Faithful sound

The Coptic Church is based on the teachings of Saint Mark, who brought Christianity to Egypt in the first century CE, during the reign of the Roman emperor Nero. Christianity spread throughout Egypt within half a century of Saint Mark’s arrival in Alexandria and the Coptic Church was the subject of many prophecies in the Old Testament.

Although fully integrated into the body of the modern Egyptian nation, the Copts have survived as a strong religious entity, priding themselves on their contribution to the Christian world. The Coptic Church regards itself as a strong defendant of Christian faith. Monasticism was instrumental in the formation of the Church’s character of submission and humbleness, flourishing in the fourth century thanks to the teachings and writings of the Great Fathers of Egypt’s Deserts. One of the desert fathers was Saint Mina the wondrous.

Approximately 15 per cent of Egyptians – around 9m – pray and share communion in daily mass in thousands of Coptic Churches in Egypt, while another 1.2m emigrant Copts practice their faith throughout the world.

The Coptic community may be small in United Arab Emirates, but it is strong, and an area in Jebel Ali has been assigned to a number of churches, including the United Christian, Anglican, Syrian Orthodox and St Francis of Assisi Catholic churches. Serving the needs for Dubai’s Coptic community, the Saint Mina Coptic Orthodox Church was recently provided with a plot for construction.

The three-storey building is adorned with Coptic art, which blends native Egyptian and Hellenistic influences with the many Coptic icons, textiles, wooden carvings and distinctive furnishings. Given the tradition of a church that has been in existence for almost 2,000 years, one would be forgiven for thinking that modern day audiovisual systems would play no part in the worship experience. But one of its members, Osama Sorial dedicated time away from his day job as an audiovisual projects manager for Tectronics to overseeing the integration of several A/V systems.

Mr Sorial is normally bound by the wishes of the consultant or client as to what system is best suited to an application, but he was given a free licence by the Church to select his preferred systems for its various needs. ‘I live close to the church, so it was a pleasure to be able to conduct this work in my own time,’ comments Mr Sorial. Tectronics works closely with manufacturers such as AMX, Biamp Systems, Sanyo and Martin Audio – and these manufacturers feature prominently in Saint Mina.

Prior to establishing the elements of the A/V systems, Mr Sorial was concerned by the acoustics in the main 32 x 18.5m sanctuary, and recommended extensive treatment: ‘There is an 8m-diameter dome above the altar, which lets in light and aesthetically is wonderful. However, it is a bass trap. In addition to the extensive Egyptian oak furnishings and marble floors, there are six 5m floor-to-ceiling windows on an exterior wall and four such windows on the opposite side and when you add to that the overlooking balcony at the rear of the building separated by a solid glass pane, the walls contain something like 40 per cent glass.’

The addition of acoustic panels helped to reduce the reverberation time from 4.2s down to 1.4s. Coptic services are not musical in their nature and so they required speech and vocal reinforcement for the choir. Shure Microflex gooseneck MX418S/C microphones have been installed into the pulpits, while Shure SLX24/SM86 and SLX14/85 wireless systems allow the priests and choir to conduct their services with hand-held SM58, SM86 condenser and SM185 lapel models. Four XLR/power input boxes have been neatly integrated into the marble floor allowing services to be flexible, while offering PC/video presentations to be made via laptop from the pulpit. Eight dual 8-inch two-way in-wall speakers have been discretely installed at a height of 3m into the walls, hidden from view by gauze panels that match the Egyptian oak wooden panelling.

Powered by two Crest Audio CC1800 amplifiers and managed by a Biamp AudiaFlex processor, the in-wall speakers face into the congregation and are delayed from front to rear. Two Sanyo XPL100L 5000ANSI lumens projectors can be lowered into position on Draper lifts via an AMX 5-inch MVP-5150 touchscreen and NI3100 processor to provide visuals on two Da Lite 200-inch automated screens. The varying content projected onto each screen is stored in an Extron VGA MMX32 matrix switcher, while three Panasonic cameras provide close-up visuals of the service.

A smaller 12 x 12m chapel adjoins the main sanctuary, whose ceiling height of 3m allowed Mr Sorial to design a ceiling-based speaker solution consisting of eight Martin Audio 6.8T ceiling speakers. Powered by a single Crest Audio CM2208 amplifier and managed via an AudiaFlex processor, the low impedance system does not suffer from microphone feedback during speeches and recitals using Shure SM586 hand-helds and Microflex models. The isolated second floor balcony is similarly served by eight Martin Audio 6.8T ceiling speakers powered by a single Crest Audio CKI400V amplifier with Biamp Nexia processing. Together with Shure SLX24/SM86 wirelessmicrophones, AMX control is available via a 5-inch wall-mount NXD-CV5 touchscreen and NI-3100 processor, and projection is via an Extron MMX32 VGA matrix, MAV 88AV video matrix switcher and two LG 47-inch LCD screens.

This combination of equipment allows the cry room to be used for conferences and lectures in addition to special services. The foyer area and corridor is served by a further 12 Martin Audio 6.8T ceiling speakers connected to the same Crest Audio and Nexia units. On the lower floor, a further auditorium sharing the same dimensions as the sanctuary is used for private parties and performances. As much as Mr Sorial enjoyed dedicating his time and services free to the church, he was against the idea of having to oversee the auditorium’s performances and so he set up a tamper-proof sound reinforcement system, allowing volunteers and novices to operate.

The control room is located at the back of the auditorium and is home to a 32-channel Soundcraft GB2 console with a Lexicon MX200 dual reverb and dbx IEQ31 equaliser/limiter. ‘Seven Shure SLX14/85 wireless clip-on microphones are connected to a Biamp AudiaFlex processor and from here to an AMX control panel, so it doesn’t require a technician to operate it,’ explains Mr Sorial. ‘You just need an operator in the control room to switch it on for most of the events. From the stage, the signal is patched to the console and out to the AudiaFlex processor and Crest Audio amplifiers and then the speakers. It’s a simple set-up. All the equalisation has been set, so they cannot be further configured without a password. All the controls have been sealed in the DSP processor.’ The LR FOH system combines Martin Audio Blackline F15+ speakers and S18+ subwoofers recessed into the wooden panels at the front, while four wall-mounted Martin Audio AQ10 speakers provide delays. Two wall-mounted AQ8 speakers provide stage monitoring.

Setting up the A/V system in the Saint Mina Coptic church is quite an achievement, given that Mr Sorial was providing his services on a voluntary basis as and when he could find the time. The small community of Coptic worshippers in Dubai are rightly proud of their culture, and their new church exemplifies their rich heritage. The A/V system is unobtrusive, fitting itself around the church’s needs rather than distracting from the beauty and the majesty of the furnishings, decor and iconic images. Simple it may be, but this A/V system was not easy to execute in its design implementation.

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