Cathedral of Faith enlists Countryman
Published: WORSHIP
WORLD: Engaging the congregation in order to make services relevant is a challenge all houses of worship encounter. If the audience can’t understand what’s being said, the message is lost. Therefore the ability to provide good sound reinforcement is essential, and this begins at the input stage. Recognising this, Cathedral of Faith relies on an assortment of H6 Headset and E6 Earset microphones from Californian-based Countryman Associates.
Director of audio for the organisation, Roberta Starr, has many responsibilities within the church, including serving as the lead audio engineer, training the volunteer audio personnel, maintaining the church’s audio arsenal, and overseeing new equipment purchases. During the past 10 or more years, the church’s wireless microphone inventory has grown to encompass three Countryman H6 Headset mics and 20 E6 Earset models.
‘Cathedral of Faith is a multi-generational, multi-ethnic, contemporary Christian church,’ she explained. ‘Our services are contemporary and multi-sensory. We utilise a variety of media, including a live band, worship vocalists and choir, special effect lighting, live drama, dance, engaging props and illustrations, multimedia, and video. It is essential that all dialogue and vocal performances reach the congregation with a high level of speech intelligibility and, for singing, a natural, musical sound quality. To achieve this, we depend on our Countryman microphones.
‘We use our Countryman H6 microphones for our weekly services and also utilise them for any dramas that are performed throughout the year,’ Ms Starr continued. ‘I love the fact that, with their dual ear loops and adjustable head frame, they provide a really comfortable, secure fit that enables one to focus on the message, or in the case of a theatrical presentation, their lines, as opposed to being distracted by an uncomfortable fit. These mics are also extremely low profile, so they’re practically invisible. Most importantly, they sound very natural.’
‘I’m also very fond of the E6 Earset mic,’ she added. ‘Our Countryman E6 microphones are used for our large dramas. Each year, we perform an elaborate Easter Drama that frequently involves as many as 300-plus cast members, live music, special effects, dancers, live animals, and multimedia. For these productions, we typically use all three of our H6 microphones plus all 20 of our E6s, and sometimes more. With their detachable cables, it becomes very easy to outfit the microphones with the proper connectors for our Sennheiser, Shure, and Audio-Technica wireless systems.'
On the subject of audio quality, Ms Starr was emphatic about her preference for the microphones. ‘We first started using the E6 for its sound quality and for its small size,' she said. 'It’s very easy to achieve a high level of gain without feedback and the audio quality is very impressive. When an engineer at Countryman introduced the H6 to us, I was not only impressed with its sound quality, but the size and fit added another level of versatility in terms of options for our services and theatrical projects. By having both microphone models, we are well positioned to address any audio situation that may arise.’
Ms Starr was also very pleased with the Type 85 direct boxes, ‘We have eight Type 85 DI’s that we use for our various instrumentalists,’ she said. ‘They’re a great tool for interfacing various instruments with the house mixer because they provide a strong, clean signal to the board without adding any noise or distortion. Further, these versatile little boxes are really rugged, built like a tank.’