Two Cities, a rapidly growing church in Winston-Salem, NC, recently opened the doors to its brand-new home and hub, equipped with a new sound system in collaboration with d&b and Special Event Services (SES, a Concert Stuff brand). With a vision to create a versatile space not only for worship but also for community gatherings and events, the church has invested in an audio infrastructure to ensure an uplifting auditory experience for all who enter the doors to its 1,300-seat worship center and watch Two Cities livestreams on YouTube.
Established just over 7 years ago, Two Cities has experienced exponential growth as a church. Its previous worship center held only 450 members and after the pandemic, attendance skyrocketed. The church was able to purchase one of the last remaining pieces of vacant land in its home city of Winston-Salem and develop it into a bespoke home and hub for Two Cities’ congregation and community.
As a member and volunteer at Two Cities, Michael Brammer, CFO of SES, was involved in the process from the very beginning, consulting on the building itself and bringing in SES as the AVL designer and integrator for the full project. SES Integration installed all the audio, lighting, video, rigging, and installed acoustic treatments.
“From the very beginning we knew this was going to be a job for d&b.” states Brammer, “There was familiarity and comfort with d&b from the church’s technical and pastoral staff. It just so happened that XSL was announced right as we were designing the main worship center, and there could not have been a more perfect product for the room.” Brammer says the size to performance ratio, directivity, and control from the smallest SL-Series sibling, the XSL, was exactly right.
Brammer orchestrated demo sessions with other members of the Two Cities technical team; through this process they chose the configuration of the XSL system and flown SL-SUB deployment that was ultimately installed in the facility. The sound system comprises XSL and A-Series loudspeakers (used for outfills), positioned to deliver optimal sound quality and uniform coverage throughout the auditorium and d&b’s ArrayProcessing is used to provide a consistent listening experience for every seat in the room.
“The quality and responsiveness of the system is incredible,” Brammer says. “Everything sits perfectly in the mix and there is no shortage of headroom at all. The audio is clear and crisp without being harsh and the low end is warm and musical. This system is a pleasure to both mix on and listen to every weekend!”
To match the audio quality, SES chose an extensive Ayrton lighting rig with a complement of Ayrton Levante, Diablo, and Zonda 9 wash lights purchased through ACT Entertainment.
“The new rig at Two Cities Church is almost completely Ayrton,” Brammer notes, “which enables us to maintain commonality with SES Production’s rental inventory so that we are able to support and supplement where needed. Ayrton’s wide product range and the fact that we were able to find every type of fixture we needed for the project within the product line was also key. In addition, Ayrton offered high-quality hardware as well as high output for size and weight, broadcast-friendly coloring, very flat and even beams and great feature sets.”
A dozen Diablos provide full stage coverage for spoken word and musical performances. “I grab them for about every scene we build,” says Wes Koontz, Production Director at Two Cities Church. “We add multiple palettes of color to every song and often put on gobos to break up the stage and add texture. The Diablos even add a little color and mood during the entrance period.”
Seven Levantes serve as the main broadcast key light for speakers and vocalists, matching the Diablos and delivering a consistent product. “With broadcast being a big component of worship now, the Levantes don’t sacrifice anything from the in-house look and feel to the online experience,” says Koontz.
Eight Zonda 9 fixtures wash the stage floor and provide effects lighting for the front of the stage. “I’ve been having lots of fun with the Zondas,” Koontz reports. “They put out a lot of light: Even at 10 percent intensity with color they really add to the stage.”
“Every weekend we continue to expand on that, mapping in Diablos and Zondas so we have more movement and patterns.” Koontz says. “We can go from a soft blue on the piano in the corner to a solo spot on the vocalist then full movement and color on the stage and band. We’re a lot more creative thanks to these fixtures.”
