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Sound Systems: Evaluate Your System
Today almost every size church needs a sound system of some sort. Any church may want a system for cassette recording. And don't forget those with difficulty hearing. They need help in any size room! Of course, a larger church building has more requirements. Here a speaker system is needed to provide amplification for the spoken word. Music requirements can often get complex as the musicians need more and more equipment to help them in their ministry. The simple fact is that most churches can't get along without a sound system. Another fact is that most of us can easily think of a church sound system which has very poor quality. That is unfortunate, because today's system design technology and equipment can almost guarantee a good system for any size church. So is it important to have a good sound system? Let's take a look at what makes a good system. First, the amplified sound should sound natural. That is, the sound from the speaker system should sound the same as the talker or singer, but only louder. Try this experiment on your sound system. Turn the system off and have a friend read aloud for a while. You should be standing about eight feet away. Listen carefully and imprint the live, unamplified sound in your memory. Now, move to the rear of the room and turn up the sound system. With the same person reading, does your sound system reproduce the same voice tone and quality? Does the sound appear to come from the reader? Is it clear? Can you understand what the reader is saying without straining? If your answer is no to any of the previous questions, then your system may be in need of some improvement or adjustment. Many people, especially young adults, have grown up with high quality stereo systems in their homes, cars or trucks. They know what good sound is. They also want to hear that same quality in their church sound system. Most of us can accept the sound of speech on a poor system. It is not natural, but as long as you can usually understand the words, it is easy to get by without improvements. However, if a soloist sings or a music cassette is played, it becomes much harder to accept that poor sound system. The reproduced sound is not natural, so we become frustrated and distracted. All too often the system has too much distortion, and that becomes irritating. It is hard to maintain a spirit of worship. | | Figure 1 | | | List 1 | | List 2 | | 1 cane
2 there
3 dish
4 hid
5 heap
6 pants
7 hunt
8 no
9 bar
10 pan
11 fuss
12 creed
13 box
14 strife
15 dike
16 not
17 ford
18 end
19 then
20 bask
21 fraud
22 smile
23 death
24 are
25 bad | 26 pest
27 slip
28 rub
29 feast
30 dead
31 cleanse
32 folk
33 nook
34 mange
35 such
36 use (yews)
37 crash
38 ride
39 pile
40 rat
41 rag
42 is
43 wheat
44 rise
45 hive
46 grove
47 tow
48 plush
49 clove
50 fern | | 1 tang
2 fate
3 suck
4 else
5 pit
6 gill
7 charge
8 brought
9 cloud
10 mute
11 bean
12 scythe
13 vast
14 rib
15 pick
16 hock
17 our
18 hit
19 job
20 wish
21 nut
22 dab
23 frog
24 log
25 snuff | 26 blush
27 nab
28 bait
29 bud
30 rap
31 moose
32 trash
33 gloss
34 perk
35 vamp
36 start
37 earl
38 corpse
39 sludge
40 tan
41 ways
42 bounce
43 niece
44 awe
45 them
46 need
47 quart
48 five
49 hire
50 shoe | So let's get practical. How can you evaluate your sound system? First, do the single test mentioned above. Second, use the following test for intelligibility. Place as many listeners as you can find in different locations in your church nave or sanctuary. Have some sit in areas where people complain about the sound. Put others in the front, sides, or rear. Now, have a talker, with a good clear voice, speak on the sound system. The volume should be adjusted to a comfortable level. Using the word list in Figure 1, do this simple test. The reader should say, "Write the word ( ) now." Insert one of the list words into the blank. Say the word only once. The listeners should write down the word that they hear. After the test is complete, have the listeners score their word list. Spelling doesn't count nor do words that are spelled different but sound the same such as hear and here. If you find that many listeners have 15% wrong, then you should be concerned about the intelligibility of your sound system. If you are a regular attendee, you can probably fill in the missing words based on the context of the sentence. However, new people, who might not know church terminology, may find it impossible to understand. They could easily get frustrated and never come back. Next, listen to some music from a high quality cassette tape - or better yet, a compact disk. Is it natural? Are there high frequencies from the stings and cymbals? Can you hear the bass? Listen from different places. Does the quality change a lot as you move around? After your testing, look at the results. If the sound is natural and intelligible throughout your church, that's great. If you do have some concerns, please feel free to give us a call. We can help you further analyze your system. We would be glad to offer suggestions and recommendations on how to get the most out of your present sound system or to improve it. We are here to help you communicate. by Ron Huisinga © 1996 Internet Sound Institute (www.soundinstitute.com). This article is for personal use only. Any commercial reproduction is not permitted without permission. To obtain permission, contact ISI at hopi@soundinstitute.com
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