times they needed pain
killers for their
headaches almost
disappeared. Why?
For year doctors and
scientists have known
that fluorescent lights
flicker very fast and
have a very high pitched
sound to them. Only
when a ballast is failing
do you hear the light's
sound. Working or
sitting under such light
depletes the bodies
vitamins "A" and "C".
When these two
vitamins are on the short
supply, a person feels
tired and their attention
8 In some cases, a spread out cluster is best. This is true when you have a fan shaped church with a lower
spans are shortened. Drawing ceiling. When the ceiling is below 20 feet or if the speakers are below 20 feet, spreading the speakers out can be
Furthermore, vitamin better than a tight cluster. The variables are back wall angles and overall reverb time. Generally, the longer the
"A" and "C" together reverb time, the closer the speakers should be. Rooms with more than 4 walls need a lot of extra planning.
help to prevent colds

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and flues as well as speed up the healing process.
There is a direct relationship between lights and a
person's health.
In churches, the statistics are just now starting to
show a pattern. It seems that church attendance and
participation is almost always better where no
fluorescent lights are being used. Numbers vary from
3% to 20%. Again, these numbers are only from the
500 churches I have personally worked on.
Much like the church sound system, a church's
attendance and income loss could be significant.
When a church near the Christian school in Alberta
switched their lights, they claimed that the higher
attendance more than paid for the extra expense.
Furthermore, the minister from the church added that
they were able to take on two additional missions that
year.
If your church has fluorescent light, you are well
advised to change them. A very good option is to buy
the more expensive $30.00 full spectrum lights that Drawing 9 This is an example of stacking and splaying. This is the
preferred method, but the least attractive. When there is a longer
have a much higher frequency sound or better yet, reverb time, this becomes the only option. Also, if you are doing a
switch to quartz. Quartz will increase your lighting portable sound system, try stacking like this to one side of the stage. It
bill 20 or 30% but, if your annual income increases may look weird, but when the show is over, it will start looking really
good.
10%, the quartz cost becomes a minor issue. Isn't it
worth spending the extra for a healthier congregation?

Direct Boxes
What are they and why do we need them?

It's 10:00am Sunday morning. The invited Gospel group just showed up an hour late. You have 45 minutes to
set up, do a sound check and rehearse the group long enough to know what kind of sound they are best known for.
One by one the performers enter with their instruments. This group is planning to use the church sound system.
Rumor told them that this church had a very good system. You see one electronic organ, two electronic
keyboards, one string bass with a pickup and one electric guitar with an amplifier head. Finally, you see an
electronic drum kit.
At the front of the church you have 16 mic inputs. You need 5 vocal mics and 9 inputs for the instruments.
That leaves you with a pulpit mic and a tape player input.
Fortunately, you were prepared. Earlier in the week you rented 1 speaker director, 5 passive direct boxes and 2
active direct boxes. The church already owned 2 passive direct boxes.
By 10:30, the sound check was finished with the soundman sitting at his mixer in the pew and 10 minutes later
the group finished their rehearsal and floor monitor check. At 11:00am, service started and the group performed
very well. Most people were not aware that the group set up in only 45 minutes. Is this really possible?

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 Ever since the 16mm film projector was used in the church and connected to the sound system, churches have
needed a direct box57. DI boxes are used to change the output signal from one source and change the level and
impedance to match a microphone level signal input
into a mixer. The most common application of a
direct box is when connecting an electronic keyboard
or similar electronics to a sound system. The DI box
allows you to connect into a snake or existing mic
lines and send the signal up to 700 or 800 feet away.
By converting line level signal to a balanced signal
mic level, you also avoid RF problems and crosstalk
in the mic cables back to the mixer.
There are 4 convenient types of boxes

Passive Direct Box

The most common DI box is the Passive Direct
Box. This unit is often used to connect Guitars,
Keyboards and other electronics that have a line level
out from the instrument. Often the line level voltage
is between .5 volts to 3 volts.58 As a passive unit,
the signal is as good as the transformer that is built Drawing 10 Use the bottom example when looks and
within it. An important feature of many good quality coverage of a wide area is needed.
DI boxes is ground lifting. Since there is no
universal standard for audio equipment and instruments, grounding problems often occur.59 Many DI boxes are
able to isolate grounding problems between various items of equipment.

Active Direct Box

The second most common DI box is the Active Direct Box. These units either work from a battery or phantom
power from a mixer. An active DI box can handle higher signal levels and put out a higher signal level. Further-
more, the frequency response is often better too. When you are performing in a room that has low reverberation
and good performance qualities, it is better to use the active DI box. Also if you plan to use a digital signal in
reinforcement or recording, use the active DI box.

Speaker Director Box

The less common DI box is called the Speaker Director Box. A speaker director is used when the only signal
output available is from an amplifier. Many older 16mm film projectors use a 10 watt tube amplifier for driving
a 10 watt speaker. A tube amplifier should always have a nominal load of 4 ohms or higher on the output or
the amplifier will burn itself out. A good speaker director will present to the amplifier a proper load and convert
the signal to mic levels to either a 150 or 600 ohms. You should never take a signal from an amplifier direct into
a mixer. You will either fry the channel or the power supply in your mixer. Remember, all good direct boxes

57
Often called DI box.
58
Some units can handle +8dB signal
59
Perhaps the new ISO9000 standard may help.... but let'
s see what happens in the next few years.

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have ground lift switches and there are a few units that have an automatic grounding system. Make sure that your
direct box has this feature.

Line Matching Transformer

Another common method of connecting low level
electronics to a sound system is by using a line
matching transformer. The transformer is usually
mounted in a barrel type connector with a inch-tip
sleeve connector at one end and an XLR three pin
connector on the other end. The whole unit is often
about 4 inches long. There are only a few manu-
facturers of these products and they seem to work.
Radio Shack has two types. One converts low
level line outputs to mic levels. The other unit
converts high level line output to mic level. The
performance of these units were bench tested with a
MLSSA and the performance was surprisingly very
good. The limiting factor is voltage. The unit with
the Female XLR to Male inch connectors can not
handle a load much higher that 1 volt of power. Any
signal below 1 volt will have a frequency response
from 10 hertz to 20,000 hertz 1.5dB. The
transformer is down 6dB at 3 hertz. From 50 hertz
to 15,000 hertz the unit is .25dB. In my books,
this is an excellent performance. The best function
for this transformer is in trapping RF signals for
mixers that do not have electronically balanced in-
puts.60 Drawing 11 This is a front view of drawing 8. Remember, keep the drives
The unit with the " female to male XLR can han- apart. The only exception is when you need more than one driver to supply the
dle a lot of power but, there is a major penalty when SPL needed in a given area. In those cases, you stack the speaker instead.
you drive this transformer to hard. In bench meas-
urements, when the sign was greater than 2 volts, it introduced distortion. At 3 volts there was 10% distortion.
At 5 volts there was about 20% distortion. On a guitar this may be desirable or in a noisy night club show where
you won't hear the distortion, but in a church, the distortion can be very unpleasant. As long as the sign stays
below 2 volts, this transformer will do a reasonable job.
In summary, a DI box should always be used as your first choice when connecting an electronic instrument to a
sound system where you are using mic cables over 50 feet to the mixer. Use the in line transformers sparingly,
especially if your don't know the output voltage. And yes, with practice, in 30 minutes you can connect up to 24
mic inputs with two people and finish a sound check. Check DI 1, DI 2, DI 3......
Will The Real Church Audio Contractor Please Show Up?

60
Some mixers have transformer inputs which traps RF.

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 Finding a good church sound system contractor is much like finding a needle in a hay stack. There are some
very good contractors and many who just know how to sell you equipment and make noise with it. How the
system performs or how it was promised to perform is another matter.
The solution to this problem is easy but for some people before they can accept a simple solution, a look at the
past and a review of the current situation is a must.
Part 1.
No Professional Standards
Thirty years ago, there were only 15 to 20 companies building amplifiers, speakers and other major
components. Today, there are hundreds of everything and the successful products as well as the most hyped
products get promoted in trade magazines like SV&C, Sound & Communication and Professional Sound. With
so many products available and so few people to install and sell them, the moment someone says they want to
install sound systems for a business, there is a company ready to supply them.

Does this make every contractor an expert?

No!!! To be an electrician, you have to go to a trade school and learn a standard. However, it does not mean
that the electrician knows how to design a lighting system for a theater stage. Yet at the same time, while I have
been on many church construction sites, the electrician will point out that there is not enough lighting in the
sanctuary. The Architect and engineer says there is and their word is final. Six months later, that church is
asking for donations to upgrade the lights so the elderly can read their large print bibles properly. A quick five
minute phone call to a theater lighting expert could have saved the church time and money. If the Architect or
engineer will not make the phone call, it is up to the church leaders to make it. Isn't team work about the idea of
asking questions, sharing ideas and exploring all of the possibilities before following through on a decision? At
the same time, team work should not have so much red tape that it cripples a project with only one or two people
making all of the decisions.
We should never forget that the Architect is nothing more than an employee with an attitude. Because of in-
timidation and money threats, many churches are afraid to switch architects and engineers mid project. Tears
often roll out of my eyes when, on the dedication day of a new house of worship, I know that people in the pews
can't hear or see properly. Yet the Architect and builder receive high accolades for their work. As far as building
another monument, the Architect did well. However, in meeting the congregational needs in the pew, Architects
demonstrate their true incompetence. On a new building project, the Architect should either take full
responsibility of the performance of the sanctuary or they should be made to submit to someone who is an expert
in acoustics and sound. Regrettably, most churches do not have the professional skills to prevent themselves
from being taken advantage of.

Part 2
No Church Performance Standards
When someone says they build 10 churches a year or they install many sound systems in churches every year,
there is no assurance of the quality of that service because there are no church standards within the church com-
munity. Research has shown that no denomination has ever written or defined a sanctuary performance standard
that represents a style of worship. It is accurate to say that the secular community has been dictating to churches
of all denominations what they should have. After 500 years, don't you think it's time for churches to take
control in the decision of how a house of worship should perform rather than playing the lottery?

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 Part of the problem is this: As an engineer or architect comes out of college or university, they are considered
experts (in the world's eyes) in designing the right facility for anyone who asks of their services. This is a very
poor assumption.

Setting A Standard
The same assumptions are applied to audio and acoustics. Just because an audio company carries audio
products, it does not make them experts. If you ask manufacturers about a company's qualification, the manu-
facturer usually hasn't got a clue if the audio company is truly able to service a church's needs. All the
manufacturer can say is, the audio company has a good credit rating, it sells a lot of products for us and they
know how to make our products work well. At no point is the performance of the sound system defined or
qualified. Churches all to often make assumptions because of association, rather than having a clear picture of
what their needs are.
As best as the research goes, the ratio between companies that sell equipment to churches and contractors that
truly gives the church what they ask for is about 22 to 1.61 That is, if you can find one sound company that does
repeated, consistent work and insists on selling system performance. There will be 22 other companies that will
do and say anything to sell you equipment, often using high pressure sales tactics. You know the line - "This
month there is a special on this mixer and you will save 10% more if you give me the contract now!" What the
salesman is not telling you is that he will get 20% off if he sells 4 of those mixers this month and you are the 4th
client. Remember, many audio companies sell on a quota system. The more they sell, the higher the discount
margins. The consumer does not often get the full price discount advantage passed on to them.
Part 3
Performance

Should a church buy on price or performance?

Churches should buy on performance. What is a church really buying? The church is buying a system that
will give them the ability to hear clearly, without feed noises and without attracting attention unto itself.
Regrettably, most churches are sold on equipment and buy on price. It is nothing short of a joke to hear of a
church board needing three quotes when there is no independent design. Would a church ask for three quotes for
constructing a new building without a set of blueprints to guide the three bidders? And who takes responsibility if
the building is constructed wrong?

61
The main reason for this imbalance is because there is no educational requirement to become an audio contractor. Until now, church audio could only be
taught under apprenticeship with another expert or self taught through trial and error. The book, Why Is Church Sound So Confusing?, is the first attempt to
teach and train people in doing sound properly for churches and only churches.

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 Setting a Standard
The following is the performance criteria as outlined in the Book Why is Church Sound So Confusing?
1. Average working distance from a regular dynamic microphone before feedback -18 inches
2. Maximum working distance from a regular dynamic microphone before feedback - 24 inches
3. Average sound pressure coverage within the seating area +/- 3dB
4. Intelligibility score +/- 2% of 90% in all seats
5. When eyes are closed, look at the source of the amplified sound. When you open your eyes, you should be looking at the
person speaking or in their direction.
6. At 18 inches from the mic, have enough sound pressure level (SPL) to be around 25dB above the room noise or to have an
average SPL of 66dB in all of the seating.
7. To have a sound system that does not increase the reverberation of the room.
8. To have a sound system that does not degrade the performance of the Organ or competes with congregational singing
when a microphone is left on.
9. To have a sound system in which the sound operator can quickly change the controls without people in the audience
noticing the changes.
10. Have a sound system that is stable with 3 mics open and micing at 12 inches without feedback.
11. To have a sound system that will not introduce a signal when using the maximum mic gain for a single microphone. (that
means not hissssss)
12. Have enough SPL in the sound system and without distortion so that a person can be heard clearly when needing to speak
to the audience during congregational singing.

Note: In 1991, over 3,000 churches were given free copies of these specs to help them get the sound systems they needed. Only
one church was reported to have used this guide. They said it kept them from being taken advantage of by a music store they hired
that didn't know what they were doing. Since these specs were included in the book, a number of churches have reported excellent
results as well.

Needs and Wants

Next is filling the needs of the church system.
1. Provide 1 mic input for every 70 square feet of the pulpit/ platform/ alter area. This will ensure enough mic locations for the
choir and all special events.
2. Provide an amplifier that can provide more the 1/2 watt per person. (See the book for more details.) (Some churches may
require 4 watts per person)
3. Provide a tape player and / or CD player for playback of singing events.
4. Provide a tape recorder for recording of services. (Many churches use tape sales to funding other sound system expenses)
5. Provide a 1/3rd octave equalizer for every live mix. Mains, floor monitor, choir monitor....
6. Provide the option for floor monitors without replacing the mixer.
7. Provide the option for choir monitors without replacing the mixer.
8. Provide the option for separate signals from the mixer for Tape Recording, Distributed System (Nursery, offices,
washrooms...) Broadcast output for TV, cable or video, and Hearing Impaired Systems.
9. Pre Fade Listening PFL is a must on all church sound system mixers.
10. Mixer must provide 48 volt phantom power for condenser microphones which use an electric current to power the
microphone.
You can't ask to tender a project without specific goals. When a church asks for three quotes, they are unable
to determine which system is the best value for the dollar because usually there has been no performance bond
included in the request. Furthermore, it is not very ethical to ask three companies to design a system for free,62
ask them to show you their secrets, choose the lowest price package and use some of the secrets for the other
bidders.63 What you most often get back is two quotes from people who sell equipment and the third quote from
a person who refuses to submit a proposal with design details because he is to busy fixing the other two con-
tractors systems.

62
History has show that this method always get mediocre results. This actually costs the church more in the long run.
63
The purpose of articles like this is to show churches a better way to do things and save money. How much money can the whole church community save if
sound was done properly every year? Over 2 billion dollars.

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 The tendered system in a church actually drives up the cost if done properly and ethically. First, you should
hire an independent consultant who will write the specification and supervise the whole installation. Furthermore,
the consultant should be held totally responsible for the performance of the sound system. If the sound system
fails, the consultant should be made to make the sound system work at his own expense unless the contractor
failed to install items correctly.
Three quotes and tenders are fine for public and government bodies where the eyes of the public looks on with
total distrust of the system. A church can't really afford such a bureaucratic system. Tendering done properly
and ethically will increase the cost of a project an average of 20%.
By doing thorough research on church builders, audio and acoustical contractors, the church can actually save
larger sums of money if you also include performance after the project is finished for at least 10 years. By going
directly to the audio contractor who you know will give you the best performance, he will go out his way to give
you the best fair market price for a total solution to your problems.

A good church sound system contractor sells on performance, performance, performance.

Part 4
Performance over Time

The Hidden Costs.

When a church is looking for a sound system, they should invest for the life time of their house of worship.
The right design of a church sound system is the right design regardless of the equipment used. There are
churches that had the right design implemented 30 or 40 years ago and have been enjoying a high performance
system from day one.
After 30 years, the only thing new technology can do is give better fidelity, better equalization and a vast
amount of flexibility. If, after 40 years, you can only improve intelligibility by 2 or 3% with new technology and
you can only increase the average micing distance only from 18 inches to 22 inches, doesn't that tell you that the
new technology is not helping all that much in a church sound system's primary performance? True, 20 years
ago, $4,000 would by a 6 channel mixer with 2 outputs and bass/treble control, 100 watt mono power amplifier
and a 7 band equalizer. Today, you can get a 12 channel mixer with 5 outputs, 3 band eq. on every channel plus
100mm faders, a 2 channel 200 watt power amp. and 2 x 30 band graphic equalizers. So far, has any of this
$4,000 been used to increase the performance of the sound system? No. All you have done is bought parts.64
When a church gets a poor sound system,65 there is a hidden cost. This cost is perpetual until a proper sound
system design is installed. The hidden cost is the income a church loses every time someone leaves because they
can't hear. From many before and after testimonials, churches have noted an increase of 10 to 20% in annual
attendance after a new system is installed. Unfortunately, church denominations don't seem to take church
acoustics and sound system performance serious enough to have a scientific study on church attendance versus the
performance of a sound system, the lighting or the acoustics.
In the book "Why is Church Sound So Confusing?" there is a table that shows the cost of a poor sound system
for a 350 seat church over 10 years. These costs could only be extrapolated from 12 churches in this size
category and of 5 different denominations.66 The table shows that over 10 years, a church can lose over $95,000
64
After 11 years, JdB Sound Acoustics has only done 1 upgrade of a church sound system. The original system was installed in 1952. Every other church has
had to have a complete redesign of the sound system from scratch.
65
That is - a system that fails to perform to a certain standard regardless of the installed price.
66
According to the same book, less that 10% of churches have a proper sound system.

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because people who want to come to church won't because they can't hear.67 Using the same numbers for a 1200
seat church, a church of this size can lose over $600,000.
On the other hand, when churches have bought sound systems based on design and performance, they claimed
higher attendance on average than with the old system. In some churches, the seniors attendance and the youth
attendance increased the most. Such churches also have claimed additional revenues, even during this recession
from 1989 to 1993. In two small churches, they claim that the income difference between the proper system and
improper system was $17,000 annually. Over 10 years, this adds up to $170,000.68 Fact is, most churches put
up with poor sound for over 20 years. Church sound is one of the few items a church can invest in and actually
see a return on investment and people.
Invest in a building and people will be curious to visit it. Invest in the people, and they will stay. A church
sound system is an investment in people.
Part 5
Buying Parts or a System.

Is the contractor a distribution/retailer or manufacturer?

A good church sound system contractor is really a portable manufacturing company that comes to your church's
door steps. A good church builder is a manufacturer that comes to you as well. When you buy a car, stove or
computer, it comes out of the factory ready made. When you get your car, you know its performance and expect
it. This is not the case with a church sound system. You have nothing except a verbal promise that what you are
buying is better than before. You don't know if what you are buying will meet your needs.
When you buy a church sound system, the sound system gets manufactured before your eyes. It comes to you
in parts and it is built and assembled on sight. Mic lines, speaker lines and wall plates don't come out of a box
pre-assembled. Everything has to be buried in walls to disappear where ever possible. The speaker system, 99%
of the time, has to be cosmetically altered to blend in with the room decor. Finding the room's sweetspot for
speaker placement sometimes takes minutes, in other churches it takes hours. Often a custom mixer desk has to
be ordered and installed in the pews. For some churches, a pew has to be cut and refinished. When you buy a
car, all of these things are done for you to get a certain level of performance and safety. When you buy a car, do
you get to choose where the wheels go or where the engine is mounted? No. All you get to choose is what size of
tire or engine. The manufacturer makes all of the decisions for you with options to suite your personal needs.
When you buy a church sound reinforcement system from a professional contractor who insists on
performance,69 you don't get to choose the location of the speaker system or the soundman.70 What you do get to
choose is the size of the speakers and mixer.71
A good contractor will limit the choice of brand names because he knows that some products don't work well
together and will reduce the performance of the system. Unless you are designing full time and installing sound

67
Most people when asked, are not aware of why they really stopped attending a certain church. However, many people often mention something that a
minister had said and disagreed with. Usually it is either an excuse not go to church yet, when you really listen to what they are saying, it often sounds like
they misunderstood the minister. Could it be that the intelligibility was so poor that what the minister said and what the person heard was indeed two
different messages!
68
A 1200 seat church reported a three year annual difference of 120,000.
69
The serious church sound system contractor is not going to do a demonstration to put on a show to entertain you. There is only one sweet spot in a church
and a demonstration will most likely not show you the full performance of the system.
70
Demonstrations are easy to fudge. Even professionals are often fooled during hype meetings. Side by side demo'
s can also be fixed easily. When
consulting, many contractors refuse to do demo'
s if they know I am the consultant.
71
In Kingston, Ontario at St. Margaret's United Church, they had several companies setup expensive demonstration systems that they used on Sundays. The
contract was finally awarded to a company that did no demonstrations and sent delegates on their own to other projects he had completed and let the sound
systems speak for themselves.

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systems to a certain performance expectation, you don't know how many pieces of audio equipment interact. The
audio and acoustical persons whose reputation is based on performance will always deliver a system that draws
people into church and there is no real price that you can put on that in the long run.

Part 6
The committee
When people say, - I'm a musician and I work with audio equipment every day! or -I work in a recording studio
every day and I know how to mix and hear! or -I work in a music store, I work with audio equipment every day!
or -I work as an audio contractor and we sell to everyone because we are experts! Run away from them. None of
these professions can prepare a person for church sound. In fact, historically these people do more harm than
good.
You must have more than just a loose grasp of acoustical knowledge and experience. You must have more than
an intimate knowledge of high performing, low cost sound equipment that is suitable for church sound.
The best person to head a sound system committee should be a business person with a mandate for performance
and not a mandate for the lowest price.72 There should be either 3 or 5 people in the committee. None of these
people should have any previous audio or acoustical related experience including musicians, choir directors or
Organists. The only exception is when a person has moved from one church to another where the other church
has bought a sound system the first church should examine.
Next, a church audio committee should write down the performance criteria and then their needs. (Read -
Setting a Standard).
By applying and demanding these twelve performance items, you can be assured that the sound system will do
the job of allowing everyone to have a greater involvement with what is going on during worship service. Next is
our needs and wants (Wish List).
With these items taken care of, things like wireless mics are a snap to just plug in and go.
The real church contractor is more than a person who knows about wire, speakers and amplifiers. Yes, he is an
expert on equipment related to church use. But he also has to be an expert on acoustics and be concerned with
room noise, congregational singing, hearing in the pews, special worship service events and have a reasonable
knowledge of the style of worship your church celebrates.

Before you choose your next church sound system contractor, listen to his work in three or four churches. Ask
plenty of questions about service and performance and if he is currently working on a few systems, go visit him on
site. At one of the churches you like, have the contractor explain what was involved, was there room for
improvement and if you were to do the system over again and money was not an issue, what changes would he
make.73
Oh, one more thing. A good sound system contractor will always take the time to show you how the laws of
physics are applied to the craft. And when you do eventually get around to discussing equipment, he'll be more
interested in it's performance. The features and benefits are included automatically.74

72
Remember, a cheap $4,000 system can cost your church thousands in lost revenue.
73
A real pro is never satisfied with his work and is always prepared to show the strength and weakness in a system. After all, there is no such thing as a
perfect sound system. However, there is getting the best performance out of a room.
74
This is something they don'
t teach you in high pressure selling school where all they teach is features and benefits. These items are meaningless if you don'
t
have performance.

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 If you use the guidelines presented,
you will have a simple time of
choosing the right audio and acoustical
contractor at a fair, market value cost.

Microphones - Myths and Facts

Recently there has been a flood of
very good articles on microphones.
Many of the articles are directed to
churches. Much of the information is
very good and extremely helpful. Even
I have learned a few new tips.
However, while reading through
these articles, there has been one very
important item that is almost never
mentioned. A microphone for sound
reinforcement can only perform as
well as the rest of the sound system
performs. Furthermore, if the
acoustics are poor, a microphone's
performance will also be limited.
If you have to stand within 6 inches
of a mic all the time, you have either a
sound system or acoustical problem or
both. Some articles suggest that In case you need to hang mics, this is the proper way to mic a choir. This arrangement give 160
degrees of coverage. The mics could be set for 180 degrees, but the choir loft was not that wide.
certain types of microphones can work There has never been a time when this method didnt work better that other methods.
miracles and they were invented in
spite of the laws of physics. From what the writers of the articles suggest, if you have band "X", it will be the
best mic for such a situation. Now we should be fair and make the distinction between microphones for recording
purposes and microphones for reinforcing live sounds.
In a recording situation, there are many ways to use a microphone. Microphone types and quality are very
apparent when hearing the playback of an event.

Live Sound
In live sound, there are many restrictions. Room acoustics and sound system performance has a huge bearing
on what you can and can not do with a mic. The beef is, many of the articles assume that the sound system and
acoustics in the church are good or excellent. In the real world, the majority of churches (approximately 80%)
have poor acoustics and often the wrong sound system design is being used.
In one article, the writer suggests that if you are picking up too much organ when micing the choir and the mics
you are using are Cardioid patterned, just turn the mic further away from the organ and above the choir. In a few
churches this may be just enough to say I heard something or improve the recording of the choir. But will this
work if the church has a reverb time of 4 seconds? probably not. The longer the reverb time, the longer the sound
is around to cycle through the sound system many times over to create feedback.

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 Many of the expensive high quality microphones do not make a significant improvement in a poorly designed
sound system or where the acoustics has focusing points or long reverb times.

Microphone Patterns
The other misleading bit of information is in the pattern pickup of microphones. A cardioid or super cardioid
mic does have excellent rejection of mid and high frequencies. In low frequencies, the rejects are less. According
to some polar plots of very popular microphones, they have good signal rejection from -10 to -25 dB from 250
hertz and up.75 However, most polar plots that show 125 hertz or 63 hertz, the pattern shows a rejection of only
-10, -5dB or -0. Now remember, speech is from 80 to 1200 hertz. 80 to 250 hertz is where most of a person's
strength in their voice comes from. It becomes next to impossible to expect a microphone to give a substantial
gain before feedback and reinforce a choir or for distant micing in a poor situation, because the microphone is
almost omni directional in the lower part of the speech range.

If the speaker system is near by, if you have a long reverb time, if you have other instruments that are playing
louder than the choir and if there are room noises above 40dB, you will need open heart surgery before you will
hear major results with expensive microphones.
Playing games with microphones becomes a very expensive exercise in learning. The best advice is this: It will
always be better to invest in the speaker system design and acoustics for maximum performance. It allows you to
get excellent results from average microphones like a Shure SM58 or an EV N/D50.
If you were to buy 10 - $600.00 mics you'll have spent $6,000.00 for a minor or negligible improvement. If
you bought instead 10 - $180.00 standard professional mics you'll have spent $1,800 and now you can spend
$4,200 on improving the design of the speaker system. By doing this you will get the maximum performance out
of every microphone you use in the sound system. Furthermore, when you can afford a higher quality microphone
for the pulpit or choir, you will hear the investment right away. Then all of the advice these other articles give
you becomes meaningful.76
In church sound, there is no chicken and egg argument about which came first. We all know that the egg
comes first don't we?

Letters from You

Dear Joe,
Why do you keep repeating yourself throughout the book? It does get dull.

Dear Reader,
Whenever a church buys a new sound system with the wrong design or installed outside of the sweetspot, the
church feels ripped off. Since audio was introduced into churches 60 years ago, people have been conditioned
that all new sound systems take a while to "balance the system" until it will sound right. What could be further
from the truth.

75
This is the microphone'
s ability to reject sounds behind the mic capsule.
76
Some of the better articles on microphone techniques are free. If your write to Shure, AKG, Electro-Voice or Altec, the will send very good literature for
using all types of microphones. Some of the articles are a good guide on technique rather than selling you product. Electro-Voice (EV) has a program call the
PA bible. Your local authorized dealer will show you how to get it. This is an excellent source of information on mics and PA equipment.

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 At first, when a new sound system is used for its first service, everyone is happy because there has been a
change and all the church members have to decide is if the new system is helping or not. If the system has been
done right, people state their pleasure right away at the end of the first service. Unless there has been a major
technical problem, a proper church sound system will work right the first time and every time.
If the system is the wrong design, it will take a while before serious complaints are fielded. Usually this
happens about 6 to 8 weeks after the system is in and people with hearing problems start making comments.
Remember, we have been taught to wait before complaining. If you are not happy with the system at the end of
the first service, tell your contractor that they have one week to fix the problem or the new sound system will be
returned!!!
But what do most churches do! Because the sound system contract did not have a performance bond, there is
no way of proving if the contractor kept his agreement. After all, you waited 8 weeks before deciding that the
sound system was no good! Also, it is impossible to make the contractor make the system perform better because
as long as all of the equipment works and the system makes a noise, the contractor did complete the terms of the
contract. As long as the performance of the system is not spelled out in detail77 in the contract, a court of law
will support the contractor.
Next, when the church is unable to get any satisfaction, a member of the church will put a lot of heart into
making improvements as best as he knows how. Often, he does make enough of an improvement to get a
consistent performance. Next, people with minor hearing problems start choosing the ideal seating space so that
they can hear. Some people become very possessive of a particular seating position78. Church sound should
always be a pleasant experience.79
Ever since I was taught how to do church sound systems and acoustics properly, I have been trying my best at
teaching others. For every church that listens and gets the result that proves that this message is true, 10 other
churches will run off and make the same mistakes. Church people (as I am a church person) often have an
attitude that unless it comes from God, unless I see a miracle and unless it's easy to do, I'm not going to change
because you wrote it in a book or came to my church and taught it. Church people are rightfully suspicious of
anyone who claims that a sound system can pay for itself within 24 months. True, some churches see the pay
back in 45 months while others have seen the pay back in 8 months. Almost every church with a proper sound
system stands a better chance of surviving until the year 2010 than a church that ignores the need of its members
wanting to hear today.
Doing a church sound system properly is much more work than most of the systems I have replaced, but the
rewards are well worth the effort.
About two years ago, in my seminars, someone, who I regard as a professional minister, suggested repeating
the most important messages as often as possible and also getting people in the audience to repeat it back. Guess
what, it worked!! Thus, the same concept was included in writing the book. Hence, I just used this letter reply
to repeat the message again.
If we were to read between the lines of the question, could it be said that you did get the message but you are
looking for an easier and cheaper way of upgrading your sound system? If there was, don't you think that I
would tell you about it?

77
It must be written in like it is described in the section called Setting a Standards. You can use this section for your next sound system or acoustics project.
This standard will ensure results.
78
This is another reason why most churches with movable seating and a poor sound system don'
t have many elderly members.
79
Nightmares are for horror films and the living dead..

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Advanced Question.
Dear Joe,
Why is it when you have a left/right speaker system and then you switch to a cluster, there is less gain before feedback in
certain buildings? Although intelligibility, attentions span problems and dead spots have virtually disappeared, gain is worse
than before.
Doug Hall, Sound Contractor in Florida

Excellent question. I have experienced this myself on a few occasions. This is the kind of question than can
lead to doubts about a system. The answer can be one thing or a combination of items that ultimately shows how
poorly the acoustics or shape of the church is.
First of all, gain is relative to what your needs are. If you're in a Pentecostal church where everyone usually
swallows the mic anyway, what is wrong with making everyone use microphones differently? If you're in a
Traditional church where everyone wants to defy physics and stand 4 feet from a mic and be heard at 65dB, you
have to find out why. Usually why, means changing the room. The very thing everyone hates to hear.
First, check the equalization. Use the feedback method. A wrong eq. setting will reduce the system gain.
Next, you need to be 100% positive as to where the sweetspot is. If you're out by 6 inches or more, you will
have to move the speakers around. If you're in a bulkhead, you may have no place to go.
In the third area to look at, you will need a TEF or MLSSA80 or some kind of test equipment that will do FFT's
or first reflection measurements (ETC - Energy Time Curve). Once set up with the test mic at the pulpit position,
get a large 4' x 4' sheet of plywood covered with 4 inches of dense foam or pillow of the same size. Next, take a
measurement using the speakers in the overhead cluster. You will notice two or three strong signals. One of the
signals should equal the distance of a sound traveling from the speaker to a rear wall and back to the microphone.
This signal should be -25dB.81 If the signal is above -25dB, then you most likely have an echo problem or the
back walls of the church are focusing the sound back to the pulpit.
The next signal peak should be sound from the speaker system itself. Lower frequencies are omni directional.
Usually, its sound's below 250 hertz. If this signal is above -25dB, then that means that cluster has to be moved
higher, or the roof is reflecting the sounds down, or there is a beam or post that has a reflective path equal to the
distance from the speaker to the microphone. Either way, the speaker system or some physical obstacle has to be
moved.
The third reflection or signal peak is usually a problem with standing waves. These are frequencies that will
repeat the reflections many times. Usually this is from parallel walls or floor and ceiling. In a well designed
church, these parallel surfaces are usually not a problem. In a poorly designed building, a cluster will show the
acoustical mistakes made.
Now that we know roughly what to look for in an ETC, you can use your 4 x 4 piece of plywood to determine
where the unwanted reflection is coming from. Since an ETC is a time measurement, you can easily convert time
into feet and calculate the distances of these reflections. If the reflection is 45 feet, then the offending wall is
about 22.5 feet away. Once you know the distance, place the plywood about 3 feet from the microphone
between the suspect wall and the mic. Take another measurement. What has happened to the reflection? If it
dropped, you have to determine if moving the speaker or fixing the wall is the right move. If it did not drop, then
move the plywood and repeat the measurements until you have tracked down every major reflection.
If gain is your only problem and the roof is to low or moving the cluster puts the speaker system into a position
in which a dead spot shows up, close micing will be a must. Chances are, if you have a gain problem, you may
80
You should have a professional taking these measurements.
81
-25dB is 25dB below a reference point of Zero. The computer acoustical measurement program does all of this for you.

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also have a problem with non-amplified sounds like a pipe organ or the choir singing. Once again, here is
another factor screaming at you saying "FIX THE ROOM!"
Remember, the reason you switched to the cluster system is because you had dead spots, listener's fatigue and
other performance problems. Often a Left/right speaker system or a distributed system hides or masks acoustical
problems while you're struggling with the ability to hear. When the right sound system is finally installed in a
church, the design limitations of the sanctuary are exposed. True, many scientific minds are hard at work with
trying to defy the laws of physic as we know them today. But until there is some kind of miracle breakthrough
seventy or eighty years from now, we have to deal with the present and reality.
Reality says that once you have exhausted your options with electronics, "FIX THE ROOM!" Recently, in one
church which had a cluster system that worked well for year, a visiting Gospel group set up a left/right speaker
system that impressed everyone so much, the church decided to change the sound system design. Although the
new speaker system design worked well for pre recorded music from tapes and CD's, speech and special music
that was mono sounded terrible. For 6 months this church tried their best to duplicate what the gospel group had
done. In that 6 months, the average weekly attendance dropped.
After a phone call to the gospel group, the church soundman was in for a shock when he heard why he was
having so much trouble. First of all, the gospel group's system was setup in stereo for music and mono for
speech. Second, only the stereo keyboard, the stereo organ and the music playback were in stereo. The vocals
and other mono instruments were mono only to either the left or right speaker, depending on which side of the
stage the performers where standing. In fact, if a person walked with a live mic to the opposite side of the stage,
the soundman could paned the mic to follow the person moving. This was a true artist at work. According to the
group's soundman, he never has a mono signal paned to center or both speakers.
The other element the church did not account for was the quality, type and positioning of the speaker system.
The group used a rather expensive speaker system that had very well controlled and predictable characteristics.
The speakers were professional grade but they were very HI FI sounding. As for positioning, they had the
speakers up on very high stands. These stands were able to place the speakers 20 feet high if the ceiling allowed
for it. In fact the system was really set up as a left/right cluster system. Also the speakers were at least 5 feet in
front of the group at every performance.
With this set up, they could literally have excellent sound quality in 95% of the churches they went to. The
church that tried the left/right system returned to the cluster system, but with a twist. They raised enough money
to make the new cluster a stereo cluster. All that the original system was lacking was a little quality, extra bass
speakers and a different hook-up which now allows for stereo music. Within 3 months, attendance was back to
normal.
If you have a church that works better with a LEFT/RIGHT mono system in the area of gain (than a cluster
system), you will have to make some tough decisions about fixing the room verses the gain problem. The cluster
system has simply revealed a problem that the people in the church were trying desperately to deny and avoid
repairing. Lets face the facts. To the average person, the idea of fixing the air in a room is as foreign as asking a
Doctor to fix a rubber raft while floating down white water rapids in the Colorado river. The Doctor will say, "It
can't be done. Nobody can patch rubber while it is wet." But the expert river rafter does it all the time. There is
no mystery to church acoustics, but you have to be very detailed in everything that you do.
Is close micing an acceptable solution? Did equalization help? Did you try a PARAMETRIC eq. in series
with a 1/3rd graphic eq.? Did you have to do reflection tests? Is fixing the room the only solution? Now that you
know what to do, what are you waiting for!

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Dear Joe,
Are there any mathematical equations that helps you to design a sound system or the acoustics?
If there is, why are they not in your book?
Absolutely! There are many equations you need to use when designing a listening space. It is these equations
that allow some acoustical programs to simulate82 room and sound systems before they are even built. However,
there is a very large gap between knowing the calculations and real world application.
There are calculations for speakers, the "Sweetspot" and amount of power to us for your electrical supply.
There are calculations for surface materials, surface shapes and surface sizes. Although there are calculations for
just about everything, it is the variables that always get overlooked and thus, gets the well meaning amateur in
trouble.
Consider an experiment done 30 years ago.83 There were two recording studios built side by side. The rooms
were 99% identical. The only difference between the two rooms were the spacing of the wall studs and conduit
sizes. Both rooms had identical equipment. The only other difference was in the carpet under pad.
For three days the studio owners invited professional recording sound engineers to hear their own work on the
new system. Half of the people went to room "A" and the others went to room "B". Although all of the
equipment was 100% the same and adjusted the same, almost all of the engineers were convinced that the
speakers in room "A" were not the same as the speakers in room "B". Some engineers were so upset with the
differences that they refused to work in the room in which the speakers were different.
Oddly enough, the majority of sound engineers choose room "A". This room had 2" x 8" x 12" stud spacing,
smaller sized conduits and thick open cell under pad. Room "B" had 2" x10" x 24" stud spacing with fewer large
conduits and a thinner industrial grade under pad.
Later, the same experiment was done with 50 people off the street. Most of these people noticed a difference
as well. However, almost everyone chose the first room they listened to.
If such subtle things that you can not see can make such a big difference and the acoustical consultant does not
have 100% say in how a building is built, how can a simple set of equations help? The prediction model is as
good as the people following the plan. Likewise, in solving problems, people have to be almost like super sleuths
in order to use the calculations properly.
At Bell Northern Research in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, they were trying solve a problem with their video and
audio conferencing systems and they wanted set to acoustical standards for conference rooms. In the process, a
science engineer from Bell Northern Research called upon 8 well known experts on acoustics. One of the experts
returned with a simple solution and standard within 30 minutes. The other experts returned with their ideas 3 or 4
days later. Each had different ideas and quantities of how to approach the problem. Each of them used the same
equations, yet they all came up with different answers. Most of the experts wanted time to experiment. Only one
person was confident enough to say he had the solution.
Bell Northern Research tried three of the expert's methods over a six month period before they tried the solution
that came to them the fastest. This solution was the most satisfactory. To this day, the standard stands at Bell
Northern Research. After questioning the person from Bell Northern Research about the procedure, I discovered
82
Be forewarned! Simulation programs can easily be fudged. Already, I have had several reports of churches who relied on consultants who used these
simulation programs to make major decisions in the design of the church and the sound system. So far I have to report no success stories, only horror
stories. These tools should only be viewed as illustration tools or sales tools - not decision makers. In Sound, new technology does not mean better sound.
From experience it seems that new technology increases the opportunity for mistakes and use of a product in the wrong application. Since there is no
consensus in the industry for sound system performance, how can a simulation program be meaningful to people who have no idea as to what a church
needs in the first place?
83
This is a story given to me from a recording engineer in California.

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an interesting thing about people. The science engineer from Bell Northern Research was told by each of the
other experts that nobody else was as good as they were. Each expert was selling themselves rather than offering
solutions or admitting they did not have enough experience to offer a solution. The science engineer from Bell
Northern Research was sold on hype, even though he knew that the person who had the answers first, was indeed
right.
When the science engineer from Bell Northern Research was pressed a little further, he also admitted that he
was longing to be in on the ground floor of something new and get international credit for the work. He was
hoping he could reinvent the wheel. In the end, the Bell Northern Research science engineer finished the project 8
months behind schedule and 250% over budget.
It's impossible to have people set their personalities on the shelf every time you're looking for help. For this
reason, the more equations or detailed information I put in the book, the more confused or discouraged a lay-
person can become in solving problems. Isn't it better to know that there is a solution rather than taking on a huge
task and responsibility of other people's money? Don't you exercise more power by demanding a performance
standard from a contractor or consultant rather than risking failure in the eyes of other church members? Doesn't
being responsible for an excellent solution make you look good in your church member eyes.
By including complex formulas and calculations in the book, more church sound systems would fail to meet the
standards written in the book because the experience factor could never be written in less than 10,000 pages, let
alone 200 pages. The goal of the book was to give answers and sources for solutions. There are already enough
confused people trying to use other excellent books on acoustics with some of the formulas, who hurt our trade as
it is, by expanding the myth that acoustics and sound are hit or miss. I don't want to fuel the confusion any
further.
Now that the tongue lashing is out of the way, there will be some formulas added in future editions of the book.
Each formula will be introduced in laymans terms with several examples. It is my hope that lay people don't get
so caught up in the formulas that they loose sight of achieving the goals.

Lighting Standards
Dear Joe,
I know your not a lighting expert but the experts our church has been talking to are suggesting lighting
that will not be bright enough. Any suggestions? Keith Manuels, Dallas Texas

Dear Keith, although I do not profess to be a "lighting expert", I have designed and installed a number of
sanctuary and platform lighting systems. In a sanctuary, a lighting system must do several things.
A: The lighting system on the platform must be brilliant enough to make distant items look closer. The brighter
the lighting, the closer people and objects become.
B: The lighting should be bright enough for a person up to 40 feet away to be able to lip read people speaking on
the platform, podium, pulpit, alter and within the general seating area. (Some churches have open pray or share
of needs).
C: The lighting must be bright enough in the pews so that a persons eyes can focus quickly back and forth from
the song leader to the hymnal during congregational singing.
D: With low cost modern technology in our hands, many churches video tape their services. The brighter the
lights, the better and sharper the picture.
E: The color temperature of the light bulbs should be as close as representing natural day time lighting.

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 F: The lighting has to be diffused enough to
prevent shadows in the pews.
Here is one example of the numbers reported by some of the
According to the "books" that professional
churches.
lighting people often refer to, the suggest 1. Church seating capacity - 500 people
lighting for houses of worship should range 2. Average attendance - 250 people
for 18 to 40 foot-candles. A photographers 3. Average Sanctuary lighting time - 1000 hours per year.
light meter will give an accurate 4. Average charge per 100 kWh - $9.00
5. Old lighting system 5KWH x 1000 hours - $450.00 per year
measurement.
6. New lighting system 24KWH x 1000 hours - $2,160.00 per year
From what churches have been telling me, 7. New church members - 5% or 12 people
this is not enough. The guidelines the 8. Average tithe per person - $15.00 per week.
lighting experts often refer to are meant for 9. Added income per year - $9,360.00
theaters and auditoriums. There in no well
know book on church lighting that shows the
feature and benefits of good lighting. Nor are there any books that clearly state the consequences of poor lighting.
From interviewing church leaders who have upgraded their lighting, they make the suggestion that sanctuary
lighting has to be bright, colorful and controllable.
The number one caution - do to not use any kind of lighting that uses transformers or ballast84. This include
Metal Halide, Mercury Vapor and Florescence. Any lighting system that takes more that 10 second to turn on is
viewed as a nuisance and a distraction.
The second most requested item is centralized lighting controls with dimming and remote controls. A lighting
system with dimmer packs such as the ones used for theater staging offer the best deal. They should cost a little
less to install which off sets some of the initial expense. Although dimmers offer little in power savings directly,
the added ability to turn lights off and on as needed during a worship service does present some cost savings.
In Religion Magazine, October 1993 and in other church periodicals, the emphasis has been on lighting that is
between 85 to 110 FC for the sanctuary seating and 130 to 200 FC for platform lighting. Some Architects have
voiced strong condemnation of such waste of lighting systems. However, the owners of churches which are now
using this high standard of lighting put things in a different point of view. They view lighting as a source of
income. If a high quality lighting system attracts people into the church, the extra people contribute more than
what any an "auditorium" lighting system save in energy costs.
Energy conservation sounds great but at what cost. According to some church lighting experts who are using
this higher standard for existing churches, they report attendance increases as high as 25%. At first when I heard
of this I was skeptical. These people asked me to call some of the churches they worked on. In each case the
church confirmed 5 to 15% sustained attendance after 18 months. One church said the visitor rate for the first 4
months of the new lighting system in an Episcopal cathedral type church was as high as 50% on some days. Later
the rate dropped to 11% higher attendance from the 2 years previous the lighting system change.
1.

As you can see, a 500 seat church can be ahead $7,200 per year in real extra income or the same church can
have a lighting system that costs $450 per year and, as they often do, have a very high maintenance cost. What
this lighting scheme does not show is planned lighting that ushers people to sit where you what them to sit.

84
Light transformers fail often. A well designed sound system can actually amplify the buzzing of a light transformer / ballast and ceiling fans that are using
cheap controls.

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 With lights that are on dimmers, you can have some lights on full near the front and have the rest of the light of
or dimmed more that 70%. People by human nature will sit where the lighting is the brightest. As the first people
enter the sanctuary, they usually will sit under the brighter lights. As the front area seating increases, you can
gradually increase the lighting slowly.
If your church has windows or if there are areas for weekday services in which people come to, you can turn a
number of lights off to cut your power consumption from 24KWH to 3 or 4KWH. (This is assuming that you are
using quarts lighting). It would be accurate to say that a high quality lighting system can be far more economical
than traditional lighting systems that only meet secular lighting needs.
Church lighting is important. The choice is yours. Don't take my word for it. Check it out. Get a light meter as
see for yourself what church lighting needs are all about.
This of course in no way suggest that Architects and Lighting companies are wrong in what they are doing.
Rather, these people are relying on old and out dated information to make decisions for the church community.
Many of the newest book on Architectural Lighting are actually using guidelines and standards set between 1957
to 1965 when businesses could afford to spent their own money on research. This information is out dated and it
does not reflect human natures reaction to lighting, nor does it reflect the true economics.
This information that I have presented here must be challenged and debated further. If this information is
wrong. I will print a retraction. If you, the church community suggest that church lighting standard must be
updated, then every effort will be taken to write a contemporary lighting standard for the church community.
Thank you Keith for your questions. If you have a question about your house of worship, the sound system,
acoustics, lighting or anything else that relates to improving a church's attendance from the physical or
psychological point of view, please write to:
Thank you.

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 +
Attendance Tables
The following tables show how much a 10% change in attendance in a typical church can influence the financial well
being of a church. The first table is for a 350 seat church. The second table is for a 600 seat church and the third table is
for a 1200 seat church. These charts only reflect sound system changes.
These statistics are based on the following information.
From 1990 to 1993, 22 churches received a HIS SYSTEM or similar type of sound system. 14 of the churches showed
a growth between 5 to 25% - 6 to 18 months after the initial installation. 2 of the churches showed a decline in
attendance due to the 1989-93 recession and pastoral change. The remaining 6 churches showed no significant increase,
however, church attendance remained the same with more elderly people attending who replace younger families who
move out of the area.
The 14 churches that claimed higher attendance's also said that for 3 months after the new sound system was installed,
there was an "invite your neighbor" type of campaign, boasting that the new sound system will help visitors to hear better
and enjoy the worship service better. In the other churches there was no promotion given.
Other statistics come from calling other know churches throughout the US and Canada and asking for before and after
attendance records. THIS WAS A RANDOM SURVEY & IT WAS NOT SPONSORED BY ANY RELIGIOUS GROUP
OR AUDIO MANUFACTURER. THE CHURCH COMMUNITY SHOULD HAVE A PROFESSIONAL
ORGANIZATION TO CONFIRM OUR RANDOM FINDING.
When the acoustics are changed, the increases can be higher. Since acoustical changes are less frequent, getting a large
sample of attendance records is much more difficult. Of the 5 churches where acoustical changes were made, the sound
system was also changes. 3 of these five churches showed a high attendance change.
Although these samples are not large enough to be considered scientific, they do present enough information that
should require further professional studies.
Almost all churches that use a HIS System and have promoted the system to the community have reported a higher
attendance. These numbers do not include inflation, leadership changes, other economic factors or politics. The costs of
the new system are based on 1988 prices. Sound systems today, cost about the same as they did 10 years ago. These
tables are based on information from churches in Canada and The United States.
These charts show that there is a monetary benefit to good sound in a church. In churches where the new audio
system was installed and there was little no significant attendance increase, there were many people who have stated that
they heard the entire sermon for the first time. How does one put a price on that? The gift of hearing is priceless.
According to CTi Magazine, July/August 1993 issue, page 40, there is an article put together by Mr. John C. LaRue
Jr. about church education. In the statistics his company researched, they claim that the average church has a Sunday
morning attendance of 444 people and an average annual budget of $425,000 to 450,500 per year. This translates into an
average figure $18 to $20 per person. Please note that the figures below are much more conservative.
If our findings of our non-scientific surveys are true, then the church community could be loosing about 1.3 billion
dollars a year. Since the church community has not studied the possibility that poor sound systems could be hurting
church attendance, we can only speculate and use the following tables to say "WHAT IF?" We should never forget that
the health and growth of any church should come from its pastors and board members and the sound system is just a tool
to assist that growth or it creates an invisible wall that gets in the way for some people.

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 JdB Sound Acoustics
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Table 1
Church Size in Seating 350 People
Average Weekly attendance 170 People
Average Weekly Tithe per person $10.00
Cost of Old Sound System $3,000.00
Loss in Attendance due to hearing problems 10% -19 people
Lost Income Weekly -$187.00
Lost Monthly income -$804.10
Lost Annual income -$9,724.00
10 year cycle -$97,240.00
Total Loss over 10 years -$100,240.00
Cost of New Sound System $12,000.00
Attendance Increase with new sound system 10% 17 People
Increase in Tithes and offerings weekly $170.00
Increase in Tithes and offerings monthly $731.00
Increase in Tithes and offerings annually $8,840.00
10 year cycle $88,400.00
Total Earnings over 10 years $76,400.00
Payback Period 16.4 months
Total Cost difference between the two sound systems. $176,640.00

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Table 2
Church Size in Seating 600 People
Average Weekly attendance 250 People
Average Weekly Tithe per person $15.00
Cost of Old Sound System $5,000.00
Loss in Attendance due to hearing problems 10% -28 people
Lost Income Weekly -$412.50
Lost Monthly income -$1,773.75
Lost Annual income $21,450.00 -
10 year cycle -$214,500.00
Total Loss over 10 years -$219,500.00
Cost of New Sound System $20,000.00
Attendance Increase with new sound system 10% 25 People
Increase in Tithes and offerings weekly $375.00
Increase in Tithes and offerings monthly $1,612.50
Increase in Tithes and offerings annually $19,500.00
10 year cycle $195,000.00
Total Earnings over 10 years $175,000.00
Payback Period 12.4 months
Total Cost difference between the two sound systems. $394,500.00

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Table 3
Church Size in Seating 1200 People
Average Weekly attendance 750 People
Average Weekly Tithe per person $15.00
Cost of Old Sound System $10,000.00
Loss in Attendance due to hearing problems 10% -83 people
Lost Income Weekly -$1,237.50
Lost Monthly income -$5,321.25
Lost Annual income -$64,350.00
10 year cycle -$643,500.00
Total Loss over 10 years -$653,500.00
Cost of New Sound System $35,000.00
Attendance Increase with new sound system 10% 75 People
Increase in Tithes and offerings weekly $1,125.00
Increase in Tithes and offerings monthly $4,837.50
Increase in Tithes and offerings annually $58,500.00
10 year cycle $585,000.00
Total Earnings over 10 years $560,000.00
Payback Period 5.2 months
Total Cost difference between the two sound systems. $1,228,500.00

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 +,
Some churches insist on using basic drywall construction. 2 x 4 construction as described below, gives a
60dB reduction. Load bearing 2 x 6 and 2 x 8 construction must use the same technique. When the outside
wall is brick or block, use 3/4" plywood board then 5/8th drywall on top. Do not use 1/2 plywood or drywall.
The cutaway drawings below is incomplete.

For the Hall Way side of this wall

use resilient channels at 8"

Use Yellow Sound Soak

Fiberglass

2" Air Space Between the walls. This

will still be a 12" wall. Use 5/8th drywall

Make sure that the floor is sealed to the wall.

Use a Silicone glue that seals the air but will
also act as a shock absorber.

Double Drywall on both Sides. Use Silicone on

the Second Layer of Drywall. Screw Nail the
second layer of drywall between the studs

2 X 4 STUDS
Use rubber or silicone glue to
seal the floor.

Drawing: Design by:

Typical 60dB Wall for some church applications JdB Sound, Acoustics
Audio & Acoustical Design Engineer
Date April 93

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 HIS Systems MIXER DESK MODEL 2E
2 Part Desk

Features:
Lockable Top Lockable Door
Removeable Back Holds 20 Items

Single split Door

or barn door.
Door should never
block an isle Removeable rear panel
Adjustable Shelves The panel slides in from the top
Top View
28-1/4" 24-3/4"

Fixed Shelf
42-1/2" Outside

270

Back 20"
Front
Back View
Front View Side View

36-1/2" 58-1/4"

31-3/4"

20-3/4"

18" 25-1/4"

3-1/2"

-
53-1/2"
Optional Shelves:
- solid back pannel
33-1/4"
Adjustable shelves.
Mount barn doors
on the front so that
the doors can be
open and not block
the isle.
Front View

Side View 5-1/2"

4"

Add 12 inches to width of the desk if lighting systems are added

27-3/4"
All dimensions are inside unless indicated

Designed By: Joseph De Buglio A.A.P.

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RT 60 for Types of Worship

Required Reverberation of Churches by Worship Types

7.0 Traditional & High Services

1.7 to 2.3
Protestant 1.5 to 1.9
6.0

5.0

Evangelical 1.4 to 1.8

T 4.0
i
m Penecostal 1.2 to 1.5
e 3.0

Not Recommended 2.45

2.0

1.21 -Recommend fixing the room

1.0 -Very poor for Listening and Performances
-Sound Systems can do little to improve overall hearing quality

0.0
0.70 0.82 0.96 1.12 1.31 1.53 1.79 2.29 3.00 4.08 5.65
Time in Seconds

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Microphone tip # 100010101
There is a microphone rule soundmen are always trying to break. As you turn on more microphones, the lower the gain before feed.
As you can see from the drawings below, this puts a serious limit on the whole sound system, especially when the acoustics are poor.
This is also why micing a choir for reinforcement in some churches is an exercise in futility. Once again, the laws of physics prove to
be stronger than the will of man.

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Characteristics of Speaker wire with different impedance
This chart shows the current loads when using smaller gauges of wire. With 100 watt amp., the maximum wire length
of 16 gauge wire is 100 feet. At 200 watts, 16 gauge wire is not recommend because of the current load and signal loss.
Using wire loads below the solid lines are unsafe.

E = Volts W = Watts I = Amps R = Ohms

Characteristics of 8 Ohm Loads with 100 watt amplifier 28.3 100.0 3.5 8.0
Max Max Wire 50 feet 100 feet 150 feet 200 feet 250 feet 300 feet
Power Amps Size Watts of Wire Watts of wire Watts of wire Watts of wire Watts of wire Watts of wire
2450 35 8.00 99.2 0.8% 98.4 1.6% 97.7 2.3% 96.9 3.1% 96.0 4.0% 95.4 4.6%
1750 25 10.00 98.7 1.3% 97.5 2.5% 96.4 3.6% 95.2 4.8% 94.1 5.9% 93.0 7.0%
1400 20 12.00 98.0 2.0% 96.1 3.9% 94.3 5.7% 92.6 7.4% 90.9 9.1% 89.3 10.7%
1000 15 14.00 96.8 3.2% 93.9 6.1% 91.1 8.9% 88.5 11.5% 86.0 14.0% 83.7 16.3%
420 6 16.00 95.2 4.8% 90.9 9.1% 86.9 13.1% 83.3 16.7% 80.0 20.0% 76.9 23.1%
210 3 18.00 92.5 7.5% 86.0 14.0% 80.4 19.6% 75.5 24.6% 71.1 28.9% 67.2 32.8%
70 1 20.00 88.6 11.4% 79.5 20.5% 72.1 27.9% 66.0 34.0% 60.8 39.2% 56.4 43.6%
35 0.5 22.00 83.1 17.0% 71.0 29.0% 62.0 38.0% 55.1 44.9% 49.5 50.5% 45.0 55.0%

E = Volts W = Watts I = Amps R = Ohms

Characteristics of 4 Ohm Loads with 100 watt amplifier 28.3 100.0 7.1 4.0
Max Max Wire 50 feet 100 feet 150 feet 200 feet 250 feet 300 feet
Power Amps Size Watts of Wire Watts of wire Watts of wire Watts of wire Watts of wire Watts of wire
2450 35 8.00 196.8 1.6% 193.7 3.1% 190.8 4.6% 187.9 6.0% 185.1 7.4% 182.4 8.8%
1750 25 10.00 195.1 2.5% 190.4 4.8% 186.0 7.0% 181.8 9.1% 177.7 11.1% 173.9 13.1%
1400 20 12.00 192.3 3.9% 185.1 7.4% 178.5 10.7% 172.4 13.8% 166.6 16.7% 161.2 19.4%
1000 15 14.00 187.7 6.1% 176.9 11.5% 167.3 16.3% 158.7 20.7% 150.9 24.6% 143.8 28.1%
420 6 16.00 181.8 9.1% 166.6 16.7% 153.8 23.1% 142.8 28.6% 133.3 33.4% 125.0 37.5%
210 3 18.00 172.0 14.0% 150.9 24.6% 134.4 32.8% 121.2 39.4% 110.3 44.8% 101.2 49.4%
70 1 20.00 159.0 20.5% 132.0 34.0% 112.8 43.6% 98.5 50.8% 87.4 56.3% 78.6 60.7%
35 0.5 22.00 142.1 29.0% 110.2 44.9% 90.0 55.0% 76.0 62.0% 65.8 67.1% 58.0 71.0%

E = Volts W = Watts I = Amps R = Ohms

28.3 100.0 14.1 2.0
Characteristics of 2 Ohm Loads with 100 watt amplifier in a perfect world
Max Max Wire 50 feet 100 feet 150 feet 200 feet 250 feet 300 feet
Power Amps Size Watts of Wire Watts of wire Watts of wire Watts of wire Watts of wire Watts of wire
2450 35 8.00 387.5 3.1% 375.8 6.0% 364.9 8.8% 354.5 11.4% 344.7 13.8% 335.5 16.1%
1750 25 10.00 380.8 4.8% 363.5 9.1% 347.7 13.1% 333.2 16.7% 319.9 20.0% 307.6 23.1%
1400 20 12.00 370.3 7.4% 344.7 13.8% 322.5 19.4% 302.9 24.3% 285.6 28.6% 270.2 32.5%
1000 15 14.00 353.9 11.5% 317.4 20.7% 287.7 28.1% 263.1 34.2% 242.4 39.4% 224.7 43.8%
420 6 16.00 333.2 16.7% 285.6 28.6% 249.9 37.5% 222.2 44.5% 199.9 50.0% 181.8 54.6%
210 3 18.00 301.8 24.6% 242.4 39.4% 202.5 49.4% 173.9 56.5% 152.3 61.9% 135.6 66.1%
70 1 20.00 263.9 34.0% 197.0 50.8% 157.1 60.7% 130.7 67.3% 111.9 72.0% 97.8 75.6%
35 0.5 22.00 220.3 44.9% 152.0 62.0% 116.1 71.0% 93.9 76.5% 78.8 80.3% 67.9 83.0%

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Ideal Church Reverberation / Frequency response

Ideal Reverberation / Acoustic Signatures for Churches

2.50

2.00
Seconds / Time

1.50

1.00
Sample otuput data from a
0.50 Digital Acoustical Measurement System
( MLSSA System)

0.00
Average

31.5

50

80

125

200

315

500

800

1250

2000

3150

5000

8000

12500

20000
Frequencies

Pentecostal Churches Traditional Churches Evangelical Churches

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The Phonetically Balanced Speech Intelligibility Test
The following test requires about 11 audience members and your minister. The Minister will mark and read one word from each row.
The other 11 people will have a copy of the same list and seat is a place they have never sat in or rarely sat in before. The minister
then reads from the list and the audience member are to mark down what they had heard. The minister must give a 10 second pause
between each work. When the 50 word are read, the audience members are to place the papers on the pews where they sat and leave.
Now two church board members - with a map of the seating area will go to each sheet, mark the location of the listener and number it.
Then these two board members will score the results. The score will be out of 50. You can then double the score and that will give
you your percentage of hearing lose or %Alcons. At least one person should be a hearing aid user. A score below 90% is consider fair
and below 82% is considered poor.

- A B C D E F
1 Bat Bad Back Bass Ban Bath
2 been beach beat beam bead beak
3 bun bus but buff buck bug
4 came cape cane cake cave case
5 cut cub cuff cup cud cuss
6 dig dip did dim dill din
7 duck dud dung dub dug done
8 fill fig fin fizz fib fit
9 hear heath heal heave heat heap
10 kick king kid kit kin kill
11 late lake lay lace lane lame
12 map mat math man mass mad
13 page pane pace pay pale pave
14 pass pat pack pad path pan
15 peace peas peak peal peat peach
16 pill pick pip pig pin pit
17 pun puff pup puck pus pub
18 rave rake race rate raze ray
19 sake sale save sane safe same
20 sad sass sag sack sap sat
21 seep seen seethe seed seem seek
22 sing sit sin sip sick sill
23 sud sum sub sun sup sung
24 tab tan tam tang tack tap
25 teach tear tease teal team teak
26 led shed red bed fed wed
27 sold told hold gold fold cold
28 dig wig big rig pig fig
29 kick lick sick pick wick tick

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 30 book took shook cook hook look
31 hark dark mark lark park bark
32 gale male tale bale sale pale
33 peel reel feel heel keel eel
34 will hill kill till fill bill
35 foil coil boil oil toil soil
36 fame same came name tame game
37 ten pen den hen then men
38 pin sin tin win din fin
39 sun nun gun fun bun run
40 rang fang gang bang sang hang
41 tent bent went dent rent sent
42 sip rip tip dip hip lip
43 top hop pop cop mop shop
44 meat feat heat seat beat neat
45 kit bit fit sit wit hit
46 hot got not pot lot tot
47 nest vest west test best rest
48 bust just rust must gust dust
49 raw paw law jaw thaw saw
50 way may say hay day pay
Please mark one word per row.

Name of Listener _____________________________________ Age ____________ Position Number ____________

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 Church Acoustic and Church Sound System
Evaluation Test
The following tests will help you understand the performance of the sanctuary, the sound system and the interaction relative to the
acoustics of your church or hall. These tests are only meant to show potential weakness which should be followed up with a detailed
test to find solutions.

Name of Church ____________________________________ Age of Existing sound System ______yrs.

Part 1. Room Acoustics These tests should be done with a computer*

Reverberation Time average Score ______ (required reverb meter or Computer*)
[0 to .8 of a second = 4][.9 to 1.3 seconds =7][1.4 to 1.9 seconds =10][ 2 to 2.4 seconds =6][2.5 to 2.8 seconds =2 ][ 2.9 seconds or longer =1]
Reverberation Time at 200 Hertz Score ______ (required reverb meter or Computer*)
[If Longer than average = 1] [If shorter than average = 10] [If by more than half of the average time =0]
Reverberation Time at 3000 hertz Score ______ (required reverb meter or Computer*)
[If Longer than average = 10] [If shorter than average = 1] [If by more than half of the average time =0]
Echo Test 1 Score ______
Do this test with a friend - Stand at the center pulpit or center to the chancel area and clap your hands once.
[If you hear an echo or reflection of the clap = 1] [If no echo is heard =10]
Echo Test 2 Score ______
Do this test with a friend - Stand at the center of the sanctuary seating area and clap your hands once.
[If you hear an echo or reflection of the clap = 1] [If no echo is heard =10]
Articulation score of Sound System Score ______ Must be done with a computer*
[0 to 74%=1] [75 - 82%=7] [83 -89% =8] [90 - 100%=10]

Part 2. Sound System Performance

Dead spots of 8dB or more Use SPL Meter [0 - 4 = 10] [5 to 10 = 6] [11 to 19= 4] [20 + =1] Score ______
Phase cancellation with a test tone [Audible =1] [Not audible = 10] Score ______
SPL(Sound Pressure Level) from front to back Use SPL Meter [2dB =10] [3dB =9] [4dB =5] [5dB =2] [6dB =1] Score ______
Realism (Close eyes, point to sound) [Pulpit or alter area =10] [Side W alls = 4] [Other places = 1] Score ______
Listening Fatigue factor (Subjective value) Score ______
[If realism is 10 the Fatigue is very low =10] [If realism is 4 the fatigue will be moderate to uncomfortable =5]
[If realism is 1 the Fatigue may be very high =1]
Intelligibility rating (Subjective value by church members) [Always clear =10] [often clear =5] [muffled =1] Score ______
Maximum working distance before feedback [0 to 12" =1] [8 to 16" =3] [14 to 24" =8] [16 to 36"=10] Score ______
System design life [0 to 9 years =1] [10 to 20 years =2] [Permanent =10] Score______
Music quality [Limited range - 1] [Speech Range =4] [Full range =7] [HI-FI quality =10] Score ______
System headroom [3dB=1] [6bB =4] [10dB=7] [15+dB or greater=10] Score ______
Echoes or added reverberation created by sound system Score ______ ( May require Computer*)
[ second or more reverberation added or any echo =1] [Any added reverberation =4] [No echo or reverb added =10]

Part 3. Hardware
Amplification Score ______
[0 to watts per person(wpp) =1] [ to wpp = 3] [ to wpp=9] [1 to 4wpp =10]
Equalization (EQ) Score ______
[no EQ =0] [ octave eq =4] [2/3 octave eq =7] [1/3 octave eq =9]
[1/3 octave eq + a 5 band Parametric eq =10]

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Flexibility (Number of output mixes) Score ______
[No options, 1 output =1] [2 outputs =3] [3 outputs =5] [4 outputs =8] [5 or more outputs =10]
Separate and Adjustable recording output from a L/R output buss. [No =1] [Yes =10] Score ______

Separate and Adjustable hearing impaired output [no =6] [Yes = 10] Score ______

Total Score of Existing System ________ 2.2 = _______%

Score Rating. 94 to 100 % Excellent

88 to 93 % Very good
75 to 87 % Acceptable - OK for normal hearing, a problem for hearing impaired people and
hearing aids
0 to 74 % There is a problem with the acoustics or sound system

* Computer Systems accepted are TEF - MLSSA - Bruel & Kajr - Ariel
The following is the Internet detailed version of the Evaluation Guide

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Part 1. Church Sanctuary Acoustics - The Details
The following details will help you understand the
tests previously outlined on the last 2 pages. These
tests are to help you understand the performance of
the sanctuary and the interaction relative to the
acoustics of your church or hall. These tests are only
meant to show potential weakness which should be
followed up with a detailed test to find solutions.
Mark your score in the box.
Each test is a window into the world of church
sound. To the non church community, the acceptance
of poor sound is common. For the church community,
poor sound week after week is insulting, degrading
and costly. Today, there are many churches that have
better sound than any local establishment within a 20
mile radius. These are affordable systems that are well
designed systems. For this reason, there is no excuse
for any church to not have a good sound system It's
not just a Spiritual reason for good sound, it also
makes economic stewardship. The following tests will
let you know the strengths and weakness of a church
sound system and its acoustics.
The following in a partial explanation of each test.
What is the NC of your church?
The "NC" of a church is perhaps the most important
score. The NC or Noise Control level of the church
describes the background noise in the sanctuary.
Background noise has profound implications. Here is
one of the main problems with high levels of noise.
Typical conversation levels are between 55 and
65dB (decibels). We often use 60dB as an average. To
hear speech at a comfortable level and to be able to
understand the words being spoken, the level of speech
usually has to be 25dB above the noise. Since the
quiet side of speech is about 55dB, a room with a
noise floor less that NC30 is an excellent listening
space. The most common places that have such low
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157
+
NC ratings are bedrooms and living rooms that are
away from kitchen noises.
This is why many people turn off their TV sets or
music during a conversation. This is why it is so hard
to hear on a telephone in a street phone booth that has
a lot of traffic. This is also why people leave the
kitchen when appliances are hard at work. In a
church, especially larger churches, an NC above
NC35 is a serious problem.
The other thing that you must be aware is that NC
is not a constant throughout the Sanctuary. The hum
of the florescent lights or ceiling fan above the
platform or alter can raise the NC in the front of the
church to NC40 while the rest of the church is NC30.
When a poor sound system is in place, ministers have
to swallow the mic just to be heard and the NC doesn't
matter since sound quality of poor to begin with.
When a high performance sound system design is
being used, the system will be able to amplify the
noise from the lights. That means the minister has to
always be close to the microphone. This also means
the Lapel mics with not work very well.
In other words, a new sound system will be
restricted in it's performance before you even get
started when the NC level is above NC35. As question
7, part 2 implies, if the sound system design is right,
then having a working distance of 18 inches to 3 feet
is normal in rooms with NC35 or lower. This make
the system forgiving. It allows the minister to take a
step back from the mic without his voice disappearing.
It means lay people, children and all events will be
heard.
Finally, there is one combination item about the NC
score that is constantly overlooked and not tested.
Echo's and late reflections. Read below, echo test 1
for details.
Reverberation Time average
 The average reverb time(1) in a church is one of the
first clues as to whether there are problems or not.
The age old hand clap provides a wealth of knowledge
to the trained acoustical expert. However, you don't
have to be a expert to recognize the obvious and doing
something about. Again - this is one of those items in
which you have to trust you own hearing. If you hear
a problem and you can get another person to hear it -
then you have a problem. All that a computer can do
is tell you how bad the problem is and how much
correction is needed.
Reverberation can be carefully broken down into
three type of church service requirements.
Traditional(2), Evangelical(3) and Charismatic(4).
The Traditional or Liturgical style of worship can
make good use of long reverberation times. However,
any reverb time that is longer that 2.5 second is
usually no longer musical in most churches. When
churches have more that a million cubic feet of air
space, the rules of reverb time are different. If the
reverb time in your church is longer than 2.5 second,
then you most likely have a problem with both music
and speech. This is an un-acceptable. A reverb time
of 1.7 seconds is ideal.
The evangelical church has a middle of the road
requirement that is the hardest to achieve. Generally,
they put a higher emphasis on speech and amplified
music while at the same time, they want their churches
to have a traditional sound for choral and
congregational singing. As a result, such churches
require a prolonged reverb time that does not interfere
too much with speech or amplified music. Generally, a
reverb time of 1.5 seconds is about perfect. A large(5)
church can have it as high as 1.7 while smaller
churches(6) should be around 1.4 seconds.
The Charismatic church or the Pentecostal church is
your electronic church. People don't like to hear such
terms thinking that it takes something away from
Christianity. On the contrary, since their preaching is
of a fundamentalist type, they preach that all things
come from God. It is who or how an item is used that
matters. The other element that they have in their
worship is drama and theater. With such a broad list
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of requirements, a reverb time less that 1.35 seconds
is idea.
Reverberation Time at 200 Hertz
Not all reverberation is equal. Long reverb times in
the low/mid range of speech is not good. From
experience, the ideal reverb time at 200 Hertz is when
it is within 2/10ths of a second of the measured
average time. For your style of worship. Longer
reverb times below 500 Hertz will have a profound
affect on speech degradation.
Reverberation Time at 3000 hertz
High frequencies of sound gives a sound it
character. It is the high frequencies that gives a sound
it's wholeness. It is also high frequency that give
music the expressions we love and enjoy. Although
younger people get carried away with bass and rhythm
sounds, without high frequency sounds combined, the
sound is meaningless. The tick of the drum stick
striking the skin on the drum, the crash of the cymbals
before the ring it makes, the twang of the electric bass
guitar are all distinct because of the combined high
and low frequency sounds. It also the high frequency
sounds that gives us our intelligibility clues.
Without high frequency sounds in speech, no one
would be able to understand each other. This is more
so for the English and German languages. Other
languages that are Latin based such as Italian, French,
Spanish and Portuguese, rely on a strong mid range of
sound for distinction. Many European language
churches do well with shorter high frequency
reverberation times. For English speaking churches, a
reverb time at 3000 hertz that is up to 3/10ths longer
than at 1000 hertz or the "average" does well.
However, in a highly amplified service(7), a reverb
time at 3000 hertz or 3k, is better when it is equal to
the average RT60.
Echo Test 1 Do this test with a friend - Stand at the
center pulpit or center to the chancel area and clap
your hands once.
An echo heard at the pulpit or center of
altar/platform area affects the performers, minister
and sound system. It is bad enough for a person to
sing and hear an echo return when they are two words
further along in their music. When a sound system is
being used as well, the echo will be louder. For years
people have be trying all kinds of sound system tricks
to minimize the problem. But lets face the facts, it's
still a Band-Aid solution. This is a problem for
everyone. Just because you have carefully aimed the
speaker system to minimize an echo problem, a person
singing in an operatic style who does use a sound
system will have problems. Also, if you listen
carefully, if the Organ and Piano is at the front of the
church as well, they too have a problem will keeping
time to the music. Moving the Piano and Organ
usually costs more than fixing the problem. If you
hear a echo, fix it.
The best form of fixing an echo is with diffusion if
the reverb time is OK. If the reverb time is long, you
can combine the acoustical repair to correct for RT60
and echo. If the reverb time is long in the bass range,
that also can be corrected with the echo problem.
Echo Test 2 Do this test with a friend - Stand at the
center of the sanctuary seating area and clap your
hands once.
If your church congregation likes to sing, then
echo's in the seating area need to be fixed. Of course,
the issue of fixing the problem is much like the age old
"chicken and egg" question. Do we fix the room even
though the congregation already sings well? Do we fix
the room to get the congregation to sing better? Do we
even have to discuss it? If a pipe leaks water, do you
fix it?
The best form of fixing an echo is with diffusion if
the reverb time is OK. If the reverb time is long, you
can combine the acoustical repair to correct for RT60
and echo. If the reverb time is long in the bass range,
that also can be corrected with the echo problem.
Articulation score of the Sanctuary
Articulation is the understand of words spoken. A
speech Intelligibility test is when 20 or more
volunteers sit in the pews in a scattered pattern while a
person they are not familiar with reads from a list of
words on a score sheet from the pulpit or main
speaking position. The listener will hear 50 words at
10 second intervals. Each person will have a matching
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159
list. The list has 50 rows of words and there are 6
words per row. They are to mark down the words they
thought they heard. The first 20 rows are word with
common suffixes, the next 20 rows are words with
common prefixes, the last 10 rows are word that
sound alike.
Regardless of the size of church, this test is to be
done without a PA system and people sitting in the
first 8 rows of seating. If your church is very wide at
the front or if your church is spread out in a fan type
seating pattern, then get some rope and have everyone
sit within 90 degrees of the speaking area or 45 degree
from center. The person speaking can raise their
voice, but not so much as to be straining. This will
make it harder for the listener.
If the reverb time is longer than your style of
worship requires, then the score will be lower. If the
NC of the room is high, the score will be lower. If the
RT60 and NC is good, if there are no echo problems,
then the score should be high. Any score below -88%
is unacceptable.
Endnotes
1. The average Reverb time or RT60, (RT60 is the
time it takes a sound to decay 60 decibels. Often a
starters pistol is used to measure RT60) is often
calculated at 1000 Hertz. Modern computer systems
can give you a average time over the speech range,
music range or whole hearing range. Speech range
average RT60 work the best for music in a church.
2. The Traditional style of service refers to churches
that have only acoustical presentation of music. This
includes choral and recital presentation. This also
means that music is always presented at a moderate to
low levels, rarely above 80dB. For these churches,
music takes up less that a fifth of the worship service
or less that 4 songs of worship.
3. The Evangelical style of service will have an
active music program that includes both amplified and
acoustical presentations of music. This is when music
from "tape accompaniment", electronic instruments
and vocal support for congregational singing. These
are the churches that will have up to a 1/3rd of their
worship time in music, song and praise.
 4. The Charismatic style of worship or Pentecostal
type services are churches that will have half of their
service in music, song, praise and special music events
almost every service. Almost everything is amplified.
These churches will often present their music at or
close to Rock and Roll Concert levels.
5. Larger churches seat over 1200 people.
6. Smaller churches seat 300 people or less.
7. A church that amplifies 90% of all of their music
- specials, choral and Piano/Organ accompaniment to
congregational singing.
Part 2. Sound System Performance
The following in a partial explanation of each test.
Articulation score of Sound System
The sound system or Sound Reinforcement System"
is just that. It is a transparent mechanical device to
boost the volume of the presenter. If the room already
has a good score, the sound system can add a
percentage or two in the first 8 rows(or first 1/3rd of
the seating area) and give the same score to 95% of
the rest of the seating area. The last 5% will have
scores within 2 or 3 percent. These areas usually seats
that have nearby walls that have reflective surfaces
that cause a natural amount of interference. If in these
areas the level dopes further, either a satellite speaker
or wall changes are needed. Generally, treating the
wall costs less.
If the score in the first 8 rows are lower with the
sound system on, then you have the wrong sound
system design for your church. For testing purposes,
the person speaking should be able to be 14" from a
microphone for the test. If the person must be closer,
then you have either the wrong system design or there
is an acoustical problem like a RT60 over 2.5
seconds, standing waves or your speaker system is
using an omni directional speaker.
Dead spots of 8dB or more
It is rare for a church sanctuary to have a dead
spot(1). Almost all dead spots are created by a sound
system. Dead spots come in two types, poor coverage
or phase drop outs. Both of these problems go
together. A properly designed system avoids these
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160
problems. If a proper system is in place and there are
problems, then the system is just amplify the physical
problems the room has. Sound systems can not and
never will be able to mask acoustical problems.
At this point you can either fix the room and get on
with better sound or do as many have done. They will
degrade the sound system with a series of
compromises that starts the endless cycle of seeking
the elusive Phoenix. - A new bird that rises out of the
ashes of it's parents fiery death. It is a bird that does
not, did not, nor can exist with the current laws of
physic. It was a creature that was created in someone's
imagination for inspiration, not compromise. These
are the sound system that have desperation soldered
on every connector, wire and speaker bracket. FIX
THE ROOM!!!
All multiple source speaker systems(2) create dead
spots caused by phase. It is due to overlapping
coverage of the speakers. When two speakers, spread
further than 20 feet and have a mono(3) sound source,
the overlapping sounds will be louder is some places
because the sounds are summed together when in
phase. This boost can be up to 6dB. When the two
sounds are out of phase, the sound drops up to 6dB.
When wall reflections are included in the picture, it is
common to take an SPL(4) meter and find many hot
and dead spots in a single row of seating. This can be
seen best with "Pink Noise" being played through the
system at speech levels. If the church passes all of the
acoustical tests and you have seen in a row of seating
the sound level change more than 6dB, then the sound
system design needs to be changes.
Phase cancellation with a test tone
If your church has a good point source type system
and there is more that one speaker in the source point,
then speaker alignment, timing and volume levels can
adjusted to minimize audible phase problems. If you
have a multiple source speaker system, then the phase
problem has already shown it alarms. This test is
really meant for fine tuning. Even a poorly set up
point source system, phase is a matter of adjustment,
not open heart surgery.
SPL(Sound Pressure Level) from front to back Use
SPL Meter
There is a formula for sanctuary design that works
like this. H=1 x W=2 x L=3. This is not an absolute,
but churches with these proportions have better
sounding houses of worship, regardless of worship
type. In a room with these proportion, they can count
on a proper system to given them the desired goal of
+/- 3dB coverage. If the room length is less than 3
times the height, the coverage will be better. If the
room is longer, satellite speakers on a delay will solve
any problems.
When the physical shape of the church is
disproportional, then coverage can be anything.
However, when a multi-source system is used,
coverage is already a problem. As many churches
have, they install speakers on either side of the
platform, about 10 to 12 feet high. That is about the
reach of a 6 ft. step ladder. According to the Laws of
Physics, sound pressure drops 6dB every time you
double the distance. Typically, the measured distance
to the first row of seating and the speaker will be "x".
Usually the distance to the back row of seating will be
"x" time 3.
In an example, let us use a church that is 20 feet
high, 40 feet wide and 60 feet long. The speakers are
mount 12 feet off the floor and 25 feet apart. The
distance to the first row is 9 feet. The distance to the
back row is 45 feet from the front of the speaker.
Therefore, the distance doubles at 18 feet and again at
38 feet. If the sound level is 60dB at the front row, it
will be down more that 12dB at the back. What will
the sound man do? Turn up the sound for the back.
People in the front get blasted, people in the back can't
hear. Sound familiar?
Realism (Close eyes, point to sound)
The ideal listening situation is to have the source
and amplified sounds coming from the same place.
Any other situation is a compromise. Remember, our
ear are on the side of our heads. This automatically
forces your to look at what you hear. It is also the
most relaxed form of listening. If human were
designed with ears at the top of our heads, then
JdB Sound Acoustics
161
speakers placed where ever it was convenient would
work quite well.
Listening Fatigue factor (Subjective value)
Listeners Fatigue is an unwritten scale of how much
extra work the brain does in matching the sound to the
source. In a left/Right speaker system or a system
with rows of speakers around you, the sound you hear
will come from many places. In this seat the sound is
to the left. In that seat the sound is behind you. The
further the sound is from it's source, the harder the
brain works in matching the two event. The harder the
brain works, the shorter the attention span and the
more likely a tired person will nap or relax their eyes
into a pre sleeping position.
Listeners fatigue is almost impossible to measure
because if a sound system has a high score, it will
automatically have all of the previous problems
mentioned earlier. Think about it. A person spends a
lot of the time filling in the blank because of poor
intelligibility, straining to hear because the sound is
either too loud or not loud enough. Then you
disassociate the sound from the person speaking.
What part of "sleeping in the pews" don't you
understand? Sound systems that are poorly designed
will have a problem with listeners fatigue. This is not
an option. It is the results. If your noticing people
falling asleep every week at church and the acoustic
are good but the sound system has you pointing to the
speakers on the right or left side of the church, then
you know it not the message. It the messenger! Fix the
sound system!
Intelligibility rating (Subjective value by church
members)
This is for those who don't have a computer or don't
have the cooperation of the church people to do a
proper speech test. Just listen and be honest with
yourself. Do you understand everything being heard
and is it loud enough. If you have been reading the
previous explanations, you will know what to look for.
Maximum working distance before feedback
This is the distance in which a person can speak
from a microphone and amplify their voice to the
whole room. The test is simple. Have a mic set up at
the pulpit. Bring the system up to the verge of ringing.
When the ringing starts, turn the level back until the
sound system seems stable. Count or say something
into the mic to confirm that the system will not go into
feedback or "oscillation". Next, turn the sound system
off and go to the pulpit. (having other people helping
would be better.) Now, practice speaking at a level
that you know is loud enough for people in the front 2
rows to hear well without the sound system on. If you
have an SPL meter, the level is about 65 to 70dB at 3
feet or 60dB at 12 feet, which is the typical distance to
the first row of seats from most pulpits.
Now is when the test begins. With a couple of
friends in the pews, turn the sound system on. Speak
towards the mic at the same level as you practiced.
Start at about 6 inches from the mic and start reading
something you are not familiar with from the bible.
Perhaps the Genealogies from Genesis. As you are
speaking, start moving back from the mic every 10 to
15 words. As you voice disappears from the sound
system have each person raise their hands when they
can no longer hear you. Please notice that this includes
hearing you even though they don't hearing an
amplified sound. If your sound system is set up right,
there is a level of amplification that is so transparent,
that you will not hear an amplified type of sound. The
only way to tell is to turn the system off. When all of
the people can hear you, measure the distance between
you and the mic. Now, take a step back. Do the same
test in reverse. Start speaking, Move to the mic. As
each person hears you, have they lower their hands.
When everyone can hear you, mark the spot and
measure the distance.
The two distances will be different. The difference
can be 2 to 6 inches. Split the difference and that gives
you your maximum working distance. To keep
everything in perspective during the test, turn on any
ceiling fans, lights and heating/cooling system to
create the typical worship service conditions. It is not
unusual for a church with good acoustics, an NC
below 35 and a properly matched sound system to
have a working distance between 16 to 36 inches. This
JdB Sound Acoustics
162
means that the minister to take a step back or to either
side of there speaking position without the sound level
dropping so much that people can't hear. It also means
that for those few time the minister forgets to keep the
mic between him and the people, his voice won't
totally disappear.
From the experience file, there have been a few
churches in which high quality, good sound levels
were achieved up to 64" away. This is possible but not
common. It is common for 48 inches of working
distance with reasonable conditions. When a church is
full of people, this level will drop depending on what
part of the service your targeting for. For these
purposes, the target is for sermon preaching which is
the most common request.
System design life
If you have been scoring between 8 to 10 on all of
the previous questions, isn't the answer obvious?
It never cease to amaze me how often churches
replace their sound systems. The average is 3 or 4
times before they acquire something that is their final
system. Typically, churches make no investment in
sound during construction. As a result, the first sound
system is a temporary system. The second system is
from a member of the church who uses whatever
experience they acquired from local experts. The third
system is often from a music store or a contractor who
designs systems for all kinds of venues and church
sound is hit and miss. The forth and hopefully the last
sound system design change comes from a person who
is an expert in church sound and compromise is not in
the vocabulary.
The timing for all of this can vary from 6 month to
30 years. In one church, I installed their final system
design 3 months after the church first opened. It was
their 4th system. The first 3 system combined cost
more the system they settled on. There is only one
other event that can short circuit a good church sound
system.
All too often, a new church member who has
broadcast or live music experience in the audio field
will come along and claim that the already perfect
sound system is flawed. As a real trouper, they pull
every string they can to replace the system. The result
is always a failure unless all that they are doing is
upgrading the equipment while keeping to the original
design and speaker locations. What most people don't
understand is that church sound is a very unique
discipline. It is a specialized as most doctors are. A
person can be a Dentist, an Optometrist, a Surgeon or
a GP. Each of these people carry the tittle "Dr.", but,
would you go to an Optometrist for hip replacement
surgery?
Yet, every day, people with good intentions try to
help churches without first hand knowledge of what
they are doing. The results are costing the church
community over a billion dollars a year in North
America. Church sound really does not cost much, but
if it is done cheaply, the cost is much more than
people realize. This also is true for churches that meet
in converted warehouses, factories or commercial
places.
Music quality
A subjective quality? Not really. The goal of a good
sound system it to be transparent. Regardless of the
denomination of a church, there is only one honest test
that I trust. When the sound system is set up, have a
person play a guitar and violin. Record their playing
as you would reinforce they sound during a service or
performance event. Have the person play a passage
that they can repeat over and over again. Make several
recordings if needed. Now, play back the recording
while the person is playing the harmony part of what
they played earlier. With a good system, the playback
and the live sound should sound so close that a person
walking in would ask the question, "where's the other
people in the band?" This is when the sound system
moves from being just a "PA" system to being an
instrument that can join with the musician as an
extension of themselves. Likewise, it is also the same
when applied to the minister. A sound system that is
this good, gives the minister a choice to use the sound
system as a tool rather than a toy.
Most church sound systems that meet the standards
outlined here are superior to the sound systems in
most theaters and live show bands. Don't be fooled by
JdB Sound Acoustics
163
high priced computerized mixers, processed speakers
and state of the art wireless systems. If a speaker
system is in the wrong location for the room, do you
think that high priced sound equipment is able to push
the laws of physics aside and work like magic?
I find it very interesting that people who own a
system as described here, and go to see shows like
Phantom of the Opera in New York, Toronto or
London, come back a report a sense of
disappointment. The notice that the sound system in
their church is clearer and just as music. They are
disappointed because they had read in the Newspapers
that the sound at this show was the best ever on
Broadway. People from some of the churches I have
worked on went to see shows in Branson or Vegas and
returned to confirm that their humble little church can
do everything the secular community boast about and
do it all better and more.
To have a sound system that sounds like broadcast
FM radio or "studio sound" will never happen in a
church. But the quality of the system should be no less
than the best any acoustical instrument can do without
amplification. When this is achieved, the sound system
becomes an instrument. The soundman becomes part
of the musical team. A person with talent a need a
place for it to grow, a church sound system of this
quality can make a big difference. A master violinist
can make any instrument sound good. A budding
student of the violin can excel with a "Masters
instrument."
System headroom
There are several ways to describe system
headroom. For church sound systems headroom means
how much amplification is there from the time you
begin to hear a person speaking from 12 inch from
mic at 60dB until the system goes into feedback.
Others describe headroom as to how loud a system
can be before distortion. As a playback system, if a
church system is designed right, there will be plenty of
headroom for any music you through at it.
Echoes or added reverberation created by sound
system ( May require Computer*)
 When a sound system is design right, this should not
be a problem if the church passes the NC and RT60
tests. However, many times when a church has a multi
source sound system, the system often adds to the
reverb time in the sanctuary. This is mostly noticed
for churches that have great choir and organ
rehearsals but Sunday things fall apart. If the sound
system is on when the pulpit mic or other mics used to
amplify the choir, the overall reverb time will
increase. This longer time will through off the choir. If
your in doubt, turn off every mic during choral or
organ music presentation during Sunday services.
Most people will notice a difference. In some churches
that I have worked on, the congregation noticed a big
improvement in the quality choir's singing, but still
complained about the low level of the choir. Again,
system design has a major impact on music as well as
speech.
Endnotes
1. This statement does no apply to wide or fan
seating style churches. Anyone whole can not see the
full mouth of the person speaking will be hearing an
un-amplified voice at a much lower level. This is not a
dead spot problem, it is coverage problem that a
proper sound system corrects.
2. A speaker system that transmits sounds from
more than one location and that location is not
associated with the person speaking or pulpit. ie.
Left/right speaker systems where a speaker is to the
right and left of the platform area.
3. All live sound is mono - There is no such thing as
stereo sound sources. Stereo is a playback effect
system used to give the listener the effect of being at
the event.
4. SPL Sound Pressure Meter
Part 3 Church Sound System
Equipment Specs.
The following in a partial explanation of each test.
Amplification
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164
In a speech only system, you must have at least
watt per person. The moment you add music to your
weekly service - meaning taped music, folk music or
worship teams or special music - the system must
have a minimum of 2 watts per person or more Some
churches require a minimum of 8 watts per person.
Equalization (EQ)
Every live mix into the sanctuary should have nothing less than
a 1/3rd octave EQ. This means the house mix and all floor
monitor and choir monitor mixes.
Flexibility (Number of output mixes)
The following is a minimum list of mixable outputs
every church sound system should have. There are
exception, but they are rare.
1. Live or house mic - Post mix
2. Record mic for Cassette or DAT recording - Post
mix
3. Floor monitor Mix - minimum of one, if worship
team is needed 3 or 4 mixes - Pre mix
4. Choir monitor mix - (if you have a choir loft in
the front of the church) - Pre mix
5. Broadcast feed for Camcorder or Cable TV
services. - Post mix
6. Nursery, office or 70Volt Distribution throughout
the church - Post mix
7. Hearing enhancement system - this can be
combined with the live mix or the record mix.
Separate and Adjustable recording output
Many times during a service, the program levels are
not very strong. This is most apparent when recording
children or drama presentation. With a separate record
mix, you are able to increase the level to the recorder
without putting the system into feedback. A valuable
tool for those with grow tape ministries to seniors and
shut-ins.
Separate and Adjustable hearing impaired output
Most people who have hearing loss, loose their high
frequency. By being able to cut the bass to the hearing
impaired transmission device, it mean better hearing
for those who use hearing aids or those who just need
a slight volume assist.
Where is the Mixer located in your church?
 The best place to be to operate a mixer is where the
people are sitting. Usually second row from the back
of an outside isle is best. Please, please, don't use a
balcony!!!, or be under one. If youre in a separate
room or booth, you can not mix without constantly
checking by walking to an area with seating. - Just
what a weight watcher needed, and sound system
designed to disturb people and walk off the pounds.
Isn't it better if the soundman can just sit and do the
job without disturbing others? (There are plenty of
ideas on this in the book.)
Which body member of the church is responsible
for the sound system and acoustics of the church?
In many churches, to my surprise, the sound and
acoustics is left up to the property managers. Since
when was property responsible for the spiritual well
being of the people? If your church sound system can
only just work, then it is just property. However, if
your sound system is good enough that it enhances a
person's voice or plays a supporting role in helping
people to play music or sing better, then, doesn't the
sound system become an instrument? Is the church
Organ or Piano under property? It shouldn't be. These
items should all be under the worship committee or
pastoral control. The only thing that stand between the
minister and the people in the pew is a sound system
and air. The minister speaks the message. The sound
system is the messenger. If the message is getting
screwed up, kill the messenger!
The Sound System and Acoustics plays a bigger
role in a church than what most people realize. A
faithful church member will hear everything they need
to every worship service for a minimum of 50 hours
per year. In some churches, they can be listening for
over 200 hours a year. If the minister knows the sound
system is no good, if the people who use the system
for music of any kind has it degrade their work,
shouldn't those people have a large say into what
happens? The sound system, the messenger for the
whole church can be responsible for drawing people
into church or turning them off church because they
can't understand or hear things clearing.( Please notice
that I did talk about loudness.)
JdB Sound Acoustics
165
What is the Annual budget for sound and
acoustics?
Nothing is forever. Just as we are taught that 10% is
a reasonable tithe to the church, if you look carefully
through scriptures, what did it cost to maintain the
tent for the Tabernacle? Check out Numbers, chapters
18. A tenth of the tithe went to the upkeep of the
House of God, which at that time was just a Tent. Is
your church investing 10% of it's annual income in
church maintenance of property and hardware? This
does not include custodians salaries. This is money set
aside for maintaining the building in it original
condition.
A church sound system will get old. The technology
will change and get better. A new sound system that
has been designed and installed as the final system
design change your church will ever need, will have to
be maintained through parts replacement. The
following is a rough outline for scheduled equipment
replacement.
1. : Mixer - 12 to 15 years
2. : Amplifiers 15 - 20 years
3. : Equalizers 15 - 20 years
4. : Professional Microphones 20+
5. : Wiring 30 years
6. : Speakers - Replace driver every 15 years
7. : Mic cords - 6 to 10 years
8. : Cassette recorder/player - 5 to 7 years
9. : Video equipment - 4 to 7 years
10. : Digital recording devices - ? - probably about
10 years or until the next generation of recording
technology.
11. : Wireless mics - 4 to 7 years - batteries every
few weeks - don't use NI Cad rechargeable batteries -
use RENEWAL type and follow the instructions
carefully.
12. : Wireless Hearing assist systems - 10 to 20
years - use the RENEWAL type rechargeable
batteries. Replace ever 2 years.
A church sound system can have a long life. If your
system was done right, it probably cost over $30 per
seating position. As you can see, there is always
something to invest in a church sound system. In case
you are wondering, a church sound system is a high
maintenance system. It costs more to maintain a
church sound system at peak performance than the
church computer - if your church has a computer.
Then there is the acoustical maintenance cost. How
many churches paint or make repairs to the sanctuary
without checking on the impact it might have on the
acoustics of the church? Almost every day I hear
about a church that renovated and discovered that the
sound of the sanctuary changed. The reason why I
hear about it is because they didn't like the change.
Usually it made things worse. They ask me how to fix
it. Guess what. It doesn't get fixed because they can't
afford to fix their mistake. A few years down the road,
I hear how that church is struggling because
attendance is way down. If only they started a sound
and acoustical fund or budget in the first place, they
would be better off.
Good Church sound cost at a price to maintain. It is
not unreasonable for a church to invest over $4.00 per
. /0'/ 01 ( % 1 0'
For many years, the audio/video as well as other high-tech
industries have been troubled with electrical interference.
Unclean AC and dirty or high impedance grounding are often
cited as the cause. But most of the time, theories regarding noise
result in failed solutions. Little is truly understood about noise
problems and AC power.
A simple but very misunderstood fact is this: wherever there is
an impedance load on ac power, there will be power distortion.
Much in the same way undertow currents on a beach create small
waves that roll back against bigger waves and weaken the waves
force, impedance loads cause reactive currents to roll back
which distorts and weakens the power. These are called
harmonic currents or harmonic distortion Impedance loading
JdB Sound Acoustics
166
seating position per year. Make this a fund that can
accumulate over the years. A 400 seat church should
have a minimum annual budget of $1,600.00 per year
that is cumulative. Every year the budget should be
increased by half of the inflation rate. After 10 years,
the fund would have replace half of the sound system
and there should be enough to paint the sanctuary, or
replace the carpets or make some of those acoustically
improvements you could not afford earlier. After 20
years, the sound system will still be "state of the art"
and no one will have to ask to board for extra money.
How often are the sound people in your church
trained for sound mixing operations?
Do you even have to ask what to do if your people
are not being trained regularly?
Is the Soundman included in the weekly
preparations of the worship service?
The soundman has ultimate and final control in
running things. Is he always trying to guess what will
happen next or does he know?
.2 . 0
on major U.S. power grids that causes this distortion amounts to
over 85% of the total power usage.
Harmonic currents propagate throughout power and grounding
systems and subtly corrupt electronic signal-circuit operations. In
digital equipment, higher error rates appear. Harmonics can also
affect internal clock frequency functions that can result in
catastrophic data corruption and system failures -- even an
occasional disk crash. In a recording studio, these undesirable
elements may appear as hum or a buzz or perhaps an overall
muddy sound.
Reactive currents that propagate throughout the grounding system
are at the heart of the matter. Though non-linear or reactive
loads are frequently blamed as the source of these problems, it
has been found that conventional AC wiring methods are largely
responsible for propagating this local interference. Reactive
currents resulting from non-linear loading are a simple law of
physics. How one accommodates or adjusts to this phenomenon
(or doesn't) has far more to do with associated problems that one
may encounter.
Standardly, 120-volt power is delivered in what may be called a
differential mode format. Differential ac means that current
flow in the two circuit conductors is equal but opposite, however
only one circuit wire (the hot side) has voltage potential with
respect to ground. The other circuit wire reads (neutral) zero.
Conventional 120-volt power may also be referred to as
unbalanced. Unbalanced power provides the means by which
common harmonic and reactive currents build up on neutral wires
and grounding circuits. Balanced RF filter capacitors and
switching power supplies routinely shunt a small but constant
trickle of current directly into grounded audio chassis from the
hot side of the circuit which further degrades a system's
grounding reference. Once in the ground reference, these trickled
artifacts invade signal circuitry and contaminate program
material.
Sometimes engineers will try to lower the impedance of the
grounding system to reduce noise, but this has little effect on
reactive current in the ground. The grounding reference appears
to be the noise source. Whenever hum or hum bars are observed,
reactive power has invaded the grounding system. Poor
grounding is cited as the cause of the problem but it is really no
more than an indication of reactive current present where there
should be none.
Engineers at Equi=Tech have spent years developing an electrical
system that addresses these problems. The systems utilize a
balanced voltage, common mode output circuit (pat pend.) As
usual, impedance loads will still react to power but reactive
currents can no longer propagate in the grounding system.
Instead, they collapse because they are balanced. Under this
balanced condition, noise cannot manifest. It now nulls (sums to
zero) at the ground. Common mode noise rejection is increased
throughout all of the electronics. In a well tuned balanced power
system, the grounding reference remains quiet all of the time.
Because the ground is clean, shields now work more effectively.
Here is the true single-point technical grounding reference for a
complex recording studio. Single-point grounding enables audio
and video cable shields to be grounded at both ends of the run
(instead of telescoped from one end) which results in lower
EMI/RFI interference. In many such ways, noise levels in an
audio/video system are significantly lowered.
JdB Sound Acoustics
167
We at Equi=Tech are the pioneers of this new technology. After
years of product development, we are happy to present a line of
turn-key electrical systems for the recording studio, video
production facility and high-tech environment manufactured to
meet the highest of standards. Please, take time to read the
attached information on this website. Feel free to call us with
your questions anytime.
(c) Copyright 1996 Equi=Tech Corporation all rights reserved
1996 National Electrical Code
Article 530
-- MOTION PICTURE AND TELEVISION STUDIOS AND
SIMILAR LOCATIONS
G. Separately Derived Systems with 60 Volts to Ground
530-70. General. Use of a separately derived 120-volt single-
phase 3-wire system with 60 volts on each of two ungrounded
conductors to a grounded neutral conductor shall be permitted for
the purpose of reducing objectionable noise in audio/video
production or other similar sensitive electronic equipment
locations provided that its use is restricted to electronic
equipment only and that all of the requirements in Sections 530-
71 through 530-73 are met.
530-71. Wiring Methods.
(a) Panelboards and Overcurrent Protection. Use of standard
single-phase panelboards and distribution equipment with a
higher voltage rating shall be permitted. The system shall be
clearly marked on the face of the panel or on the inside of the
panel doors. Common-trip two-pole circuit breakers that are
identified for operation at the system voltage shall be provided
for both ungrounded conductors in all feeders and branch circuits.
(b) Junction Boxes. All junction box covers shall be clearly
marked to indicate the distribution panel and the system voltage.
(c) Color Coding. All feeders and branch-circuit conductors
installed under this section shall be identified as to system at all
splices and terminations by color, marking, tagging or equally
effective means. The means of identification shall be posted at
each branch-circuit panelboard and at the disconnecting means
for the building.
(d) Voltage Drop. The voltage drop on any branch circuit shall
not exceed 1.5 percent. The combined voltage drop of feeder and
branch circuit conductors shall not exceed 2.5 percent.

530-72. Grounding.
(a) General. The system shall be grounded as provided in Section
250-26 as a separately derived single-phase 3-wire system.
(b) Grounding Conductors Required. Permanently wired
utilization equipment and receptacles shall be grounded by means
of an equipment grounding conductor run with the circuit
conductors to an equipment grounding bus prominently marked
"Technical Equipment Ground" in the originating branch-circuit
panelboard. The grounding bus shall be connected to the
grounded conductor on the line side of the separately derived
system's disconnecting means. The grounding conductor shall not
be smaller than that specified in Table 250-95 and run with the
feeder conductors. The technical equipment grounding bus need
not be bonded to the panelboard enclosure.
Exception: Other grounding methods authorized elsewhere in this
Code shall be permitted where the impedance of the grounding
return path does not exceed the impedance of equipment
grounding conductors sized and installed in accordance with Part
G of this article.
(FPN No. 1): See Section 250-95 for equipment grounding
conductor sizing requirements where circuit conductors are
adjusted in size to compensate for voltage drop.
(FPN No. 2): These requirements limit the impedance of the
ground fault path where only 60 volts applies to a fault condition
instead of the usual 120 volts.
530-73. Receptacles.
(a) General. Where receptacles are used as a means of connecting
equipment, the following conditions shall be met:
(1) All 15- and 20-amp receptacles shall be GFCI protected.
(2) All outlet strips, adapters, receptacle covers and faceplates
shall be marked as follows:
WARNING - TECHNICAL POWER
Do not connect to lighting equipment.
For electronic equipment use only.
60/120 V. 1 AC
GFCI protected
(3) A 125-volt, single-phase, 15- or 20-ampere-rated receptacle
outlet having one of its current carrying poles connected to a
grounded circuit conductor shall be located witnin 6 feet of all
JdB Sound Acoustics
168
permanently installed 15- or 20-ampere rated 60/120-volt
technical power-system receptacles.
(4) All 125-volt receptacles used for 60/120-volt technical power
shall have a unique configuration and be identified for use with
this class of system.
Exception: 125-Volt, single phase, 15- or 20-ampere-rated
receptacle outlets and attachment plugs that are identified for use
with grounded circuit conductors shall be permitted in machine
rooms, control rooms, equipment rooms, equipment racks and
other similar locations that are restricted to use by qualified
personnel.
(b) Isolated ground receptacles. Isolated ground receptacles shall
be permitted as described in Section 250-74 Exception No. 4,
however, the branch circuit equipment grounding conductor shall
be terminated as required in Section 530-72(b).
The Dirty Chassis Condition
A dirty chassis condition occurs when a piece of equipment has
voltage or ground noise present on its chassis and/or its signal
ground reference even after balanced power has been applied.
This technical bulletin outlines the various types of dirty chassis
conditions and the techniques used to solve these problems.
Locating a dirty chassis
To locate a specific piece of equipment that has a dirty chassis
leave all audio/video connections intact then plug in and turn on
all of the equipment one piece at a time. When objectionable
noise becomes audible, visible or measurable, the last unit turned
on has a dirty chassis condition.
4 Types of Dirty Chassis Conditions
1.) Noise is present with signal ground and chassis ground not
connected
When the signal ground (pin 1 in a balanced audio system or the
sleeve in an unbalanced audio or video connection) is not
connected to the chassis ground, it is probably because the
manufacturer has determined that the chassis power supply has
made the chassis too dirty to reference to the signal ground.
Often, manufacturers or technicians lift pin 1 from the chassis in
this manner to avoid noise which is often the case when
unbalanced power is used. It is easy to check for this condition
with an ohm meter -- simply test for continuity from the signal
ground to chassis. For balanced power applications there should
be continuity. If there is no continuity, try jumping from the
signal ground to chassis. The device should get quieter. If it
doesnt, another type of dirty chassis condition may be present
that requires a different solution.
2.) Noise is present when chassis ground is not referenced to AC
ground
When an equipment chassis is not referenced to the AC ground, it
is often because the unit has an ungrounded 2-prong AC cord. In
order to avoid grounding noise, some manufacturers avoid
referencing the chassis to the AC ground altogether. The solution
is to connect the equipment chassis to the AC ground with a #12
ga. or #14 ga. copper wire. Often the simplest way to ground a
chassis is to strip the paint off of the inside of the rack ears and
off one side of the rack rails with a grinding stone and a drill.
Then, sandwich a ring terminal between the stripped rack ear and
rack rail and run a copper wire from the ring terminal to the AC
ground.
Occasionally, some equipment does not have continuity between
the chassis and the AC ground even if it has a grounded 3-prong
AC cord. It is easy to check this with an ohm meter. Simply test
for continuity between the chassis and the ground prong on the
AC plug. For balanced power applications there should be
continuity. If there is no continuity, run a jumper wire from the
chassis to the AC ground and the device should become quieter.
If it does not become quieter, this is an indication that a different
approach to the noise problem is needed.
3.) Noise is present with audio ground, chassis and AC ground
connected
When a device has continuity from signal ground to chassis
ground and AC ground but there is still voltage or noise present,
there are simple procedures to follow that should correct the
noise problem. If the unit has unbalanced audio signal
connections the best approach is to balance and isolate the
unbalanced audio with an audio isolation transformer or direct
JdB Sound Acoustics
169
box and route balanced signal to a balanced audio input
connection. An alternative approach when using unbalanced
audio or video is to use an unbalanced to unbalanced isolation
transformer. Both of these techniques serve to isolate the ground
of a unit with a dirty chassis from the ground of the rest of the
system thereby eliminating ground noise contamination.
Often, CATV lines exhibit a dirty chassis condition, the dirty
chassis in this case being the CATV company's equipment.
Similar to the above situation with noisy a/v equipment, this
problem readily resolves with an RF isolation transformer. One
can be built by soldering two balun transformers back to back and
connecting the coax cables at the unbalanced ends.
4.) Noise is present with audio ground, chassis and AC ground
connected and an audio isolation transformer is being used for
interconnecting to the system.
When a piece of equipment has so much voltage or noise on the
chassis and/or signal ground, it needs to be insulated from the
rack rail with plastic insulators. In some rare cases, an AC
ground lift adapter is also required to cure the condition.
There are also a few units that radiate so much EMI/RFI that
other equipment will pickup noise from the stray field generated
by the device with the dirty chassis, particularly if there is an
unshielded patch bay or other unshielded gear nearby. These
units need to removed from the rack completely or the sensitive
gear that is picking up the noise needs to be moved away from
the source of EMI/RFI. Fortunately, these seriously affected
chassis are quite rare. Often replacement is the most logical
course of action to take.
(c) Copyright 1996 Equi=Tech Corporation all rights reserved

Audio Terminologys
A-B Test
Evaluating comparative performance of two or
more models of equipment such as amplifiers or
speaker systems by listening and switching
quickly from one to the other. It is possible to
connect an A-B Test to any two pieces of the
same type of equipment from anywhere in the
audio chain. (A/B testing for churches should
always be done at equal volume. This is the
true test of any loudspeaker or equipment you
are planning to use.)
absorption
The ability of a room to take up or absorb the
acoustic energy radiated within it. There are
many types of absorption since it can be
frequency dependent. There are certain
materials such as acoustical ceilings that may
absorb more high frequencies than lows such as
acoustical ceilings. Diaphragmatic absorptions
(caused by loose wall panels or cavities behind
the panels) that cause certain low frequencies to
be absorbed.
ac mains
110-120 Volts alternating current (60 Hz)
(what you plug your power cord into.)
acoustic
Relating to, containing, producing, arising
from, actuated by, or carrying sound. Pertaining
to the act or sense of hearing, the science of
sound, or the sound heard.
acoustical
Sound or properties of sound; the acoustical
response of a room has to do with the way that
room responds to sound.
Acquisition Time
The time required for a sample-and-hold (S/H)
circuit to capture an input analog value;
specifically, the time for the S/H output to
approximately equal its input.
active
A type of electronic circuitry that can increase
the gain or amplitude of a signal. Active gain
controls. Active Equalization. Active Direct
Boxes. Active Crossover.
active equalizer
A variable equalizer requiring power to
operate. Available in many different
configurations and designs. Favored for low
cost, small size, light weight, loading
indifference, good isolation (high input and low
output impedances), gain availability (signal
boosting possible), and line-driving ability.
Disliked for increased noise performance,
limited dynamic range, reduced reliability, and
RFI susceptibility; however, used everywhere.
ADC (or A/D, analog-to-digital converter)
%%0.2 3 2
The electronic component which converts the
instantaneous value of an analog input signal to
a digital word (represented as a binary number)
for digital signal processing. The ADC is the
first link in the digital chain of signal
processing.
AES (Audio Engineering
Society) Founded in 1949, the largest
professional organization for electronic
engineers and all others actively involved in
audio engineering. Primarily concerned with
education and standardization.
algorithm
A structured set of instructions and operations
tailored to accomplish a signal processing task.
For example, a fast Fourier transform (FFT), or
a finite impulse response (FIR) filter are
common DSP algorithms.
aliasing
The problem of unwanted frequencies created
when sampling a signal of a frequency higher
than half the sampling rate. See: Nyquist fre-
quency.
all-pass filter
A filter that provides only phase shift or phase
delay without appreciable changing the mag-
nitude characteristic.
ampere
Abbr. I, also A. 1. A unit of electric current in
the International standard meter-kilogram-
second (mks) system. It is the steady current
that when flowing in straight parallel wires of
infinite length and negligible cross section,
separated by a distance of one meter in free
space, produces a force between the wires of
2E-7 newtons per meter of length. 2. A unit in
the International System specified as one
International coulomb per second and equal to
0.999835 ampere. [After Andr Marie Am-
pre.]
ampere
Named after Andre Ampere (1775-1836),
French scientist. A unit of measurement of
electrical current (I). One amp of current rep-
resents 6.28I8 x 10 electrons flowing past a
given point in one second, and is equal to one
coulomb.
amplifier (ampl)
A device capable of increasing the gain
(magnitude) or power level of a voltage or
current that is varying with time (frequency),
without distorting the wave form of the signal.
The amplifier is, just as the word implies, a
signal amplifier. The incoming signal from any
program material source is far too weak to
power a speaker system. The role of the
amplifier is to take that weak signal and
strengthen it to the necessary power level to
JdB Sound Acoustics
170
operate the loudspeakers with minimal distor-
tion.
analog
A physical variable which remains similar to
another variable insofar as the proportional
relationships are the same over some specified
range. The electrical signal produced by a mi-
crophone is an electrical analog of the acoustic
sound that the microphone is reproducing. The
continuous electrical signal that the microphone
produces varies in voltage and frequency as a
direct correlation to the non-electrical acoustic
information impressed on the transducer. The
electrical signal is analogous to the acoustical
sound that the microphone reproduces, i.e., the
voltage that the microphone produces is the
electrical analog of the acoustic sound source.
amplitude
1. Greatness of size; magnitude. 2. Physics. The
maximum absolute value of a periodically
varying quantity. 3. Mathematics. a. The
maximum absolute value of a periodic curve
measured along its vertical axis. b. The angle
made with the positive horizontal axis by the
vector representation of a complex number. 4.
Electronics. The maximum absolute value
reached by a voltage or current waveform.
analog
A real world physical quantity or data char-
acterized by being continuously variable (rather
than making discrete jumps), and can be as
precise as the available measuring technique.
anechoic
Refers to a room in which all surfaces are lined
with acoustic absorption material to such an
extent that the room absorbs sound energy
instead of reflecting it around the room (no
echo). A room that offers nearly total ab-
sorption is called an Anechoic Chamber and
must be quite large in order to accommodate
low frequencies.
ASA
(Acoustical Society of America) Founded in
1929, the oldest organization for scientist and
professional Acousticians and others engaged in
acoustical design, research and education.
ASCII
(pronounced "ask-ee") (American Standard
Code for Information Interchange) An ANSI
standard data transmission code consisting of
seven information bits, used to code 128 letters,
numbers, and special characters. Many systems
now use an 8-bit binary code, called ASCII-8,
in which 256 symbols are represented (for
example, IBM's "extended ASCII").
asymmetrical (non-reciprocal) response
 Term used to describe the comparative shapes
of the boost/cut curves for variable equalizers.
The cut curves do not mirror the boost curves,
but instead are quite narrow, intended to act as
notch filters.
atmospheric pressure
Pressure caused by the weight of the atmos-
phere. At sea level it has a mean value of one
atmosphere but reduces with increasing alti-
tude.
attenuation
The reduction in level of a signal.
audio
1. Of or relating to humanly audible sound, i.e.,
audio is all the sounds that humans hear. 2. a.
Of or relating to the broadcasting or reception
of sound. b. Of or relating to high-fidelity sound
reproduction. [Audio traveling through air is
vibrations, or cycles of alternating pressure
zones. Rarefaction follows each cycle of
compression, which produces a wave.]
audio chain
The order of sequence for connecting audio
components, i.e., microphone, preamplifier
(mixer), effects device, graphic equalizer,
crossover, amplifier, and speaker.
auditory filter
Term used to describe the concept of critical
bands. Analogous to a bandpass filter with a
rounded top ("rounded-exponential" after
Patterson and Moore, 1986). The filter is
slightly asymmetric, being wider on the low-
frequency side.
audio range
20 Hz to 20,000 Hz. (Twenty cycles per second
to twenty thousand cycles per second). The
frequency response spectrum of human
auditory perception.
aux input
An auxiliary input that serves as a straight
connection to a signal BUS (for instance:
Monitor Aux input is an Aux input to the
monitor BUS.)
baffle
The panel on which the speaker is mounted
within the speaker enclosure. The term derives
from its original use in preventing or baffling
the speaker's rear sound waves from interfering
with its front waves.
balanced cable
A pair of wires surrounded by a braided shield.
balanced line
A transmission line consisting of two
conductors plus a braided shield, capable of
being operated so that the voltages of the two
conductors are equal in magnitude (voltage)
and opposite in polarity with respect to ground.
A balanced line offers common mode rejection
or cancellation by attenuation, signals
electromagnetically induced into the signal
lines.
bandpass
Refers to a type of filter that passes a certain
band of frequencies uniformly and attenuates or
reduces the level of frequencies below and
above the specified bandpass.
bandpass filter
A filter that has a finite passband, neither of the
cutoff frequencies being zero or infinite. The
bandpass frequencies are normally associated
with frequencies that define the half power
points, i.e. the -3 dB points.
band-limiting filters
A >low-pass and a high-pass filter in series,
acting together to restrict (limit) the overall
bandwidth of a system.
bandwidth
Response characteristic in which a definite band
of frequencies having a low frequency and high
frequency limit are transmitted or amplified
uniformly.
bass reflex
A type of speaker enclosure in which the
speaker's rear sound wave emerges from a
critically dimensioned auxiliary opening or port
to reinforce the bass tones.
bel
Abbr. b, B Ten decibels. [After Alexander
Graham Bell.]
Bell, Alexander Graham
(1847-1922) Scottish-born American inventor
of the telephone. The first demonstration of
electrical transmission of speech by his
apparatus took place in 1876. Bell also
invented the audiometer, an early hearing aid,
and improved the phonograph.
biamp
Separating the audio spectrum into two bands,
i.e., high frequencies (high pass) and low
frequencies (low pass) by means of an
electronic crossover and using two separate
amplifiers or channels of an amplifier; one amp
or channel is used to amplify and project the
high pass signals (high frequencies) from the
high frequency component or horn of the
speaker system and the other amp or channel
amplifies the low pass signals (low frequencies)
and projects them from the woofer or low
frequency component of the speaker system,
resulting in increased headroom and dynamic
range.
bnc
(bayonet Neill Concelman, or baby N-
connector, or bayonet connector) A bayonet-
locking connector for slim coaxial cables. What
"BNC" truly stands for is still debated: 1) There
is an "N-connector," similar to, but larger than
the BNC-type, used for fat coaxial cables; 2)
Neill Concelman is credited with inventing this
connector; 3) And, of course, it is a bayonet-
style - so, take your pick.
JdB Sound Acoustics
171
boost
A term used to indicate an increase in gain of a
frequency or band of frequencies when
equalizing an audio signal. Opposite of cut.
boost/cut equalizer
The most common graphic equalizer. Available
with 10 to 31 bands on octave to 1/3-octave
spacing. The flat (0 dB) position locates all
sliders at the center of the front panel.
Comprised of bandpass filters, all controls start
at their center 0 dB position and boost (amplify
or make larger) signals by raising the sliders, or
cut (attenuate or make smaller) the signal by
lowering the sliders on a band-by-band basis.
Commonly provide a center-detent feature
identifying the 0 dB position. Proponents of
boosting in permanent sound systems argue that
cut-only use requires adding make-up gain
which runs the same risk of reducing system
headroom as boosting.
BRIDGE MODE (Mono)
Operating a stereo amplifier in mono via the
bridge mode switch, which then makes Channel
A output the positive power rail and Channel B
output the negative power rail. Since the signal
swings between A and B Channels, the output
of the amplifier is twice that of single channel
operation.
BRIDGING
Connecting one electrical circuit in parallel
with another. Example: Paralleling power
amplifier inputs.
buffer
In data transmission, a temporary storage
location for information being sent or received.
BUS
A conductor that serves as a common connector
to several signal sources, most often associated
with a mixer. A separate signal routing to a
specified output.
capacitor
A device which consists essentially of two
conductors (such as parallel metal plates)
insulated from each other by a dielectric (a
material in which an electric field can be
sustained with a minimum dissipation in
power) and which introduces capacitance into a
circuit, stores electrical energy, blocks the flow
of direct current (DC), and permits the flow of
alternating current (AC), to a degree dependent
on the capacitor's capacitance and the current
frequency.
cardioid
A type of microphone having a heart shape
pickup pattern that picks up sound better from
the front (on axis) than back (off axis).
chromatic scale
Music. A scale consisting of 12 semitones.
clipping
 Amplifier overload causing a squaring off or
undesirable change in the wave form resulting
in distortion or perceptible mutilation of audio
signals.
cluster
An array of loudspeakers or horns suspended
above an audience to act as a single or point
source of sound.
coaxial cable
A single copper conductor, surrounded with a
heavy layer of insulation, covered by a thick
surrounding copper shield and jacket. A
constant-impedance unbalanced transmission
line.
COINCIDENT
Two signals are said to be coincident when they
correspond exactly, fall upon or meet at the
same point. Coinciding or occurring in space or
time in exact agreement.
COMB FILTER
When two combining sound waves have
different amplitudes, phases, and frequencies,
the resultant sound wave develops many nulls
or spaces where the energy has canceled. When
viewed on a graphic recorder the resultant
frequency response resembles a comb due to the
nulls or notches of information that have
canceled.
COMBINING
A combining filter is a filter that will combine
with another filter, the total response being a
combination of the two filters.
COMMON MODE REJECTION
The ability of an amplifier to cancel a common
mode signal (such as interference) that is
applied equally to both ungrounded inputs of a
balanced amplifier, while responding to a signal
from the source that is constantly changing
direction (alternating current) so it is out of
phase with respect to the two balanced signal
lines; therefore it is not common mode and will
be passed and not rejected.
complex frequency variable
An AC frequency in complex number form.
COMPRESSION
Reduction of the effective gain of an amplifier
at one level of signal with respect to the gain at
a lower signal level.
compression wave
A wave propagated by means of the
compression of a fluid, such as a sound wave in
air.
compressor
A signal processing device used to reduce the
dynamic range of the signal passing through it.
For instance, an input dynamic range of 110 dB
might pass through a compressor and exit with
a new dynamic range of 70 dB. This clever bit
of skullduggery is normally done through the
use of a VCA (voltage controlled amplifier),
whose gain is a function of a control voltage
applied to it. Thus, the control voltage is made
a function of the input signal's dynamic content.
[Long answer: What "compression" is and does
has evolved significantly over the years.
Originally compressors were used to reduce the
dynamic range of the entire signal; with modern
advances in audio technology, compressors now
are used more sparingly. First the classical case:
The need for compression arose the very first
time anyone tried to record or broadcast audio:
the signal exceeded the medium. For example,
the sound from a live orchestra easily equals
100 dB dynamic range. Yet early recording and
broadcasting medium all suffered from limited
dynamic range. Typical examples: LP record
65 dB, cassette tape 60 dB (w/noise reduction),
analog tape recorder 70 dB, FM broadcast 60
dB, AM broadcast 50 dB. Thus "6 pounds of
audio into a 4 pound bag" became the necessity
that mothered the invention of the compressor
(sorry). Early compressors did not have a
"threshold" knob, instead, the user set a center
("hinge") point equivalent to the midpoint of
the expected dynamic range of the incoming
signal. Then a ratio was set which determined
the amount of dynamic range reduction. The
earlier example of reducing 110 dB to 70 dB
requires a ratio setting of 1.6:1 (110/70 = 1.6).
The key to understanding compressors is to
always think in terms of increasing and
decreasing level changes in dB about some set-
point. A compressor makes audio increases and
decreases smaller. From our example, for every
input increase of 1.6 dB above the hinge point
the output only increases 1 dB, and for every
input decrease of 1.6 dB below the hinge point
the output only decreases 1 dB. If the input
increases by x-dB, the output increases by y-
dB, and if the input decreases by x-dB, the
output decreases by y-dB, where x/y equals the
ratio setting. Simple - but not intuitive and not
obvious. This concept of increasing above the
set-point and decreasing below the set-point is
where this oft-heard phrase comes from:
"compressors make the loud sounds quieter and
the quiet sounds louder." If the sound gets
louder by 1.6 dB and the output only increases
by 1 dB, then the loud sound has been made
quieter; and if the sound gets quieter by 1.6 dB
and the output only decreases by 1 dB, then the
quiet sound has been made louder (it didn't
decrease as much). Think about it - it's an
important concept. With advances in all aspects
of recording, reproduction and broadcasting of
audio, the usage of compressors changed from
reducing the entire program to just reducing
selective portions of the program. Thus was
born the threshold control. Now sound
engineers set a threshold point such that all
audio below this point is unaffected, and all
audio above this point is compressed by the
amount determined by the ratio control.
Therefore the modern usage for compressors is
JdB Sound Acoustics
172
to turn down (or reduce the dynamic range of)
just the loudest signals. Other applications have
evolved where compressors are used in
controlling the creation of sound. For example
when used in conjunction with microphones
and musical instrument pick-ups, compressors
help determine the final timbre by selectively
compressing specific frequencies and
waveforms. Common examples are "fattening"
drum sounds, increasing guitar sustain, vocal
"smoothing," and "bringing up" specific sounds
out of the mix, etc.]
CONDUCTOR
A wire, cable or other material (metal, liquids,
gases, or plasma) that is suitable for carrying
electric current
constant-Q equalizer
(also constant-bandwidth) Term applied to
graphic and rotary equalizers describing
bandwidth behavior as a function of boost/cut
levels. Since Q and bandwidth are inverse sides
of the same coin, the terms are fully
interchangeable. The bandwidth remains
constant for all boost/cut levels. For constant-Q
designs, the skirts vary directly proportional to
boost/cut amounts. Small boost/cut levels
produce narrow skirts and large boost/cut levels
produce wide skirts.
CONTINUOUS POWER
This power rating represents the most
conservative statement of the capability of an
amplifier. It is also called "RMS" power. It
denotes the amount of power an amplifier can
deliver when amplifying a constant steady tone.
It is usually measured at a signal frequency of
1000 Hz for a specific distortion. Continuous
power in watts: W = V2/R Power in watts
equals the voltage squared divided by the
resistance of the load.
CONTINUOUS PROGRAM MATERIAL
A signal, such as speech or music, that contains
voltages continuously changing in both
frequency and voltage (time and amplitude).
convolution
A mathematical operation producing a function
from a certain kind of summation or integral of
two other functions. In the time domain, one
function may be the input signal, and the other
the impulse response. The convolution than
yields the result of applying that input to a
system with the given impulse response. In
DSP, the convolution of a signal with FIR filter
coefficients results in the filtering of that signal.
Correlation
A mathematical operation that indicates the
degree to which two signals are alike.
CPS
Abbreviation for "Cycles per second", the units
for expressing frequency. The term "CPS" has
been obsolete and replaced by "Hertz". Hertz =
Cycles per second. 1 kHz = 1 Kc.
crest factor
 The term used to represent the ratio of the peak
(crest) value to the RMS value of a waveform.
critical band
Physiology of Hearing. A range of frequencies
that is integrated (summed together) by the
neural system, equivalent to a bandpass filter
(auditory filter) with approximately 10-20%
bandwidth (approximately one-third octave
wide). [Although the latest research says
critical bands are more like 1/6-octave above
500 Hz, and about 100 Hz wide below 500
Hz.] The ear can be said to be a series of
overlapping critical bands, each responding to a
narrow range of frequencies. Introduced by
Fletcher (1940) to deal with the masking of a
pure-tone by wideband noise.
CRITICAL DISTANCE
The point within a room where the sound level
of the direct field radiating from the
loudspeaker and the reverberant field within the
room become equal in intensity or level.
CROSSOVER (X-OVER)
An electronic device that is used to separate an
audio signal into two or more bands of
frequencies or component signals above and
below a certain frequency, said to be the
crossover frequency or crossover point.
Crossovers can be active or passive.
CROSSOVER PASSIVE
A passive crossover is built into most speaker
cabinets in order to separate bands of
frequencies from the full range speaker level
signal produced by the power amplifier, and
routing those band of frequencies to the proper
speaker or driver. Most commonly found
speaker crossovers also use iron in the inductors
to decrease their size. This can be a source of
distortion due to the nonlinearities in the coil
from core saturation. The power going to the
high frequency drivers must be attenuated due
to the increase in efficiency of a high frequency
driver as compared to a bass driver. This power
has to go somewhere and it's usually converted
into heat through the use of resistors.
CROSSOVER ACTIVE
Electronic or active crossovers don't have the
problem of excess power because only the
power needed by the driver must be generated
by the amplifier. An active crossover is
employed when biamping a system. The active
crossover separates the audio spectrum (full
range) into bands of frequencies above (high
pass) and below (low pass) a certain frequency
(x-over point). The low pass is rolled off
(attenuated) so many dB per octave above the
crossover frequency. The high pass is rolled off
(attenuated) below a certain crossover
frequency at a rate of so many dB per octave.
The high pass and low pass outputs of the
electronic (active) crossover are connected to
the inputs of two separate power amplifiers
whose respective outputs are used to drive the
high end (horns) or low end (woofers) of a
sound system.
CROSSTALK
Interaction of adjoining channels or circuits.
Crosstalk can occur by being induced
electromagnetically or electrostatically.
Crosstalk is a common specification for mixing
consoles.
CURRENT
(I) The rate of flow (measured in amperes) of
electricity in a conductor or circuit. The amount
of current that flows is determined by the
voltage or electrical pressure applied and the
conductivity of the substance or material
(which also determines the resistance or
opposition to current flow).
Symbol i, I Electricity. a.A flow of electric
charge. b. The amount of electric charge
flowing past a specified circuit point per unit
time, or the rate of flow of electrons. [As
electrons flow in one direction, the spaces left
behind, called holes, appear to flow in the
opposite direction. Thus, current can be
visualized as electron flow (negative current
flow), or in the opposite direction, hole flow
(positive current flow, sometimes called
conventional current flow).]
current loop
A data transmission scheme that looks for
current flow rather than voltage levels. This
systems recognizes no current flow as a binary
zero, and having current flow as a binary one.
Favored for its low sensitivity to cable
impedance. MIDI is an example of a current
loop interconnect system.
CUT
A term used to indicate the reduction in gain or
attenuation of a frequency or band of
frequencies when equalizing an audio signal.
cut-only equalizer
Term used to describe graphic equalizers
designed only for attenuation. (Also referred to
as notch equalizers, or band-reject equalizers).
The flat (0 dB) position locates all sliders at the
top of the front panel. Comprised only of notch
filters (normally spaced at 1/3-octave intervals),
all controls start at 0 dB and reduce the signal
on a band-by-band basis. Proponents of cut-
only philosophy argue that boosting runs the
risk of reducing system headroom.
cutoff frequency Filters.
The frequency at which the signal falls off by 3
dB (the half power point) from its maximum
value. Also referred to as the -3 dB points, or
the corner frequencies.
CYCLE OR HERTZ
A unit of motion referenced to a time period of
one second. The frequency of a vibration or
oscillation in units per second. 100 Hertz or
100 c.p.s. (cycles per second) refers to the
number of times a second (100) a string is
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vibrated or an amplifier is swinging between its
positive and negative supply voltage.
DAMPING FACTOR
The ratio of the speaker impedance to the
amplifier's internal output impedance. Damping
factor is a measure of how well an amplifier
can actually control the movement of a speaker
cone or diaphragm by preventing it from
moving farther than it is supposed to. Damping
factor is arrived at by dividing the speaker
impedance by the amplifier's internal output
impedance. The internal output impedance of
any amplifier is determined by the
transconductivity (internal resistance) of the
output devices. ANYTHING connected in the
speaker line (including the speaker cable itself
or a crossover) looks to the speaker like an
increase in the output impedance of the
amplifier, thus lowering the effective damping
factor. Because any speaker is a mechanical
device, it will have its own resonant
frequencies, which will cause the cone to
continue in motion after a musical signal has
stopped. (See transient distortion). An amplifier
with a high damping factor will damp out these
speaker tendencies.
dB (Decibel)
- A unit for describing the ratio of two voltages,
currents, or powers. The decibel is based on a
logarithmic scale; when measuring differences
in sound pressure level (SPL), the amount of
change in sound pressure level perceivable is
directly proportional to the amount of stimulus
(the more sound present, the greater the change
must be, to be perceived).
O dB
In the measurement of SPL or Sound Pressure
Level, 0 dB is referenced to the threshold of
hearing or auditory perception of a tone of
1000 cycles (hertz) per second (1 kHz). 0 dB
must always be referenced to some base of
measurement. In gain functions 0 dB is unity
gain (1).
3 dB
The amount of SPL gained by doubling the
power to a speaker. The amount gained by
doubling the number of speakers.
+/- 3 dB
Plus or minus 3 dB is a measurement of
frequency response that exhibits no more than
+3 dB and no less than -3 dB below a given
reference. It is actually a 6 dB window. The
Response of 60 Hz to 14 kHz +/-3 dB means
that within the bandwidth of sixty cycles per
second to fourteen thousand cycles per second,
no frequency is +3 dB more nor -3 dB less than
a specified reference frequency.
3 dB DOWN (-3 dB)
The point at which a measured power level is 3
dB below the specified level. In an electronic
crossover, the point (frequency) at which the
high pass signal is -3 dB down in response or
 power level is considered the crossover point
(frequency).
-6 dB
The amount of loss in SPL as you double the
distance away from a sound source.
dBm
A decibel scale referenced to 0 dBm = 1
milliwatt of power into 600 Ohms or .7746
volts RMS across 600 ohms.
dBu
Primarily a British term for gain referenced to 0
dBu = .7746 volts RMS.
dBV
A decibel scale referenced to 1 volt RMS; 0
dBV = 1 volt.
dBW
A term for power gain referenced to 0 dBW = 1
Watt.
THE DECIBEL
Originally the "bel" in honor of Alexander
Graham Bell, was the logarithmic term called
the "transmission unit" which was used to
express the transmission losses of long
telephone lines. The "bel", being too large for
practical use, was later changed to "decibel".
The decibel has no actual numerical value, but
is used only to express a ratio between two
voltages, currents, powers, or impedances.
BASIS OF THE DECIBEL SYSTEM
MATHEMATICS
The logarithm: The exponent of that power
to which a fixed number (called the base) must
be raised in order to produce a given number
(called the antilogarithm). The decibel uses
logarithms to the base 10 called LOG. This is
not to be confused with the so-called natural
logarithm to the base "e" called LN used in
many electronic formulas.
Below are mathematical manipulations of
antilogarithms and logarithms. Voltage,
current, SPL, Distance:
20 Log X1/X2 Power = 10 Log P1/P2
DECAY
The gradual reduction in sound energy once the
sound source is turned off.
de-esser
A special type of audio signal compressor that
operates only at high frequencies (>3 kHz),
used to reduce the effect of vocal sibilant
sounds.
DIAPHRAGM
A thin flexible sheet that can be moved by
sound waves as in a microphone, or can
produce sound waves when moved as in a
loudspeaker or compression driver.
DIAPHRAGMATIC ABSORPTION
Absorption of sound energy due to the flexing
of wall panels at low frequencies. Wall panels
when mounted on a solid backing, but
separated from it by an air space (such as 2 x 4
studs), will respond to impinging sound waves
by vibrating. This results in absorption of sound
energy due to frictional losses caused by the
flexing of fibers in the wall panel.
DIFFERENTIAL AMPLIFIER
An amplifier whose output is proportional to
the difference between the voltages applied to
its two inputs. Used to balance or offer common
mode rejection of interference signals.
DIFFRACTION
The bending or redistribution of acoustic sound
waves in a room caused by some obstacle, such
as a column or divider. Only low frequency
wave forms can be diffracted.
DIFFUSION
The scattering of sound waves by a solid object.
DIGITAL
Refers to the processing of audio signals as
having discrete values as opposed to a
continuous analog audio signal. In digital audio
the continuous analog signal is converted to an
encoded discrete value or digital word.
DIP
A reduction (attenuation or cut) in gain at a
certain frequency also called a notch.
DIRECTIVITY
Area of coverage of a speaker or microphone.
discrete Fourier transform
(DFT) A DSP algorithm used to determine the
Fourier coefficient corresponding to a set of
frequencies, normally linearly spaced. See:
Fourier theorem.
DISPERSION
The spread or distribution or coverage of sound
generated from a horn or loudspeaker. For any
given frequency, the area of dispersion is
defined as that area between the -6 dB down
points of that frequency plotted against
amplitude. It is measured in degrees related to
an imaginary line descending from the center of
the speaker cone. As you move away from the
imaginary line, up or down, right or left, the
loudness level of the sound decreases. When the
sound level decreases rapidly on either side of
the imaginary line, the dispersion in degrees is
relatively small and the speaker is said to be
highly directional.
DISTORTION
Any undesired change in the wave form of an
electrical signal passing through a circuit or
transducer. Any distortion can be defined as
deviation from the original sound, the
discrepancy between what the amplifier should
do and what it actually does. All distortion is
undesirable. Distortion occurs when the
amplifier alters the original sound in the process
of amplification so that what comes out of an
amplifier is no longer a true replica of what
went in. Performers, however, will sometimes
desire the application of electronically induced
distortion for extra-musical effect in the
production of their "sound". The undesirability
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of inherent distortion is associated with high
fidelity and should not be confused with the
desirability of distortion as it is expected to be
produced through circuitry. When reproducing
sound, distortion is unwanted.
DRIVER
The motor structure portion of a horn loaded
loudspeaker system that converts electrical
energy into acoustical energy and feeds that
acoustical energy into the entry of a horn throat
or the narrow end of the horn. Most often used
when referring to a high frequency compression
driver, called a driver for short. The definition
also includes the loudspeaker in a horn loaded
woofer or mid bass horn.
DSP (digital signal processing)
A technology for signal processing that
combines algorithms and fast number-
crunching digital hardware, and is capable of
high-performance and flexibility.
ducker
A dynamic processor that lowers (or "ducks")
the level of one audio signal based upon the
level of a second audio signal. A typical
application is paging: A ducker senses the
presence of audio from a paging microphone
and triggers a reduction in the output level of
the main audio signal for the duration of the
page signal. It restores the original level once
the page message is over.
dynamic controllers
(or dynamic processors) A class of signal
processing devices used to alter an audio signal
based solely upon its frequency content and
amplitude level, thus the term "dynamic" since
the processing is completely program
dependent. The two most common dynamic
effects are compressors and expanders, with
limiters, noise gates (or just "gates"), duckers
and levelers being subsets of these. Another
dynamic controller category includes exciters,
or enhancers. And noise reduction units fall into
a final dynamic processor category.
DYNAMIC RANGE
In a musical instrument, the dynamic range is
the difference in decibels between the loudest
and softest level of notes that can be played on
that instrument. In electronic equipment,
dynamic range is the difference in decibels
between the highest (overload level) and lowest
(minimum acceptable) level compatible with
that signal system or transducer.
The ratio of the loudest (undistorted) signal to
that of the quietest (discernible) signal in a unit
or system as expressed in decibels (dB). With
reference to signal processing equipment, the
maximum output signal is restricted by the size
of the power supplies, i.e., it cannot swing more
voltage than is available. While the minimum
output signal is determined by the noise floor of
the unit, i.e., it cannot put out a discernible
signal smaller than the noise. Professional-
grade analog signal processing equipment can
 output maximum levels of +26 dBu, with the
best noise floors being down around -94 dBu.
This gives a maximum dynamic range of 120
dB - pretty impressive numbers, which coincide
nicely with the 120 dB dynamic range of
normal human hearing (from just audible to
uncomfortably loud).
ECHO
A delay in sound of more than 50 milliseconds
resulting in a distinct repeat or number of
repeats of the original sound.
EFFICIENCY
The ratio, usually expressed as a percentage, of
the useful power output to the power input of a
device.
EFFICIENCY RATING OF A A signal processing device used to increase the
TRANSDUCER / ENCLOSURE...is the SPL
the unit produces at a 1 W RMS input power
level measured 1 meter from the unit. Doubling
the input power raises the SPL 3 dB. Doubling
the number of enclosures raises the SPL 3 dB.
Doubling the input power and the number of
enclosures raises the SPL 6 dB. Doubling the
distance (near field) lowers the SPL 6 dB.
EIA
(Electronic Industries Association) Founded in
1924, The EIA is a private trade organization
made up of manufacturers which sets standards
for voluntary use of its member companies (and
all other electronic manufacturers), conducts
educational programs, and lobbies in
Washington for its members' interests.
ELECTRONICALLY BALANCED INPUT
A differentially balanced amplifier; an
amplifier whose output is proportional to the
difference between the voltages applied to its
two inputs. Offers common mode rejection or
attenuation of interference signal that was
introduced electromagnetically in the signal
carrying conductors.
ENCLOSURE
An acoustically designed housing or structure
for a speaker.
EQUALIZATION
The act of obtaining a desired overall frequency
response through the implementation of graphic
equalizers or tone controls. The name
equalization implies balance, when you
equalize you balance the audio spectrum.
exciters (or enhancers)
A term referring to any of the popular special-
effect signal processing products used primarily
in recording and performing. All exciters work
by adding harmonic distortion of some sort -
but harmonic distortion found pleasing by most
listeners. Various means of generating and
summing frequency-dependent and amplitude-
dependent harmonics exist. Both even- and odd-
ordered harmonics find favorite applications.
Psychoacoustics teaches that even-harmonics
tend to make sounds soft, warm and full, while
odd-harmonics tend to make things metallic,
hollow and bright. Lower-order harmonics
control basic timbre, while higher-order
harmonics control the "edge" or "bite" of the
sound. Used with discrimination, harmonic
distortion changes the original sound
dramatically, more so than measured
performance might predict.
EXCURSION
Movement of the cone of a loudspeaker or the
diaphragm of a compression driver. The higher
the voltage or amplitude of the signal applied,
the greater the movement or excursion of the
loudspeaker or diaphragm.
expander
dynamic range of the signal passing through it.
Expanders complement compressors. For
example, a compressed input dynamic range of
70 dB might pass through a expander and exit
with a new expanded dynamic range of 110 dB.
[Long answer: Just like compression, what
"expansion" is and does has evolved
significantly over the years. Originally
expanders were used to give the reciprocal
function of a compressor, i.e., it undid
compression. Anytime audio was recorded or
broadcast it had to be compressed for optimum
transfer. Then it required an expander at the
other end to restore the audio to its original
dynamic range. Operating about the same
"hinge" point and using the same ratio setting
as the compressor, an expander makes audio
increases and decreases bigger. From this sense
came the phrase that "expanders make the quiet
sounds louder and the loud sounds quieter."
Using the same example from the compressor
discussion: if the sound increases by 1 dB but
the output increases by 1.6 dB, then this quiet
increase has been made louder; and if the sound
gets smaller by 1 dB but the output decreases
by 1.6 dB, then the louder sound has been made
quieter (it decreased more) - it's confusing, but
once understood, it is a valuable way of looking
at it. Modern expanders usually operate only
below a set threshold point (as opposed to the
center hinge point), i.e., they operate only on
low-level audio. The term downward expander
or downward expansion evolved to describe this
type of application. The most common use is
noise reduction. For example, say, an
expander's threshold level is set to be just below
the smallest vocal level being recorded, and the
ratio control is set for 3:1. What happens is this:
when the vocals stop, the "decrease below the
set-point" is the change from signal (vocals) to
the noise floor (no vocals), i.e., there has been a
step decrease from the smallest signal level
down to the noise floor. If that step change is,
say, -10 dB, then the expander's output will be -
30 dB (because of the 3:1 ratio, a 10 dB
decrease becomes a 30 dB decrease), thus
JdB Sound Acoustics
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resulting in a noise reduction improvement of
20 dB.
EXPONENTIAL HORN
A speaker designed to reproduce the high
frequencies. An exponential horn has a flare
rate that increases with the square of the
distance from the entry to the horn throat.
FAR FIELD
That portion of the direct field that is at least
twice the distance of a frequency's wavelength.
FEEDBACK
(Electronic) The return of a portion of the
output of a circuit to its input.
(Acoustic) A squeal of a sound system caused
by the regeneration of a signal from the output
of a sound system into a microphone input.
FFT
(fast Fourier transform) A DSP algorithm that
is the computational equivalent to performing a
specific number of discrete Fourier transforms,
but by taking advantage of computational
symmetries and redundancies, significantly
reduces the computational burden.
fiber optics
The technology of using glass fibers to convey
light and modulated information. Short
distances (typically less than 150 feet) use
plastic fibers, while long distances must use
glass fibers.
FILTER
An electrical or electronic device that permits
certain frequencies to pass while obstructing
others such as a crossover filter used with
loudspeakers.
FIR
(finite impulse-response) filter A commonly
used type of digital filter. Digitized samples of
the audio signal serve as inputs, and each
filtered output is computed from a weighted
sum of a finite number of previous inputs. An
FIR filter can be designed to have completely
linear phase (i.e., constant time delay,
regardless of frequency). FIR filters designed
for frequencies much lower that the sample rate
and/or with sharp transitions are
computationally intensive, with large time
delays. Popularly used for adaptive filters.
flanging
Originally, "flanging" was achieved using two
reel-to-reel tape recorders playing the same
program, in synchronization, with their outputs
summed together. By alternately slowing down
one machine, then the other, different phase
cancellations occurred in the summation
process. The "slowing down" was done simply
by pressing against the flanges of the tape reels,
hence the original term "reel flanging," soon
shortened to just "flanging." Since the two
identical signals would alternately add and
subtract due to the introduced phase (timing)
difference, the audible effect was one of a
sweeping comb filter. It was described as a
 "swishing" or "tunneling" sound. Soon
electronic means were devised to mimic true
"reel flanging" by using delay lines and mixing
techniques. Adding a low-frequency oscillator
to modulate the audio delay line's clock signal
created a sweeping effect, much like a jet
airplane taking off. The best flangers used two
delay lines. Compare with: phaser
FLUTTER ECHO
A series of rapid specific reflective returns of
sound energy caused by large surfaces being
acoustically parallel to each other.
Fourier analysis Mathematics.
The approximation of a function through the
application of a Fourier series to periodic data.
Fourier, Baron Jean Baptiste Joseph
(1768-1830) French mathematician and
physicist who formulated a method for
analyzing periodic functions and studied the
conduction of heat.
Fourier
series Application of the Fourier theorem to a
periodic function, resulting in sine and cosine
terms which are harmonics of the periodic
frequency. [After Baron Jean Baptiste Joseph
Fourier.]
Fourier theorem
A mathematical theorem stating that any
function may be resolved into sine and cosine
terms with known amplitudes and phases.
FREQUENCY
The number of vibrations or oscillations in
units per second. Measured in cycles or Hertz
per seconds. The rate of repetition in cycles per
second (Hertz) of musical pitch as well as of
electrical signals. For example, the number of
waves per second a vibrating device such as a
piano or violin string moves back and forth
each second of time to produce a musical tone.
FREQUENCY RESPONSE
A measure of the effectiveness with which a
circuit, device or system transmits the different
frequencies applied. The way in which an
electronic device (mic, amp or speaker)
responds to signals having a varying frequency.
This is a measurement of how well an amplifier
reproduces and amplifies a specified audible
range with equal amplitude or intensity, for
example, 30 to 16,000 Hz.
FULL RANGE
The entire audio spectrum, 20 Hz - 20 kHz.
GAIN
An increase in strength or amplitude (voltage)
in a signal. The increase in signal power that is
produced by an amplifier; usually given as the
ratio of output to input voltage, current, or
power expressed in decibels.
graphic equalizer
A multi-band variable equalizer using slide
controls as the amplitude adjustable elements.
Named for the positions of the sliders
"graphing" the resulting frequency response of
the equalizer. Only found on active designs.
Center frequency and bandwidth are fixed for
each band.
GROUND
A heavy cable connected to earth via a metal
copper stake for the purpose of grounding
electrical equipment. In the U.S. a third wire in
our electrical system is connected to this earth
ground to provide a means of connecting the
chassis of electrical equipment to the earth
ground and thus provide protection against
hazardous electrical shock.
GROUND LOOP
Hum caused by return currents or magnetic
fields from relatively high-powered circuits or
components which generate unwanted, noisy
signals in the common return of relatively low-
level signal circuits. A potentially detrimental
loop formed when two or more points in an
audio system that are nominally at ground
potential are connected by a conducting path.
HAAS EFFECT
Refers to the condition of the human auditory
system that permits a listener to merge all the
information arriving in the first 20 milliseconds
as a single event. This is sometimes called the
precedent effect.
HARMONIC
One of a series of sounds, each of which has a
frequency which is an integral multiple of some
fundamental frequency.
harmonic series 1. Mathematics.
A series whose terms are in harmonic
progression, as 1 + 1/3 + 1/5 + 1/7 + . . . 2.
Music. A series of tones consisting of a
fundamental tone and the overtones produced
by it, and whose frequencies are consecutive
integral multiples of the frequency of the
fundamental.
HEADROOM
The difference between the average operating
power level of an amplifier circuit and the point
at which clipping or severe distortion occurs.
HEARING
The human hearing system is very well
designed. It has a dynamic range of over 120
dB. Contemporary digital recording techniques
can only achieve a dynamic range of about 90
dB. The typical threshold of pain is around 140
dB, with discomfort starting around a sound
level of 118 dB. THE NORMAL AUDIBLE
FREQUENCY RANGE is considered to be 15
Hz to 20 kHz. The typical Hi-Fi specification
range is 20 Hz to 20 kHz. One has to question
the validity of this range since 20 Hz is more
"feeling" than "listening", and most people can't
hear 20 kHz (only the young). Sound
reinforcement specifications reflect 50 Hz to 15
kHz (sometimes 40 Hz). Interestingly enough,
this just happens to be the FCC limits on FM
JdB Sound Acoustics
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radio. The typical telephone has a frequency
response of 400 Hz to 4 kHz. The human ear
does not hear all frequencies at the same
INTENSITY. It's less sensitive at both the
lower and upper ends of the frequency
spectrum, and this characteristic varies with
both age and sex. The amount of sensitivity is
also a function of sound pressure level. The
greatest intensity variations occur at very low
sound pressure levels. The curve is relatively
flat at sound pressures of 90 dB or so (Fletcher-
Munson). The decibel is used in acoustic
measurements because the human ear responds
to the intensity of sound in approximately a
logarithmic manner. Only 5% of people can
hear a 1 dB CHANGE IN SOUND LEVEL
(60 dB, 1 kHz); about 50% of people can hear
a 2 dB change; everyone can hear a 3 dB
change. Therefore . . . 1 dB frequency response
specs are good; 3 dB specs are fair.
TWICE AS LOUD TESTING: 50% of people
say about 7.5 dB change is twice as loud . . .
some as low as 5 dB, and some as high as 10
dB. This test is very level and frequency
sensitive. Higher sound levels produce lower
numbers . . . frequencies below 1 kHz and
above 5 kHz yield higher numbers. Therefore,
since a doubling of power is only 3 dB more,
how much more is really required to produce
the "twice as loud"; see your power chart! "A
CS 800® plays twice as loud as a CS
400®"..."wrong", only 3 dB louder. With
a complex signal, such as program music, a 10
dB change is approximately twice as loud.
Helmholtz, Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand
von
(1821-1894) German physicist and
physiologist who formulated the mathematical
law of the conservation of energy (1847) and
invented an ophthalmoscope (1851) [An
instrument for examining the interior structures
of the eye, especially the retina, consisting
essentially of a mirror that reflects light into the
eye and a central hole through which the eye is
examined. You aren't a real doctor without
one!] Famous for his book, On the Sensations
of Tone first published in 1862.
HERTZ (Hz)
A unit of measurement, previously referred to
as cycles per second used to indicate the
frequency of sound or electrical wave. A unit of
motion referenced to a time period of one
second. The frequency of a vibration or
oscillation in units per second.
HIGH PASS
All signals above a given crossover frequency.
high-pass filter
A filter having a passband extending from some
finite cutoff frequency (not zero) up to infinite
frequency. An infrasonic filter is a high-pass
filter.
HIGH Z OR HIGH IMPEDANCE
 Any resistance to AC voltage or current
generally greater than 2,000 Ohms.
HUM
An electrical disturbance that can occur in
sound equipment due to the frequency of the
power distribution system or any number of its
harmonics. Our power line frequency in the
U.S. is 60 Hz. Hum can occur at 60 Hz, 120
Hz, 180 Hz, 240 Hz....
IC
(integrated circuit) A solid state device with
miniaturized discrete active components on a
single semiconductor material.
IEC
(International Electrotechnical Commission) A
European organization (headquarters in
Geneva, Switzerland) involved in international
standardization within the electrical and
electronics fields. The U.S. National Committee
for the IEC operates within ANSI.
IEEE
(Institute of Electrical and Electronic
Engineers) The largest professional
organization for electrical engineers. Primarily
concerned with education and standardization.
IIR
(infinite impulse-response) filter A commonly
used type of digital filter. This recursive
structure accepts as inputs digitized samples of
the audio signal, and then each output point is
computed on the basis of a weighted sum of
past output (feedback) terms, as well as past
input values. An IIR filter is more efficient than
its FIR counterpart, but poses more challenging
design issues. Its strength is in not requiring as
much DSP power as FIR, while its weakness is
not having linear group delay and possible
instabilities.
IM (Intermodulation Distortion)
Nonlinear distortion characterized by the
appearance of output frequencies equal to the
sums and differences of integral multiples of the
input frequency components. For instance, an
amplifier with high IM distortion amplifying
two frequencies of 100 Hz and 2,000 Hz would
also generate distortion components of 1,900
Hz and 2,100 Hz.
IMPEDANCE
The total opposition to alternating current flow
presented by a circuit. The resistance to the
flow of alternating current in an electrical
circuit, generally categorized as either "high" or
"low", but always expressed in ohms.
Commonly used to rate electrical input and
output characteristics of components so that
proper "match" can be made when
interconnecting two or more devices, such as a
microphone, loudspeaker or amplifier.
IMPEDANCE MATCH
The condition in which the external impedance
of a connected load is equal to the internal
impedance of the source, thereby giving
maximum transfer of energy from source to
load, minimum reflection, and minimum
distortion.
IMPULSE
A type of signal that switches on and off as
opposed to remaining in a steady state like a
continuous sine wave. Music is more impulsive
in nature than it is steady state.
INDUCTANCE
That property of an electric circuit or of two
neighboring circuits whereby an electromotive
force is generated (by the process of
electromagnetic induction) in one circuit by a
change in itself or in the other.
INDUCTOR
A coil of wire used to create an impedance
whose reactive component is low, therefore
offering low resistance at low frequencies and
high resistance at high frequencies. An inductor
passes low frequencies and attenuates or rolls
off high frequencies.
INFINITE BAFFLE
A baffle that effectively prevents all of the
loudspeaker's rear sound waves from interfering
with its front waves.
INPUT OVERLOAD
Distortion produced by too strong a signal from
the output of a microphone or other signal
source such as a keyboard connected to the
input of a preamplifier.
INSERTION LOSS
A loss in gain of a system after a component
has been added or inserted in the system.
Insertion loss is loss of headroom.
INTEGRATED
A type of design in which two or more basic
components or functions are combined
physically as well as electrically, usually on
one chassis as opposed to a separate mixer and
power amplifier.
Interpolating response
Term adopted by Rane Corporation to describe
the summing response of adjacent bands of
variable equalizers using buffered summing
stages. If two adjacent bands, when summed
together, produce a smooth response without a
dip in the center, they are said to interpolate
between the fixed center frequencies, or
combine well. [Historical note: Altec-Lansing
first described their buffered equalizer designs
as combining and the terminology became
commonplace. Describing how well adjacent
bands combine is good terminology. However,
some variations of this term confuse people.
The phrase "combining filter" is a misnomer,
since what is meant is not a filter at all, but
rather whether adjacent bands are buffered
before summing. The other side of this
JdB Sound Acoustics
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misnomered coin finds the phrase "non-
combining filter." Again, no filter is involved in
what is meant. Dropping the word "filter" helps,
but not enough. Referring to an equalizer as
"non-combining" is imprecise. All equalizers
combine their filter outputs. The issue is how
much ripple results. For these reasons, Rane
adopted the term "interpolating" as an
alternative. Interpolating means to insert
between two points, which is what buffering
adjacent bands accomplishes. By separating
adjacent bands when summing, the midpoints
fill in smoothly without ripple.]
inverse square law Sound Pressure
Level.
Sound propagates in all directions to form a
spherical field, thus sound energy is inversely
proportional to the square of the distance, i.e.,
doubling the distance quarters the sound energy
(the inverse square law), so SPL is attenuated
6dB for each doubling.
ISO
(International Standards Organization or
International Organization for Standardization)
Founded in 1947 and consisting of members
from over 90 countries, the ISO promotes the
development of international standards and
related activities to facilitate the exchange of
goods and services worldwide. The U.S.
member body is ANSI. [Interesting tidbit:
according to ISO internet info, "ISO" is not an
acronym! It is a derived Greek word, from isos,
equal. For example, isobar, equal pressure, or
isometric, equal length. Take a small jump
from "equal" to "standard" and you have the
name of the organization. It offers the further
advantage of being valid in all the official
languages of the organization (English, French
& Russian), whereas if it were to be an
acronym it would not work for French and
Russian.]
JACK
A receptacle on a receiver, tape recorder,
amplifier or other component into which a
mating connector can be plugged.
KILOHERTZ
A frequency of one thousand cycles per second
(1 kHz).
LED
Light emitting diode, a semiconductor device
that produces visible light when a voltage of a
certain polarity and potential is applied to it.
leveler
A dynamic processor that maintains (or
"levels") the amount of one audio signal based
upon the level of a second audio signal.
Normally, the second signal is from an ambient
noise sensing microphone. For example, a
restaurant is a typical application where it is
desired to maintain paging and background
music a specified loudness above the ambient
 noise. The leveler monitors the background
noise, dynamically increasing and decreasing
the main audio signal as necessary to maintain
a constant loudness differential between the
two. Also called SPL controller.
LIMITER
An electronic circuit used to prevent the
amplitude of an electronic waveform from
exceeding a specified preset level while
maintaining the shape of the waveform at
amplitudes less than the preset level.
A compressor with a fixed ratio of 10:1 or
greater. The dynamic action effectively
prevents the audio signal from becoming any
larger than the threshold setting. For example, if
the threshold is set for, say, +16 dBu and the
input signal increases by 10 dB to +26 dB, the
output only increases by 1 dB to +17 dBu,
essentially remaining constant. Used primarily
for preventing equipment, media, and
transmitter overloads. A limiter is to a
compressor what a noise gate is to an expander.
LINEAR
Having an output that varies in direct
proportion to the input.
LINEAR FREQUENCY SCALE
A scale on which each equal length division
represents an equal number of Hertz. If you add
the equal length division in Hertz to the last
division frequency, you get the next frequency
in a series.
LINE OUT
An output connection found on mixers and
preamps providing an output at a level
sufficient to drive the input of a power
amplifier. Widow® Speaker.
LOAD IMPEDANCE
The actual impedance of the load or speaker
that a power amplifier is connected to, thus
driving a load of a certain impedance.
LOGARITHMIC FREQUENCY SCALE
A scale on which each division represent an
exponential constant, i.e., each division from a
reference point is proportional to its logarithms.
loudness
The SPL of a standard sound which appears to
be as loud as the unknown. Loudness level is
measured in phons and equals the equivalent
SPL in dB of the standard. [For example, a
sound judged as loud as a 40 dB-SPL 1 kHz
tone has a loudness level of 40 phons. Also, it
takes 10 phons (an increase of 10 dB-SPL) to
be judged twice as loud.]
LOUDNESS CONTROL
A volume control with special circuitry added
to compensate for the normal decreased hearing
ability of the human ear at the extreme ends of
the audio range when listening to lower sound
levels. A typical loudness control boosts the
bass frequencies and to a lesser extent, the high
frequencies. Sometimes this control is called
contour.
LOUDSPEAKER EFFICIENCY
The ratio, expressed in percentage, of signal
output to signal input used to state the power
needed to drive a loudspeaker. An example:
Power output 2 watts; Power input 10 watts;
Ratio 2/10=20% efficiency. Efficiency can vary
from 2% to as high as 25%.
LOW PASS
All of the frequencies below a given crossover
frequency.
low-pass filter
A filter having a passband extending from DC
(zero Hz) to some finite cutoff frequency (not
infinite). A filter with a characteristic that
allows all frequencies below a specified rolloff
frequency to pass and attenuate all frequencies
above. Anti-aliasing and anti-imaging filters are
low-pass filters.
LOW Z OR LOW IMPEDANCE
Any resistance to AC voltage or current flow
generally less than 2000 Ohms.
magnitude 1
. Mathematics. a. A number assigned to a
quantity so that it may be compared with other
quantities. b. A property that can be
quantitatively described, such as the volume of
a sphere, the length of a vector, or the value of a
voltage or current waveform.
MASTER
Main level or gain control for a bus or mix.
MICROPHONE
A microphone is a transducer that changes
acoustical energy (sound) into electrical energy.
microprocessor
An integrated circuit that performs a variety of
operations in accordance with a list of
instructions. The core of a microcomputer or
personal computer, a one chip computer.
minimum-phase filters
Electrical circuits From an electrical
engineering viewpoint, the precise definition of
a minimum-phase function is a detailed
mathematical concept involving positive real
transfer functions, i.e., transfer functions with
all zeros restricted to the left half s-plane
(complex frequency plane using the Laplace
transform operator s). This guarantees
unconditional stability in the circuit. For
example, all equalizer designs based on 2nd-
order bandpass or band-reject networks have
minimum-phase characteristics.
MIXER
A device in sound reinforcement that has two or
more signal inputs and a common signal
output. Used to combine separate audio signals
linearly in desired proportions to produce an
output audio signal.
MLS (maximum-length sequences)
JdB Sound Acoustics
178
A time-domain-based analyzer using a
mathematically designed test signal optimized
for sound analysis. The test signal (a
maximum-length sequence) is electronically
generated and characterized by having a flat
energy-vs-frequency curve over a wide
frequency range. Sounding similar to white
noise, it is actually periodic, with a long
repetition rate. Similar in principle to impulse
response testing - think of the maximum-length
sequence test signal as a series of randomly
distributed positive- and negative-going
impulses. See: MLSSA
MLSSA (pronounced "Melissa")
(maximum-length sequences system
analyzer) Trademarked name for the first MLS
measurement instrument designed by DRA
Laboratories (Sarasota, FL). Maximum-length-
sequences methods were used for room impulse
response measurement by M.R. Schroeder in
1979 (based on work dating back to the mid-
60's); however, it was not until 1987 that the
use of MLS became commercially available.
The first MLS instrument was developed and
made practical by Douglas Rife, who described
the principles in his landmark paper (co-
authored by John Vanderkooy, University of
Waterloo) "Transfer-Function Measurement
with Maximum-Length Sequences" (J. Audio
Eng. Soc., vol. 37, no. 6, June 1989), and
followed up with new applications described in
"Modulation Transfer Function Measurement
with Maximum-Length Sequences" (J. Audio
Eng. Soc., vol. 40, no. 10, October 1992).
Further information available directly from
DRA Laboratories: Fax (941) 925-0964.
MODE
Another word for room resonance. When sound
energy is restricted by boundaries (such as
walls, floor, and ceiling) waves are developed
at certain frequencies or wavelengths that are
integers of the distance between the room
boundaries. Room modes or resonances cause
standing waves because once the wave is
generated it stands there, i.e., the positive
pressure peaks (anti-nodes) and negative
pressure troughs (nodes) stay stationary within
the boundaries.
MONITOR
A loudspeaker or system of loudspeakers that
permits the performer to evaluate or monitor his
sound alone or in conjunction with other sounds
that may be desired and is mixed to the listeners
preference by means of a separate monitor or
reference mix.
MONO
Monophonic Sound - Sound produced by a
system in which one or more microphones feed
a single signal processing amplifier whose
output is coupled to one or more loudspeakers.
MULTIMETER
Also called a Volt-Ohm-Meter (VOM). A
measuring instrument that can measure
 different ranges of voltage, current, and
resistance. A multimeter can have an analog
needle indicator or a digital read out. Every
sound person should own one of these and be
familiar with the different measurements that
can be made with it.
MUSIC POWER
This is a power rating generally applied to high
fidelity amplifiers for tones of short duration. It
takes into account the fact that most amplifiers
can produce a greater amount of power in short
bursts than they can continuously. The
rationale is that music is made up of such bursts
rather than sustained single frequencies. It is
higher than continuous power ratings for the
same amplifiers. It is measured at a signal
frequency of 1000 Hz for a specified distortion.
narrow-band filter
Term popularized by equalizer pioneer C.P.
Boner to describe his patented (tapped toroidal
inductor) passive notch filters. Boner's filters
were very high Q (around 200) and extremely
narrow (5 Hz at the -3 dB points). Boner used
100-150 of these sections in series to reduce
feedback modes. Today's usage extends this
terminology to include all filters narrower than
1/3-octave. This includes parametrics, notch
filter sets, and certain cut-only variable
equalizer designs.
NOISE
Any extraneous sound or signal that intrudes
into the original as a result of environmental
noise, distortion, hum, or defective parts in the
equipment.
noise floor
Normally the lowest threshold of useful signal
level (although sometimes audible signals
below the noise floor may be recovered).
noise gate
An expander with a fixed "infinite" downward
expansion ratio. Used extensively for
controlling unwanted noise, such as preventing
"open" microphones and "hot" instrument pick-
ups from introducing extraneous sounds into
the system. When the incoming audio signal
drops below the user set-point (the threshold
point) the expander prevents any further output
by reducing the gain "zero." The actual gain
reduction is typically on the order of -80 dB,
thus once audio falls below the threshold,
effectively the output level becomes the
residual noise of the gate. Common
terminology refers to the gate "opening" and
"closing." Another popular application uses
noise gates to enhance musical instrument
sounds, especially percussion instruments.
Judicious setting of a noise gate's attack (turn-
on) and release (turn-off) times adds "punch,"
or "tightens" the percussive sound, making it
more pronounced. A noise gate is to an
expander as a limiter is to a compressor.
NOTCH FILTER
A band rejection filter that produces a sharp
notch in the frequency response of a system,
thus reducing the gain or amplitude of a narrow
band of frequencies centered on a given
frequency.
Nyquist frequency
The highest frequency that may be accurately
sampled. The Nyquist frequency is one-half the
sampling frequency. For example, the
theoretical Nyquist frequency of a CD system is
22.05 kHz.
OCTAVE
The interval between any two frequencies
having a ratio of 2 to 1. Example: "A 440" is
an octave above "A 220". The interval
between any two frequencies having a ratio of 2
to 1. 2. Music a. The interval of eight diatonic
degrees between two tones, one of which has
twice as many vibrations per second as the
other. b. A tone that is eight full tones above or
below another given tone. c. An organ stop that
produces tones an octave above those usually
produced by the keys played.
OHM
The unit of electrical resistance, equal to the
resistance through which a current of one
ampere will flow when there is a potential
difference of one volt across it. Ohm is the unit
of measure used to express opposition to
current flow. Every wire or part through which
electricity passes has some resistance to that
passage.
OMNIDIRECTIONAL
Applied to microphones to refer to uniform
pickup of sound from all directions.
one-third octave
1. Term referring to frequencies spaced every
one-third of an octave apart. One-third of an
octave represents a frequency 1.26-times above
a reference, or 0.794-times below the same
reference. The math goes like this: 1/3-octave =
2E1/3 = 1.260; and the reciprocal, 1/1.260 =
0.794. Therefore, for example, a frequency 1/3-
octave above a 1 kHz reference equals 1.26
kHz (which is rounded-off to the ANSI-ISO
preferred frequency of "1.25 kHz" for
equalizers and analyzers), while a frequency
1/3-octave below 1 kHz equals 794 Hz (labeled
"800 Hz"). Mathematically it is significant to
note that, to a very close degree, 2E1/3 equals
10E1/10 (1.2599 vs. 1.2589). This bit of
natural niceness allows the same frequency
divisions to be used to divide and mark an
octave into one-thirds and a decade into one-
tenths. 2. Term used to express the bandwidth
of equalizers and other filters that are 1/3-
octave wide at their -3 dB (half-power) points.
3. Approximates the smallest region
(bandwidth) humans reliably detect change.
See: critical bands. Compare with: third-octave
op amp (operational amplifier)
An analog integrated circuit device
characterized as having two opposite polarity
JdB Sound Acoustics
179
inputs and one output, used as the basic
building block in analog signal processing.
OSCILLOSCOPE
A test instrument that shows a picture of
electrical waveforms by means of a cathode ray
tube. An oscilloscope is calibrated so one can
measure the instantaneous values and
waveforms of electrical signals that are
changing rapidly or varying as a function of
voltage or time. Also known as a Scope.
OUTPUT IMPEDANCE
The internal output impedance of an amplifier
presented by the amplifier to the load. (Output
impedance is many times used incorrectly
instead of load impedance.)
OVERTONE HARMONIC
Multiples of frequency of a fundamental
waveform.
PAD
A fixed passive network which reduces the
electrical level of a signal. An attenuator.
PARALLEL
An electric circuit in which the elements or
components are connected between two points
with one of the two ends of each component
connected to each point.
PARAMETRIC
A type of equalization circuit that has three
variable parameters; frequency, cut or boost
bandwidth, and Q.
parametric equalizer
A multi-band variable equalizer offering
control of all the "parameters" of the internal
bandpass filter sections. These parameters being
amplitude, center frequency and bandwidth.
This allows the user not only to control the
amplitude of each band, but also to shift the
center frequency and to widen or narrow the
affected area. Available with rotary and slide
controls. Subcategories of parametric equalizers
exist which allow control of center frequency
but not bandwidth. For rotary control units the
most used term is quasi-parametric. For units
with slide controls the popular term is
paragraphic. The frequency control may be
continuously variable or switch selectable in
steps. Cut-only parametric equalizers (with
adjustable bandwidth or not) are called notch
equalizers, or band-reject equalizers.
PASCAL
Abbr. Pa A unit of pressure equal to one
newton per square meter. [After Blaise Pascal.]
PASSIVE
An electronic circuit composed of passive
elements, such as resistors, inductors, or
capacitors, without any active elements, such as
vacuum tubes or transistors generally resulting
in a signal loss.
passive equalizer
A variable equalizer requiring no power to
operate. Consisting only of passive components
(inductors, capacitors and resistors) passive
 equalizers have no AC line cord. Favored for
their low noise performance (no active
components to generate noise), high dynamic
range (no active power supplies to limit voltage
swing), extremely good reliability (passive
components rarely break), and lack of RFI
interference (no semiconductors to detect radio
frequencies). Disliked for their cost (inductors
are expensive), size (and bulky), weight (and
heavy), hum susceptibility (and need careful
shielding), and signal loss characteristic
(passive equalizers always reduce the signal).
Also inductors saturate easily with large low
frequency signals, causing distortion. Rarely
seen today, but historically they were used
primarily for notching in permanent sound
systems.
PEAK
The maximum instantaneous value of a signal
amplitude.
PEAKING
A term used to indicate an increase in gain of a
frequency or band of frequencies when
equalizing an audio signal.
PEAK POWER
Peak power is used by manufacturers in an
attempt to "look better" in print and has no
bearing on the actual performance of a product.
Usually peak power works out to be twice
continuous power. Some of these same
manufacturers have come up with yet another
power term referred to as "Instantaneous Peak
Power", which is a further inflated and equally
meaningless specification. Amplifier power
should be judged on an equal basis when
comparing one amplifier with another.
Disregard "ad copy" such as that just described.
PEAK-TO-PEAK
Amplitude of an alternating voltage measured
from negative peak to positive peak.
peaking response
Term used to describe a bandpass shape when
applied to program equalization.
PFL
Pre Fade Listen. A button that permits a
channel or sub to be monitored before that
channel or sub's level control or fader.
PHASE
Phase is the time interval between two related
events. Two signals are in phase when they
reproduce the same sound or signal
simultaneously; they are out of phase to the
extent that one leads or lags behind the other in
time. A signal is said to be in phase with
another when the voltage and current
amplitudes begin at the same time and move in
the same direction.
PHASE CANCELLATION
Signals that are out of phase will cancel one
another according to the difference in phase in
degree. A transducer (speaker or microphone)
wired out of phase with another will result in
reduced output from both; instead of their
combined outputs adding, they will subtract
due to phase cancellation.
phaser
Also called a "phase shifter," this is an
electronic device creating an effect similar to
flanging, but not as pronounced. Based on
phase shift (frequency dependent), rather than
true signal delay (frequency independent), the
phaser is much easier and cheaper to construct.
Using a relatively simple narrow notch filter
(all-pass filters also were used) and sweeping it
up and down through some frequency range,
then summing this output with the original
input, creates the desired effect. Narrow notch
filters are characterized by having sudden and
rather extreme phase shifts just before and just
after the deep notch. This generates the needed
phase shifts for the ever-changing magnitude
cancellations.
phase shift
The fraction of a complete cycle elapsed as
measured from a specified reference point and
expressed as an angle. out of phase. In an un-
synchronized or un-correlated way. See:
polarity
phase delay
A phase-shifted sine wave appears displaced in
time from the input waveform. This
displacement is called phase delay.
PIEZO-ELECTRIC
Having the ability to generate a voltage when
mechanical force is applied; or to produce a
mechanical force when a voltage is applied, as
in a Piezo-electric crystal.
pink noise
Pink noise is a random noise source
characterized by a flat amplitude response per
octave band of frequency (or any constant
percentage bandwidth), i.e., it has equal energy,
or constant power, per octave. Pink noise is
created by passing white noise through a filter
having a 3 dB/octave roll-off rate. See white
noise discussion for details. Due to this roll-off,
pink noise sounds less bright and richer in low
frequencies than white noise. Since pink noise
has the same energy in each 1/3-octave band, it
is the preferred sound source for many
acoustical measurements due to the critical
band concept of human hearing.
POINT SOURCE
A source of acoustic sound waves having
definite position but no extension into space. A
point source is an ideal, an imaginary single
point in space. This imaginary point source
provides a good approximation for distances
from the point source that are much larger
compared to the actual dimensions of the
source. A cluster or array of horns and
loudspeakers is positioned using this imaginary
point in space as a reference for the actual
source of the sound. Properly configured the
JdB Sound Acoustics
180
array will perform as a single or point source of
sound.
POLARITY
The quality of having opposite poles. In electro-
magnetic-mechanical systems, some form of
potential is referenced to one of two poles with
different (usually opposite) characteristics, such
as one which has opposite charges or electrical
potentials, or opposite magnetic poles.
A signal's electromechanical potential with
respect to a reference potential. For example, if
a loudspeaker cone moves forward when a
positive voltage is applied between its red and
black terminals, then it is said to have a positive
polarity. A microphone has positive polarity if a
positive pressure on its diaphragm results in a
positive output voltage. [Usage Note: polarity
vs. phase shift: polarity refers to a signal's
reference NOT to its phase shift. Being
180° out-of-phase and having inverse
polarity are DIFFERENT things. We wrongly
say something is out-of-phase when we mean it
is inverted. One takes time; the other does not.]
POST
(after) on a mixer; post indicates that the
function is derived after the channel slider or
gain control.
POWER
Electrical energy, measured in watts, such as
the current from an amplifier used to drive a
loudspeaker. Power in Watts W = V2/R
POWER AMPLIFIER
The final active stage of the audio chain,
designed to deliver maximum power to the load
or speaker impedance for a given percent of
distortion.
PRE
(before) On a mixer, pre fade listen (PFL)
indicates that the function is derived before the
channel slider or gain control pre monitor send,
the monitor send is before and independent of
the channel slider or gain control. A pre
monitor send is usually pre channel EQ also.
PREAMP (preamplifier)
An amplifier whose primary function is
boosting or amplifying the output of a low level
audio-frequency source, (such as a
microphone), so that the signal may be further
processed without appreciable degradation of
the signal-to-noise ratio of the system. An
amplifier which increases electrical signals
from a microphone or other instrument to a
level usable by a power amplifier. Preamp
levels are approximately .1 volt.
PREAMP OUT
A means of obtaining an output signal from the
preamplifier of a channel of a mixer or musical
instrument amplifier. The preamp out is
actually a line level signal or 1 volt.
proportional-Q equalizer
(also variable-Q) Term applied to graphic and
rotary equalizers describing bandwidth
 behavior as a function of boost/cut levels. The
term "proportional-Q" is preferred as being
more accurate and less ambiguous than
"variable-Q." If nothing else, "variable-Q"
suggests the unit allows the user to vary (set)
the Q, when no such controls exist. The
bandwidth varies inversely proportional to
boost (or cut) amounts, being very wide for
small boost/cut levels and becoming very
narrow for large boost/cut levels. The skirts,
however, remain constant for all boost/cut
levels.
PROXIMITY EFFECT
Increase in low-frequency response when a
unidirectional or proximity effect microphone is
used close to a sound source.
psychoacoustics
The scientific study of the perception of sound.
REACTANCE
A resistive like property that offers opposition
to electron flow in an alternating current (AC)
circuit. There are two types of reactance;
capacitive reactance (XC) and inductive
reactance (XL). Reactance varies with
frequency.
REAL TIME ANALYZER (RTA)
An electronic instrument used to measure the
combined response of an audio system and the
room in which the system is operating.
REFLECTION
The bouncing back or return of sound waves
from walls or other obstacles which they strike.
REFRACTION
A change in direction or bending of the
propagation of a sound wave when it passes
from one medium to another in which the
velocity of sound is different.
REGENERATION
In audio, regeneration is another word for
feedback; when something regenerates it
continues or sustains itself as an oscillation.
When an electronics engineer designs an
oscillator, he takes the output of a gain stage
and feeds it back into the input through a tank
circuit (an RC, resistor and capacitor or an LC,
inductor and capacitor combination); when the
circuit is turned on it begins to regenerate or
oscillate at a specific frequency determined by
the value of the RC or LC combination. When
the output of a loudspeaker in a sound
reinforcement system is able to get back into a
microphone or sound system input, at some
level and resonant frequency, the system is
going to go into regeneration or feedback
oscillation (squeal).
RESISTANCE
Opposition to the flow of electrical current.
Measured in ohms.
RESISTOR
An electronic component designed to have a
definite amount of resistance; used in circuits to
limit current flow or to provide a voltage drop.
RESONANCE
A tendency of mechanical parts, loudspeaker
cone, enclosure panels or electrical circuits to
vibrate at or emphasize one particular
frequency, every time that frequency, or one
near it, occurs.
RESPONSE
The range of frequencies to which an amplifier
or speaker will respond, and the relative
amplitude or intensity with which these
frequencies are reproduced.
RETURN
An input used to patch a signal returning to a
particular BUS after having been further
processed, such as an echo or effects return.
REVERB (Reverberation, acoustical)
The prolongation of sound at a given point after
direct sound from the source has ceased, due to
such causes as reflection from physical
boundaries.
(Electro-mechanical) An electro-mechanical
device usually employing springs which
randomly reflect as great amount of sound as
possible, therefore simulating natural
reverberation.
(Digital Reverb) An electronic reverberation
effects processor that uses digital electronics to
introduce the multiple delay paths.
REVERBERATION
The sustaining of acoustical energy in a room
after the reception of the direct field (the sound
coming directly from the source) ceases in
producing sound. Reverberation is caused by
the reflections and scattering of sound energy
from the boundary surfaces of the room.
RIAA
Stands for Recording Institute Association of
America. A type of preamplifier used for
turntables. It is necessary to use an RIAA
preamp when using a magnetic cartridge.
RING MODE
A tone or frequency sounded in a room with a
live sound reinforcement system prior to the
system breaking into feedback. A ring mode
lies just below the threshold of feedback.
RMS (root means square value)
The square root of the time average of the
square of a quantity; for a periodic quantity the
average is taken over one complete cycle. RMS
voltage is .707 times the peak voltage of a sine
wave.
ROLL OFF
A signal is rolled off when it is attenuated or
reduced in level above (high pass roll off) or
below (low pass roll off) a certain frequency.
The amount of roll off is rated at so many
decibels per octave. A signal that is rolled off
below 100 Hz at a rate of 18 dB/octave would
be reduced in level or attenuated -18 dB at 50
Hz, -36 dB at 25 Hz, etc.
RT60 (Reverberation Time)
JdB Sound Acoustics
181
The time required for sound to drop to - 60 dB
in level once the source of sound has been
stopped, the -60 dB is below that of the
measured level in the steady state or while the
sound system was on and after any initial
transients or fluctuations settled.
SEND
An output used to patch a signal from a channel
or Bus of a mixer to an external signal
processor such as an echo or digital delay.
SENSITIVITY
The minimum input signal required to produce
a specified level of output. In an amplifier, the
input sensitivity is the amount of voltage at the
input necessary to drive the amplifier to its
rated power output. Loudspeaker sensitivity is
the power level necessary to produce a stated
SPL at a given distance from the loudspeaker,
usually rated at 1 watt 1 meter.
SERIES
An arrangement of circuit components, end-to-
end, to form a single path for current.
SERIES-PARALLEL
A circuit in which some of the components or
elements are connected in parallel, and one or
more of these parallel combinations are in
series with other components of the circuit.
SHELVING
A type of equalization circuit that has a shelf-
like characteristic at the upper or lower ends of
the spectrum. A shelving EQ at 15 kHz would
in the boost position increase the high
frequencies up to 15 kHz where it would shelf.
shelving response
Term used to describe a flat (or shelf) end-band
shape when applied to program equalization.
Also known as bass and treble tone control
responses.
SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO (S/N )
The ratio of the amplitude or level of a desired
signal at any point to the amplitude or level of
noise at the same point.
SINE WAVE
A wave whose amplitude varies as the
mathematical sine of a linear function of time,
also known as the sinusoidal wave. The ratio of
signal level (or power) to noise level (or
power), normally expressed in decibels
SINGLE SOURCE
A single speaker or cluster of speakers arranged
into an array that produces sound as if it
originated from a single or point source. See
Point Source.
SLAPBACK ECHO
A echo caused from reflections off the rear wall
in many auditoriums. Severe slapback echo is
very distracting for a musician onstage, as it
can cause confusion that makes following that
beat in time extremely difficult. A professional
high quality stage monitor system can mask
some of the slapback echo to a certain extent by
providing more direct sound from the monitor
 speaker in the first 25 milliseconds which the
performer perceives through auditory fusion as
more direct field, thus increasing the ratio of the
level of the direct field to that of the slapback
echo.
SLEW LIMITING
The failure of the amplifier's output to move as
fast, voltage-wise, as the input would have it
move.
SLEW RATE
Refers to the ability of an amplifier's output to
accurately reflect the input waveforms' rise time
transients. An amplifier is said to have a slew
rate of so many volts per microsecond. A slew
rate of 20 volts per microsecond (20 V/U sec.)
means that the amplifier is capable of swinging
20 volts positive or negative in the period of
one microsecond.
SNAKE
A multi conductor shielded input cable
employed when necessary to locate a mixer a
long distance from the stage and the
microphones.
SOUND
A pressure wave motion propagated in an
elastic medium (air) producing an auditory
sensation in the ear by the change of pressure at
the ear. Sound waves are produced by a
vibrating body in contact with air. 1.a.
Vibrations transmitted through an elastic
material or a solid, liquid, or gas, with
frequencies in the approximate range of 20 to
20,000 hertz, capable of being detected by
human ears. Sound (in air) at a particular point
is a rapid variation in the air pressure around a
steady-state value (atmospheric pressure) - that
is, sound is a disturbance in the surrounding
medium. b. Transmitted vibrations of any
frequency. c. The sensation stimulated in the
ears by such vibrations in the air or other
medium. d. Such sensations considered as a
group. 2. Auditory material that is recorded, as
for a movie. 3. Meaningless noise. 4. Music. A
distinctive style, as of an orchestra or a singer.
SOUND LEVEL METER
The instrument used to measure noise and
sound pressure levels (SPL), calibrated in
decibels.
SOUND FIELDS
DIRECT FIELD
The sound that emanates directly from a sound
source or loudspeaker.
INDIRECT FIELD
That sound perceived from behind a speaker
system, i.e. when no direct field is present.
NEAR DIRECT FIELD
The sound field that is generated close to the
source or loudspeaker. Generally considered
that sound field that is within a distance from
the source of less than two wavelengths.
FAR DIRECT FIELD
The sound field that is perceived at a distance
from the source loudspeaker that is greater than
2 wave lengths; as when you hear the out front
loudspeaker system from behind the speakers
themselves, you are listening to the indirect
sound field of the mains.
FREE FIELD
That portion of the direct field of a sound
source or loudspeaker that is reflection free or
not yet affected by boundaries such as walls or
ceiling.
REVERBERANT FIELD
That sound field beyond critical distance where
most of the energy arriving at the listener is in
the form of reflected energy off the room's
boundaries.
sound pressure level or SPL
The RMS sound pressure expressed in dB re 20
microPa (the lowest threshold of hearing for 1
kHz. [As points of reference, 0 dB-SPL equals
the threshold of hearing, while 140 dB-SPL
equals irreparable hearing damage.] See:
inverse square law
SPECTRUM
Refers to a particular band of frequencies. The
normal acoustic sound spectrum is the range of
human auditory perception (20 Hz to 20,000
Hz). There is also a Subsonic spectrum
(considered to be below about 40 Hz) and an
Ultrasonic audio spectrum (above 20,000 Hz).
SPECTRUM ANALYZER
See Real Time Analyzer (RTA).
SPL (sound pressure level)
The level or intensity at a point in a sound field
(loudness). The deviation above and below
normal atmospheric pressure. The unit of
measurement of Sound Pressure... the microbar.
One microbar is equal to the sound pressure of
1 dyne per square centimeter, which is a sound
level of 74 dB above the threshold of hearing
(0.0002 microbar.) It is also equal to
approximately one-millionth of normal
atmospheric pressure. Sound pressure levels are
stated in decibels as follows: Where P is the
RMS sound pressure in microbars, and the
reference is the threshold of hearing of 0.0002
microbars (50% of young men, 1 to 4 kHz).
SPLITTER
A box into which one microphone or signal is
connected and has two or more individual
outputs available for that signal. Used when a
separate monitor mix is required.
STANDING WAVE
Standing waves occur in rooms because of the
boundaries. A standing wave is a sound wave
that once excited it stands there, i.e., the
positive air pressure peaks (antinodes) and
negative air pressure troughs (nodes) remain in
the same position within the room's boundaries.
Also known as a stationary wave. See Modes.
STEREO
JdB Sound Acoustics
182
In a sound reproducing system, stereo refers to
the use of two separate signal processing
channels driving two separate power amplifiers,
which in turn power two separate speaker
systems. However, most times in sound
reinforcement, a stereo mixer is employed to
drive a mono (single channel) system in order
to have (sub-mixes) separate instrument vs.
vocal mixes of the program.
SUB-MASTER
A separate mixing bus assigned to a group of
instruments (drums, brass, strings) or vocals
that enables the sound mixer to regulate the
level of that group of instruments or vocals with
one control called the Sub-Master.
SUB-MIX
A level control preceding the main (master)
level control, that regulates the level of an
individual sub-mix.
surround sound
The digital audio multichannel format
developed by the Motion Picture Experts Group
(see: MPEG) for digital soundtrack encoding
for film, laserdiscs, videotapes, and HDTV
broadcast. The designation "5.1" refers to the
five discrete, full bandwidth channels - left,
right, & center fronts, plus left & right
surrounds - and the ".1" usually refers to the
limited bandwidth subwoofer channel, but can
also refer to a special effects/feature channel.
Terminology used by both Dolby AC-3
Surround Digital and DTS Zeta Digital (the
home version of their theater Coherent
Acoustics system).
TDS (time-delay spectrometry)
A sound measurement theory and technique
developed in 1967 by Richard C. Heyser at the
Jet Propulsion Laboratories of the California
Institute of Technology.
TEF (time-energy-frequency)
The term adopted to describe the entire
spectrum of TDS measurements, including
energy-time curves. Popularized by Richard
Heyser through his participation in Synergetic
Audio Concepts seminars. Made practical in
1979 by the Techron division of Crown
International - Cal Tech's first TDS licensee,
and introduced as the TEF System 10.
THD (Total Harmonic Distortion)
When a single frequency of specified level is
applied to the input of a system, the ratio of the
voltage of the fundamental frequency to the
voltage of all harmonics observed at the output
of the system because of the nonlinearities of
the system; THD is expressed in percent.
TIMBRE
Timbre is a word that relates to the musical
quality of sound. It is the relation of the
fundamental frequency to the level and number
of the associated harmonics. The human ear can
perceive differences in timbre. Two different
instruments, such as a saxophone and a flute
 playing the same note or fundamental at the
same loudness, sound different to the listener
due to the two instruments different number and
level of related harmonics also produced at the
same time as the fundamental. The two
instruments are said to have a difference in
timbre.
third-octave
Term referring to frequencies spaced every
three octaves apart. For example, the third-
octave above 1 kHz is 8 kHz. Commonly
misused to mean one-third octave. While it can
be argued that "third" can also mean one of
three equal parts, and as such might be used to
correctly describe one part of an octave spit into
three equal parts, it is potentially too confusing.
The preferred term is one-third octave.
tone
1. Music. a. A sound of distinct pitch, quality,
and duration; a note. b. The interval of a major
second in the diatonic scale; a whole step. c. A
recitational melody in a Gregorian chant. 2.a.
The quality or character of sound. b. The
characteristic quality or timbre of a particular
instrument or voice.
TRANSDUCER (X-DCR)
Any device or element which converts an input
signal into an output signal of a different form.
A transducer changes energy from one form to
another. A microphone is a transducer that
changes acoustical energy (sound) into
electrical energy (voltage). A loudspeaker is a
transducer that changes electrical energy into
mechanical energy, producing sound or
acoustical energy.
TRANSFORMER (X-FMR)
An electrical component consisting of multiturn
coils of wire placed in a common magnetic field
(medium) which will transfer electrical energy
from one electrical circuit to the next. A
transformer will only pass alternating currents
(AC) and will not pass direct current (DC). By
adjusting turn ratios, a step up or down
condition of voltage can be achieved.
TRANSFORMER BALANCED (X-FMR
BAL)
An input or output that is coupled by means of
a transformer in a configuration that makes it
balanced or capable of being operated so that
the voltages of the two conductors at any
transverse plane are equal in voltage and
opposite in polarity with respect to ground. A
transformer balanced input or output will offer
common-mode rejection, which means any
common-mode interference signal will not pass
through the transformer because it will be
canceled out.
TRANSIENT
Rapidly changing peaks of short duration in the
level of musical instruments such as a cymbal
crash or a rim shot on a snare drum. A wave
having a very short or no sustain time.
TRANSIENT DISTORTION
Transient distortion interferes with the ability of
an amplifier to follow accurately abrupt
changes in volume, such as the sudden burst of
sound when an instrument is first played.
Minimum transient distortion is vital to clean
and crisp overall sound.
TRANSIENT RESPONSE
Ability of an amplifier or loudspeaker to follow
accurately abrupt changes, such as the sudden
burst of sound generated by an instrument.
Good transient response is vital to "clear" or
"crisp" overall sound.
TRIAMP
Separating the audio spectrum into three band,
i.e., high frequencies, mid-band frequencies and
low frequencies by means of an electronic
crossover and using three separate power
amplifiers to amplify the three outputs of the
crossover (high pass, mid pass, low pass
outputs) driving three separate components of a
speaker system; resulting in increased
headroom and dynamic range.
UNBALANCED CABLE OR LINE
A single conductor cable with a surrounding
shield that connects to ground. Such a system is
called unbalanced because it cannot be
balanced or offer common mode rejection.
UNBALANCED INPUT
An input in which one of the two terminals is at
ground potential or connected to the chassis
ground.
VELOCITY
In audio the velocity or speed of sound is
approximately 1130 feet per second. The speed
of sound changes slightly with changes in
temperature, humidity, and altitude.
VOLTAGE
Voltage is a measurement of electrical pressure
or the potential to do work. Voltage is
sometimes called EMF or Electro Motive
Force. The familiar 120 volts at the wall socket
is an example of available electrical pressure. If
the prefix "m" is used (as in mv) it stands for
millivolts...thousandths of volts. Microvolts,
abbreviated "µV", are millionths of volts.
VOLTS (voltage)
Potential difference or electromotive force
(EMF).
VOLUME
The intensity or loudness of sound.
SPL VU (volume unit)
A unit for expressing the audio frequency
power level of a complex electronic waveform
such as that corresponding to speech or music.
0 VU is referenced to 1 milliwatt of power.
VU METER
A meter than indicates the audio frequency
power level or volume units of a complex
electronic waveform.
WATT
JdB Sound Acoustics
183
A unit of measure of power. The electrical
wattage of an amplifier describes the power it
can develop to drive a speaker. The greater the
voltage capability, the higher the wattage.
Amplifier wattage requirements are greatly
dependent upon the speakers that will be used,
the size of the listening room and average
loudness that will be played through the
speakers.
W =V2/R
WAVELENGTH
In audio the wavelength of sound is the actual
physical size that one complete cycle of sound
energy requires in air for a given frequency.
The wavelength is found by dividing the
velocity of sound, 1130 ft/sec, by the frequency
of interest. A sound wave with a frequency of
one thousand Hertz would have a wavelength
of 1.13 ft. (1130 divided by 1000).
white noise
Analogous to white light containing equal
amounts of all visible frequencies, white noise
contains equal amounts of all audible
frequencies (technically the bandwidth of noise
is infinite, but for audio purposes it is limited to
just the audio frequencies). From an energy
standpoint white noise has constant power per
hertz (also referred to as unit bandwidth), i.e.,
at every frequency there is the same amount of
power (while pink noise, for instance, has
constant power per octave band of frequency).
A plot of white noise power vs. frequency is flat
if the measuring device uses the same width
filter for all measurements. This is known as a
fixed bandwidth filter. For instance, a fixed
bandwidth of 5 Hz is common, i.e., the test
equipment measures the amplitude at each
frequency using a filter that is 5 Hz wide. It is 5
Hz wide when measuring 50 Hz or 2 kHz or
9.4 kHz, etc. A plot of white noise power vs.
frequency change is not flat if the measuring
device uses a variable width filter. This is
known as a fixed percentage bandwidth filter. A
common example of which is 1/3-octave wide,
which equals a bandwidth of 23%. This means
that for every frequency measured the
bandwidth of the measuring filter changes to
23% of that new center frequency. For example
the measuring bandwidth at 100 Hz is 23 Hz
wide, then changes to 230 Hz wide when
measuring 1 kHz, and so on. Therefore the plot
of noise power vs. Frequency is not flat, but
shows a 3 dB rise in amplitude per octave of
frequency change. Due to this rising frequency
characteristic, white noise sounds very bright
and lacking in low frequencies. [Here's the
technical details: noise power is actually its
power density spectrum - a measure of how the
noise power contributed by individual
frequency components is distributed over the
frequency spectrum. It should be measured in
watts/Hz; however it isn't. The accepted
practice in noise theory is to use amplitude-
squared as the unit of power (purists justify this
by assuming a one-ohm resistor load). For
electrical signals this gives units of volts-
squared/Hz, or more commonly expressed as
volts/root-Hertz. Note that the denominator gets
bigger by the square root of the increase in
frequency. Therefore, for an octave increase
(doubling) of frequency, the denominator
increases by the square root of two, which
equals 1.414, or 3 dB. In order for the energy to
remain constant (as it must if it is to remain
white noise) there has to be an offsetting
increase in amplitude (the numerator term) of 3
dB to exactly cancel the 3 dB increase in the
denominator term. Thus the upward 3
dB/octave sloping characteristic of white noise
amplitude when measured in constant
percentage increments like 1/3-octave.]
WOOFER
A low frequency speaker specialized in bass or
low frequency reproduction.
JdB Sound Acoustics
184
XLR
A connector (sometimes called a cannon
connector) used in interfacing audio
components. The connector on a low
impedance microphone is an XLR connector.
XLR® Registered trademark of ITT-
Cannon. The original model number series for
Cannon's 3-pin circular connectors - invented
by them - now an industry generic term.
 ' 4
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 3rd . (Houghton Mifflin ISBN 0-395-44895-6, Boston, 1992).
The New IEEE Standard Dictionary of Electrical and Electronics Terms, 5th ed.,(IEEE Std 100-1992; IEEE ISBN 1-55937-240-0, New York, 1993).
Bohn, Dennis A., "Operator Adjustable Equalizers: An Overview," The Proceeding of the AES 6th International Conference: Sound Reinforcement (Audio
Engineering Society ISBN 0-937803-13-8, New York, 1989).
Frederiksen, Thomas M., Intuitive Analog Electronics (McGraw-Hill ISBN 0-07-021962-1, New York, 1989).
Giddings, Philip, Audio System Design and Installation (Howard W. Sams ISBN 0-672-22672-3, Indianapolis, 1990).
Maxfield, Clive. Bebop to the Boolean Boogie (HighText Publications ISBN 1-878707-22-1, Solana Beach, CA, 1995).
Moses, Bob. "Asynchronous Serial Communications," The Proceedings of the AES 13th International Conference: Computer-Controlled Sound Systems
(Audio Engineering Society ISBN 0-937803-25-1, New York, 1994).
Newton, Harry. Newton's Telecom Dictionary, 9th edition (Flatiron Publishing ISBN 0-936648-75-9, New York, 1995).
Pohlmann, Ken, ed. Advanced Digital Audio (Sams ISBN 0-672-22768-1, Carmel, IN, 1991).
Rumsey, Francis and John Watkinson The Digital Interface Handbook, 2nd edition (Focal Press, Oxford ISBN 0-240-51396-7, England, 1995).
Watkinson, John The Art of Digital Audio, 2nd ed. (Focal Press ISBN 0-240-51320-7, Oxford, England, 1994).
White, Glenn D., The Audio Dictionary, 2nd ed., (University of Washington Press ISBN 0-295-97088-X, Seattle, 1987).
Woram, John M., Sound Recording Handbook (Howard W. Sams ISBN 0-672-22583-2, Indianapolis, 1989).
Copyright 1995
Rane Corporation.
Compiled by Dennis A. Bohn.
Re-Edited for this book.

References
"The Complete Hand Book of Public Address Sound Systems", F Alton Everest, Tab Books 1978.
Sound System Engineering, Don Davis, 1St & 2nd editions, SAMS, 1975 -1987.
Architectural Acoustics, David M Egan, McGraw Hill, 1988.
The Master Handbook of Acoustics, F Alton Everest, Tab Books, 1989.
Audio System Design and Installation, Phil Giddings, Howard W. Sams, 1990
Handbook for Sound Engineers, 2nd edition, Glen M. Ballou, ed. Howard W. Sams, 1991

JdB Sound Acoustics

185

Index of Subjects & Key
Phrases
A will always say.......................32
accurate acoustical profile from blueprints
..............................................30
Acoustical guidance .............. 31, 33
Acoustics
do not have any investment in acoustics attendance .......................... 35, 142
..........................................32
more important than ...............19
never been systematically designed for
speech or music..................28
over come poor acoustical conditions ..12
the singing pleasure................23
Adjustable Acoustics
adjust the acoustics.................25
AES
Audio Engineering Society .....59
airplanes.....................................23
airports.......................................31
All churches
church community leds ...........22
denominational barriers ..........19
difference between denominations ......23
amplifier
10 amplifiers ..........................37
contractor ...............................99
don't cut the ground pin!! ......103
hooked up together .................22
how many speakers.................62
Loop Systems .........................69
mini amp. for every two speakers........54 Basilica ......................................32
over 200 models to choose from99
Reverb System .......................95
types of connectors .................68
watts per person .....................61
were expensive.......................47
wire.................................. 67, 68
Architect
Churches trained their own.....13
dictate to the church ......... 13, 26
experimenting with "new" untested
shapes at the.......................30
feels insulted ..........................19
had forgotten that knowledge and its
importance .........................31
listened and did nothing .........21
my building ............................21
only 2 to 6 hours of Acoustical training
..........................................30
play darts ...............................28
power to help churches ...........21
scientific ways of salvaging architectural
mistakes and omission........28
supervised by the monks.........25
you wield a lot of power .........21
your attitude to our work ........21
Ash
correct amount of ash..............29
Banks.....................................45
declined in the early 80's ........31
driving people away................18
good sound equals higher support .......25
low attendance .......................18
lower, long term ....................32
weekly church attendance .......22
attendance ..................................17
Audio contractor
un professional .......................19
automated mixer.........................63
B desk............................................64
Bad habit
left and right side of the stage like a bad
habit...................................31
Bad Habit
leads to learning .....................22
many bad audio habits ............22
myths .....................................15
sound system is forced............20
speakers .................................22
Balconies....................................64
bequeathed ...................................5
blueprints ...................................77
Budget
were spending around 7% of the
building cost.......................31
Building costs dropped ...............29
Building design
built around speech ................28
possession of the Architect .....20
C
Catholic Church designed and built25
Catholic churches .......................29
center of a town or city ...............25
central
Central Cluster .....................110
central cluster
Central Cluster ................. 59, 60
central cluster design
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Central Cluster .......................29
Central Cluster design
Central Cluster .......................53
central cluster speaker
Central Cluster .......................47
Champion Dart player.................28
Choir
did have a small influence ......27
Choir directors............................27
choral ............................. 26, 31, 76
choral .........................................23
CHURCH...................................23
Cinderella...................................28
classical sound............................12
clay jars......................................29
concert........................................31
Custom means ............................27
custom to keep the peace ........27
D
Darwinism..................................28
Design
10 sound system companies ....15
E
Early church
little planning in the terms of speech
acoustics ............................26
Echoes
echo-ridden pagan temples .....25
Education
non-existent............................22
Electronic organs ........................26
Equalize
6 to 10 computer controlled equalizers95
All speakers must be equalizer and set at
the same volume.................50
the operator has changed the channel
equalizer ............................63
tuning a room .......................25
Voicing the room....................29
F
fatigue
Listeners Fatigue ..................136
Fatigue
Listeners Fatigue ..................160
floor monitors .............................77
G
Greek civilization .......................28
Greeks and Romans .............. 25, 29
Greeks learned and perfected the technique
..............................................25
 H mixer
Hearing
based on whether or not you can hear
clearly................................30
hearing the Gospel..................22
learning about the Gospel .......22
understand your commands.....25
Heating and Air Systems
ventilation ..............................23
HI FI...........................................22
HIS System
(Highly Intelligible church Sound
System) ..............................42
HOUSE OF GOD .......................23
I Noise Control .............................33
Intelligibility......................... 38, 58
does not provide a high level of
intelligibility ......................97
echoes degrade .......................75
Intelligibility rating ..........154
level of intelligibility..............26
Intelligibility...............................41
Intelligibility...............................41
Intelligibility...............................59
Italian manuscript .......................26
L First chromatic organ..............26
Lapel mic ............................. 30, 52
Latin...........................................29
laws of physics ......... 29, 30, 58, 97
laws of physics that Architects try to ignore
..............................................28
left/right mono system ................54
Lighting......................................65
remote controls.......................65
listener's fatigue .........................35
Listeners Fatigue ........................53
listeners fatigue syndrome........56
Listener's Fatigue. ......................41
Listening
52 to 800 hours per year .........22
most intensely listened ...........22
listening fatigue..........................58
M P
major compromise ......................31
manufacturer
manufacturer .....16, 98, 128, 131
Manufacturer
manufacturer ..........................86
many one time events .................23
Microhpone Tip........................149
Minor change .............................21
desk ................................. 64, 65
mixer..........................................64
mixer desk
Mixer Desk .................... 63, 131
Myths
brain washed ..........................28
N portable PA System ....................31
naturally amplified .....................23
NC.
NC is 15.................................63
NC of 20 or 25 .......................38
NC of 25 ................................23
Noise Control .........................23
Noise Control .............................39
NSCA
National Sound and Communications
Association.........................59
O using the same techniques churches ....31
Ocean tides.................................28
Operator
only part time .........................22
Organ
Carthage.................................26
first known pipe organ............26
First Pipe Organ as we know it26
Germans were and still have a reputation
as the best Pipe Organ ........26
great swell of a 32 foot Pipe ...31
influencing the construction of churches
throughout history is...........27
many of the Classical European
Churches ............................27
master organ builder would sometimes
have an addition built .........27
organ loft................................27
replacing the electronic organ every 10
years ..................................27
Organists ....................................27
OSHA ........................................47
packaged church .........................31
often do not reflect or meet all of the
congregation's worship n.....32
padded pews......................... 29, 94
Performance
limiting the performance of both choir
and organ ...........................27
performance requirements ......23
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poor in performance................20
pillars................................... 25, 29
Planning
not been a good blueprint .......23
planning offices ..........................31
Planning Services
rehearsal times .......................22
Poly cylindrical diffusers ............75
predominant room modes...... 25, 29
Prince Charming.........................28
Professional Commercial Electronics ......31
Protestant
movement...............................26
R
Radio Shack ...............................55
Reverb
reduction of reverb time..........27
Rock and Roll
for corrupting .........................31
Roman Empire recognized Christianity ...25
RPG diffusers .............................75
RT60
automated mixer will work well is in
rooms with RT60's that are .63
for traditional and liturgical services
should be 1.9......................76
when the RT60 is below 2 seconds .....59
S
Sanctuaries do not have dead spots33
SANCTUARY............................23
school teacher.............................30
Scriptures
Jesus preaching from a boat ....25
Jesus said that ......................100
parable of the sower means.....17
peculiar people .......................24
The sermon on the mount .......25
sing or chant ...............................29
Singing
congregational singing............23
for lively or inspiring congregational
singing ...............................31
rhythm of singing the message 26
singing in harmony.................26
sound very professional ..........22
want to sing............................22
Solutions
clay jars imbedded with the open end of
the jar out...........................29
cut holes or slots into the pillar tops....29
Soprano And Alto Voices............26
Sound
travels at 1125 feet per second 53
sound proofed .............................29
Sound Reinforcement
extension of a person's voice ...30
sound system
budget be increased ................20
can not overcome poor acoustics30
mechanical sower ...................18
reinforces everything ..............29
secret number 1 ......................23
standards................................22
will let you know that there is a problem
..........................................30
Sound system budget ..................20
Soundspheres .............................47
speaker
avoid custom speakers ............50
central cluster speaker system.47
high "Q" array using a column 49
left-right syndrome .................31
low "Q" and high....................48
not all speakers the same ........47
organ speakers........................38
pick 10 ...................................37
position of the speaker............50
speaker shoot out....................50
Speakers
are only fastened with nails and glue ..59
ceiling can exceed 120 degrees59
hung up on a name brand for a speaker
..........................................96
sound system in not about a mixer or
speaker...............................98
Which speaker, do you use to test with99 they never had a chance to hear.....5
Standards total cost of building the sanctuary29
If there is no standard .............25 tradition......................................27
set the sound system standards22 for the wrong reasons .............44
standards................................15 Training
Sunday shoppers.........................29 children are not trained...........22
surface materials.........................29 learning time would be hours, not years
sweetspot ..........................................27
Sweetspot50, 109, 110, 113, 131, 134, Ministers are not trained.........22
136 Tube Traps .................................75
Sweetspot tuning forks ................................25
Sweetspot.............................138
System types V
Voicing Rooms
almost perfect sound system ...19
crude set of tuning forks .........25
installed in existing ................19
sound systems are temporary ..23 W
the most unique type...............22 watts
Watts Per Person .............. 47, 61
T
Websters Dictionary ....... 23, 27, 97
Test equipment
Wireless
MLSSA..................................42
hearing impaired system.........40
TEF........................................42
lapel mic .......................... 52, 60
Testing
wireless receivers ...................65
analysis of a church ................27
Worship Styles
custom speakers .....................50
chants and song to deliver the messages
don't need test equipment .......77
..........................................26
every manufacturer has their own testing
spoken service to chants or sung25
method ...............................99
written to
for intelligibility.....................41
not written to sell products .....19
is done when the room is empty75
requires more testing ..............99
testing your own church ............154
The manufacturer makes all of the
decisions
manufacturer ........................131
Thermodynamic..........................28
JdB Sound Acoustics
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