Ertekin installs Diyarbakır Ulu Cami
Published: WORSHIP
TURKEY: Ertekin Elektronik and Doremi Müzik have completed the second phase of a multi-year audio improvement project at Diyarbakır Ulu Cami. The historic Turkish mosque has been equipped with a variety of products from Audac, Sennheiser, Toa and Yamaha.
Diyarbakır Ulu Cami (The Great Mosque of Diyarbakır) was originally built in 639 and later re-built in 1091. As such it is the oldest and one of the most significant mosques in Anatolia. This provided the design and installation team with one of their stiffest challenges, how to improve the audio in the mosque without damaging the historic site.
The first phase of the project saw Toa products installed within the main worship hall. To achieve this, every part of the design needed to be approved, and preservation considerations would always be given more prominence than the acoustic simulations. This meant that a number of positional revisions were required to ensure that the solution was installed in a way that would benefit the mosque and its worshippers, but not at the expense of its historic structure.
To cover the main worship areas inside the mosque a full Toa speaker system has been installed. Toa SR-H2 S and SR-TB 3 line array speakers cover the space with the manufacturer’s M-9000 M2 matrix mixers, D-001 T and T001-T mic/line input and output units and BS-1030 W universal speakers also in use. On the Yamaha side, Diyarbakır Ulu Cami has been equipped with P-2500-SA and XM-4180 amplifiers to power the system alongside a MG-16/6 CX rack-mounted mixer for control.
Sennheiser EW-135 G3 and EW-112 G3 wireless mic systems have both been supplied for use during prayers. Added to this are the manufacturer’s ME-36 mini-shotgun mics with MZH-3040 gooseneck mic stands and MZTX-31 PTT mounts and E-865 S handheld condenser mics.
Completing the list of equipment are Audac HS121 outdoor sound projectors and HS212TMK2 horn-loaded two-way speakers. These provide the call to prayer and have been installed in the square minaret which rises above the qibla wall.
In what has been a large project for Ertekin, the solution has been described as providing ‘a clear voice to those people who worship in this mosque’ and the company is very happy with its involvement in the audio upgrade.