Comments on: The Perfect Sounding Room

By: Jasen

Jasen — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:21:52 +0000

“So, given that a sanctuary redesign is out of the question (because it was just built), and acoustical treatment is only a band-aid, then what do you suggest?”

Find the people who approved the sanctuary design and left acoustical treatment out of the budget and give them a smack on the head.

Our church went through this exact issue. Our “sanctuary” is a giant square that ultimately is going to be our dining hall. The original plans had acoustic panels along all the walls and up in the choir loft. In order to squeeze the budget, some bright person(s) decided to drop the acoustical treatments. The room sounded HORRIBLE!!! A few weeks later at great expense, panels were put on the back walls and in the choir loft.

Also, there are active measures you can take. I don’t have a link at the moment, but there are companies that sell room treatment sound systems – the speakers generate “negative sound” to cancel out all the echos, etc. You can actually tune the room to how you want it to sound.

When you have a cut, you need a band-aid. It’s not ideal, but it’s better than bleeding to death.

By: Andy

Andy — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 03:49:15 +0000

I think it’s great that you addressed room acoustics as one of your first posts. So many churches overlook this when they are building a new worship space. I’m sure that many people have witnessed a less than great system that sounds amazing in a well designed room. At the same time, some incredibly advanced systems sound like trash when put in a poor environment. The real key is to find the balance between form, function and budget. You also need to look at the various activities that will take place in the room. A highly reverberant room is great when you have a choir or organ music but can destroy speech intelligibility. Also, a dead room will work well with contemporary (loud) music but everything else may sound lifeless. If your church is getting ready to build, do yourself a favor and hire an A/V consultant to work with you and your architect. A little planning on the front end will save you lots of money and headaches later on.

I’m sure that all of the room in heaven will have perfect acoustics! Until then, we’ll have to work with what we’ve got.

By: Dave Corson

Dave Corson — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:47:48 +0000

Try re-aiming the FOH speakers so the sound is directed at the congregation and floor and not the back and side walls. This is when vertical linear speaker arrays come in handy. If you are using stage monitor speakers, re-aim them also so they are not bouncing sound off the wall at the rear of the platform and into the auditorium. The delay in this bouncing sound will cause an echo for the congregation. Eliminating the stage monitor speakers will help in reducing echo and lowering stage volume.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 02:45:39 +0000

So, given that a sanctuary redesign is out of the question (because it was just built), and acoustical treatment is only a band-aid, then what do you suggest? Our super-echoey sanctuary is killing me, and it’s going to take some effort to convince the Pastor that those ugly panels are worth the money and effort.