Delivering the word
Sep 1, 1999 12:00 PM, Stephen Whitesell
With a legacy dating back 144 years, St. Joseph the Work-man Cathedral, Lacrosse, WI, was founded by French, German, Polish and Irish immigrants. Their lineage of almost 3,000 parishioners still attend the Cathedral at the newest building, which was constructed in 1962. The cathedral is a contemporary interpretation of the gothic architecture of the original. To the benefit of current parishioners and their posterity, native quarry stone was used in its construction. Adding to its uniqueness, the cathedral has a 4,300-pipe church organ valued at more than $1 million.
As with all modern pulpits, St. Joseph's is dependent upon technology to increase the intelligibility of the spoken word. Several sound systems have been used in the past 37 years, none reaching the desired clarity. In looking for a new sound system, Father Cook contacted Richard Grundgeiger at Celestial Sound Systems, Madison, WI.
"We entered into plans for a new sound system with trepidation, but we were fortunate enough to meet Richard," Cook said. "It unfolded into an excellent and cost-effective project."
Grundgeiger said, "Interestingly, the real reason Father Cook was calling me was because his two older lavalier wireless mic systems didn't seem to be working well and the local sound contractor had promised that if he bought two new wireless mic systems at $1,500 each plus installation, all his sound system problems would be over. He had checked with one of his church members who was a TV station engineer, and he also confirmed that getting the two new wireless mic systems was the right thingto do. I said that my intuitive reaction and more than 30 years experience in improving church sound systems made me concerned and skeptical that he would feel the church's money was well spent after two new $1,500 wireless systems were installed."
Grundgeiger offered to come down to the cathedral to survey the existing equipment and make a recommendation. On the following Saturday morning, he arrived just as noon Mass was ending. Because Father Cook was called away at the last minute, and the substitute priest did not know much about the sound system, he had to sort out the system himself. After finding the equipment rack, making a few notes and spending about and hour and a half sketching out rough drawings of the cathedral showing distances and taking some photos, he set his sights on the errant mics.
"After bending the battery clips in one of the beltpack transmitters and replacing the intermittent shorting lavalier mics of both systems with loaner mics I carry with me," Grundgeiger said, "I had both of the existing systems working well. I left Father Cook a note letting him know that I was able to temporarily fix his two existing wireless mic systems so he could get better use out of them and that I would be writing him a letter outlining suggestions on improving his sound system in a few days".
Having done hundreds of installations in houses of worship, Grundgeiger follows a method when designing a sound system. He first visits the church, meeting with the pastor and ministers. Then, he spends time in the church listening, taking reverberation and other measurements, taking notes and photos, and making drawings. Lastly, he returns to his office to design the installation. He combines cost-effective solutions with high-performance, problem-solving equipment.
Grundgeiger enjoys working with small country churches, and he said, "We want to become part of the church's team, focusing on its needs. We are interested in getting the best improvement possible for the available dollars".
Initially, Grundgeiger quoted the price to install the two same wireless units Father Cook had asked about, but he continued in his assessment of the system saying that he thought it would be a good idea to replace the two existing six-channel manual mic mixers and the two existing 1/3-octave EQs with four new ones. A new distribution preamp (Rane SM-26B) and AC surge protected on/off panel was indicated. Also, some limiting and feedback control would help improve the sound quality. The existing Crown amps were fine and could continue to be used. He also indicated that adding a pair of Shure SC-14/85 lavalier wireless mic systems with remote antennas to the current complement of systems would enhance the hearing assistance system by adding in all the orators on the pulpit and that he would reinstall the entire package inside the existing wall hanging cabinet, thereby eliminating the unsightly draped wires.
Grundgeiger said, "All of this could be done for about $9,500, and I asked him for a time when I could meet with him and some of his interested church members to explain these recommendations in more detail and also to complete my survey".
There were many unique features and problems to overcome in the install. About nine years earlier, a completely new sound system had been installed in the cathedral that used a number of horns and bass cabinets suspended in a hanging custom 169 infinity 169 infinity 69 (4.9 m infinity 4.9 m infinity 1.8 m) central cluster, to serve the main nave seating facing the altar. The sanctuary had 4 inch (102 mm) loudspeakers hidden in the ornate, decorative wooden chair canopies along the side of the sanctuary. The smaller pew seating area facing the rear of the sanctuary had six 8 inch (203 mm) loudspeakers built into the existing hanging light fixtures. The choir loft had a single delayed monitor loudspeaker. In addition, the choir loft had an 89 infinity 59 infinity 59 (2.4 m infinity 1.5 m infinity 1.5 m) choir origination cluster with two horns and one bass cabinet and a separate sound system in a floor standing cabinet located in the choir loft. The original sound contractor had! spent many long hours fine tuni ng and balancing the sound system, and it was a substantial improvement over previous sound systems. There were, however, some dead spots, and many of the older members complained that it was difficult for them to understand everything during a worship service.
The church board had enlisted the aid of a prominent architectural firm a few years after the sound system was installed to see if there could be any improvements to the sound system. The architectural firm brought in several different sound contracting firms, but none was able to suggest anything that would improve the speech intelligibility without adding acoustical treatment. Father Cook explained that because of the stone and marble construction and a million-dollar organ with a prominent organist on staff who did not want to change the reverberation times within the church, acoustical treatment was not an option. The quarried stone cathedral, although considered by the organist to be acoustically excellent for music, was a disaster for intelligibility of the spoken word. The echo within the nave, for example, was fatiguing on Father Cook, and reverberation times throughout the church were as high as six seconds.
"About four weeks went by," Grund-geiger said, "and I was about to call Father Cook fearing that he may have purchased the two new wireless systems from the local sound contractor, when suddenly the voice on the other end of the phone said, `Richard, this is Reverend Cook. I showed your letter to a few of my church members and they all think it is a good idea. Go ahead and put the $9,500 worth of improvements in.' I responded by thanking him for allowing me to go ahead with the first step in improving the performance of his sound system. I let him know that it will make a substantial and noticeable difference, but there is more that will have to be done in order to reach complete speech intelligibility that will allow every visitor and church member the ability to hear and understand everything that is being said. A few weeks later, I was able to install the new equipment."
As it turns out, the existing central cluster was hard to equalize. It sounded harsh and metallic, and there were dead spots and uneven coverage.
"I was able to take reverberation readings with my Communications Company BONG-2 Burst Octave Noise Generator and RT-60B Reverberation Timer, which will produce readings for 125 cps to 8,000 cps. As I expected, the reverberation times were as high as six seconds," said Grundgeiger. "I tried everything I could to wring every ounce of improvement out of the new electronics and the existing loudspeaker systems, even attending Sunday church Mass a couple of extra Sundays. Finally, Father Cook told me that the people who always complained about not being able to hear have noticed the improvement, but most of them said that it was a long way from being able to hear easily. The only solution left was to bring the loudspeakers closer to the listeners."
To solve the issue of uneven coverage that the old system provided, Grundgeiger installed three pairs of hanging SoundTube RS100 loudspeakers 20 feet (6.1 m) above the floor. According to Grundgeiger, these loudspeakers would provide the basic overall envelope of sound for this area, which is approximately 105 feet (32 m) long by 65 feet (19.8 m) wide. A total of eight small Tannoy C-60 Arena loudspeakers, four on each side, were used for fill along the side walls where the sound tended to fall off slightly and was obstructed by massive 5 feet (1.5 m) diameter columns. The sanctuary area is approximately 709 infinity 659 (21 m infinity 19.8 m) and would be served with 14 additional Tannoy C-15 Arena loudspeakers. Some of these loudspeakers were to be concealed in the ornate canopies of the side seating, and some would be mounted 1 foot (305 mm) above the marble sanctuary floor on the rear of the pulpit, lectern and railing. An added benefit of placing the small Tannoy Arena mo! nitor loudpeakers partially with in the pulpit and lectern is the monitoring assistance they would provide to the persons speaking at those locations, thereby allowing them to speak more naturally. This new system helped eliminate the intelligibility problems by providing a wider, more diffuse dispersion of sound pressure in the room. The excessive reverberation times were further diminished through careful adjustment of a time delay in a distributed system between all six SoundTube loudspeakers.
One parishioner said, "The sound was just wonderful. I understood everything easily and the new loudspeakers look beautiful. I didn't notice them at first. It took me a minute to realize where they were."
The Priest noticed right away that it took less effort to capture the attention of everyone in the nave because the reduced reverberation time was far less fatiguing on an orator.
To match the quarried walls aesthetically, Grundgeiger asked SoundTube Entertainment for a custom enclosure color. SoundTube received a sample of the quarried stone and was able to custom match the loudspeaker enclosures to blend with the surrounding colors.
The seating facing the rear of the sanctuary, an area of about 509 infinity 509 (15 m infinity 15 m) had six existing pendant lamp fixtures with 8 inch (203 mm) loudspeaker enclosures. The old, worn-out loudspeakers in these enclosures were replaced by six Posh 8 inch (203 mm) SP9 raw frame speakers with T-15 15 W, 70 V transformers. For increased acoustic quality, two AM8-TC Lectrosonics eight-channel automatic mic mixers were installed, along with one Sabine FBX-2020 dual automatic feedback reducer and one Symetrix 421M Audio Leveler. Two DSP-1100 Behringer Dual automatic feedback reducers were also added to the system, along with two GRQ-3101 Sabine processors. Room equalization was accomplished thanks to a pair of MQX2310 Ashly Dual 31 Band EQs and one E-31 Samson 31-band 1/3-octave EQ.
After the new loudspeakers were installed, the different amp channels were carefully equalized, reusing the existing Crown amplification. The 1/3-octave EQs were tuned using an IE-30A Ivie audio analyzer with IE-20B Ivie noise generator.
"It didn't take long before everyone was stopping Father Cook after Mass to tell him just how much better they thought the sound system was and how they could now finally hear everything," said Grundgeiger.
In looking back at the project, Mr. Grundgeiger believes that the key to success was Father Cook's deep commitment to improving clarity and quality of the spoken word.
Grundgeiger said, "The exceptional quality and performance of the new SoundTube RS100 hanging loudspeaker system and the fact that SoundTube was able to make a custom color to match the stone sample of the interior church walls really were the important pieces of the puzzle that made everything come together. As usual, the Tannoy Arena ICT technology fill loudspeakers and the Posh SP9 drivers did an excellent job where they were needed."
Father Cook said, "The word of the gospel is better, more gratifying, easier to understand and ultimately, the pews are fuller."
Since the install, attendance has grown consistently, and one parishioner said, "Now, finally, the beauty and impact of the spoken word far outshines the physical beauty of the worship space."
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