Modern Touch equips Cairo church
Published: WORSHIP
EGYPT: Built in 1939, Saint Joseph Roman Catholic Church in the Zamalek district of Cairo was struggling with one of the most common problems faced by houses of worship – reverberation. The church did not need to go far to find a solution to this issue. It turned to Modern Touch, a distributor, rental company and systems integrator based in the same district of the city.
‘They had a serious problem with the sound,’ recalls Mina Mansour, head of technical support at Modern Touch. ‘They required a speaker system that would allow people to hear and understand the readings and what the Fathers are saying evenly across the church.’
To combat the reverberation, Modern Touch specified a Meyer Sound solution using eight of the manufacturers MM4 XP cabinets. Designed using the manufacturer’s Mapp XT software, the system sees the four cabinets installed on either side of the church to cover the sanctuary.
‘The MM4 XP is the perfect choice for reverberant spaces,’ says Mr Mansour. ‘With 80-degrees of coverage it excites the least amount of air needed to reproduce the sound. As a result, the sound doesn’t reach the walls so there are no reflections and in turn there is no reverb. Also it is self-powered and receives both audio signals and power through one single cable.’
At the other end of the signal chain, Modern Touch also upgraded the church’s microphone solution with the addition of three Shure Microflex MX412 gooseneck desktop units. These have been positioned with one on the central altar and another on each lectern either side.
The new system has reportedly surpassed the church’s expectations. ‘We have a well-controlled listening area with clear and detailed sound for both speech and music,’ concludes Mr Mansour.