Countryman fells giant redwoods
Published: WORSHIP
US: As is the case for many houses of worship, the main sanctuary at Atascadero Bible Church is both absolutely beautiful and acoustically challenging. Redwood panelling lines the back of the stage from the floor all the way up to the 7.5m-high ceilings, also made of acoustically untreated California redwood. The back wall, composed of dry wall with no acoustic paneling, rests 18m beyond the front of the stage and angles inwards at the sides, acting as a reflector plate for acoustic energy and potentially leading to significant challenges with feedback and speech intelligibility.
But with the hard work and expertise of Joey Halderman, technical director of student ministries, the worshippers attending this unique, non-denominational church every week experience nothing but outstanding sound quality. Each Sunday, Atascadero Bible Church offers three live worship services plus a video ‘overflow’ service that features a live worship team. While the first service each week is traditional in nature and serves a congregation of roughly 170 people, the remaining services are contemporary in nature and serve upwards of 1,500 worshippers. For all services, Mr Halderman ensures the highest level of speech intelligibility and vocal projection for the worship leaders using the Countryman E6i Omni earset microphone. Similarly, the musical instruments feed the house audio system via Countryman Type 10 direct boxes.
‘The main worship centre area fans out from the stage with approximately a 120-degree spread at a distance of 18m from the stage,’ Mr Halderman explained. ‘To cover this area, we have two 15-inch, two-way loudspeaker clusters flown on each side of the stage. This layout can be prone to feedback issues with lower quality microphones, but the Countryman E6i provides terrific gain before feedback – enabling us to achieve the levels we require.’
Mr Halderman also reported that the church has several E6i earset microphones that are used each week in the worship centre. Two E6i earset microphones are used for the junior high and high school services while four E6i earset microphones are used in the church’s multiuse room. ‘Both our senior and youth pastors wear the E6i and love it,’ said Mr Halderman. ‘Its small size is very discreet and the secure fit instils confidence. There’s nothing more distracting than an earset mic that moves about while you’re trying to focus on the message.
‘Over the years our church has tried many different microphones, with some models yielding better results than others. None have worked as well as our Countryman microphones. Their sound quality, clarity and ability to deliver the levels we need in any situation have made Countryman the microphone of choice for every application.’