St. Mark Church, Pittsfield MA - Enjoying New Custom Audio...

Another successful sound system renovation at a Pittsfield, MA Church!

Power Sound of New England recently completed a sound system installation project at a 2nd Catholic Church in Pittsfield Massachusetts. Like all parishes, quality church sound is vital. As we wrote in our previous post two Catholic Churches in Pittsfield Massachusetts have great new church audio system, circa 2012, from PSNE. For St. Mark Church, a PA sound system renovation was needed; to improve sound clarity and intelligibility. The old system had small speakers that while good quality were simply not appropriate for sound projection throughout the spacious and high-ceiling worship space. 

PSNE, specializing in professional pro sound systems for worship, was chosen to consult and design and install new sound system.

The Project: The pastor, Rev. John Salatino needed the improved sound quality for both the spoken word and the music to be addressed in the new system design. Power Sound of New England designed a church sound system tailored to the St. Mark’s specific needs. A new Church audio system was designed for PA needs in the nave, choir loft and narthex. 

Highlights:  1. New Pro BOSE Panaray® loudspeakers have been mounted on the 2nd columns, with  smaller Bose speakers on the first columns. A bit atypical, this design customization accommodates a walkway. The photo (right), illustrates the speaker alignment. Our system programming ensures church sound coverage is even from the first row of pews to the last. 

2. Smaller existing speakers were repurposed to the choir loft. Mixer controls allow for the Music Ministry audio to function independently— in the case of the Choir singing from the loft. Or the loft audio can be integrated with the main system; this is ideal for instances of the Cantor and the choir singing from opposite ends of the church by ensuring sound signal timing is matched for both Choir and Cantor. Eliminating the delay provides a perfectly-times natural sound experience.

3. Wireless “Earset” microphones offer clear vocal projection and allow for freedom of movement without feedback or fading!

4. A digital wall-mount remote controller contains custom presets for different sound settings e.g. Size of Mass attendance, different Music Ministries, Seasonal changes etc. The system performs perfectly for every Mass, every time. 

To learn more about sound systems for churches you can visit Power Sound of New England’s website: http://powersoundne.com/worshipav.html.

Two Pittsfield Massachusetts Church Sound System Renovations; Two Phase Audio Visual Systems Renovation

New Church Audio enhances the Mass at two Parishes - Great Sound is going around in Pittsfield

Sacred Heart Parish

  

Sacred Heart Parish, "The Pink Church", in Pittsfield Massachusetts needed a comprehensive audio renovation. They chose PSNE to design and install a system customized to their unique needs; sound coverage and clarity in multiple spaces.

System Highlights

Primary Speakers and Electronics - BOSE® loudspeakers, designed for churches, offer balanced sound coverage and clear intelligibility for the Word. Speakers for Family Room offer much needed amplification of Mass.

Speakers for Loft and Narthex - The music ministry is able to “hear the homily for the first time in years”! 

Parishioners in the narthex can also now clearly hear the Mass.

   “We’re really thrilled!”
“...for the first time in years the Music Ministry can hear the homily—they are very happy.”
~ Rev. James K. Joyce

Mass.Digital Sound Selector  A digital wall-mount control has  presets for different settings—size of attendance, seasonal changes, etc. Perfect sound for every Mass.

Custom Audio - Tailored to the parish’s specific needs.




Onto St. Mark Church in Pittsfield...

St Mark Church

 

 

 

Scenes from a Church Audio System Renovation

In our next post we'll share some of the details of the church sound system renovation. To see more of our church AV projects visit our website.

A Massachusetts Church; Two Phase Audio Visual Systems Renovation

Sound System Renovation and Video Projection at a Nantucket Church

This year one of the especially noteworthy AV system design projects we completed was for a parish on Nantucket Island. The Massachusetts church sound and video projection projects were done in two phases. The Church Sound System phase of the project included new professional-grade electronics, microphones and speakers engineered for optimal sound projection in worship spaces. 

The AV system design: Church sound by the numbers 

What makes great church Audio?

1. High-Performance Equipment combined with Great Design 

As part of a custom church sound system design, speakers are installed for optimal sound clarity and intelligibility. Here the tower-style loudspeakers are installed in the front corners of the nave and in order to offer intelligible sound, were planned to directionally ‘cover’ the nave with clear even sound from front to back.

2. Pro-grade BOSE® loudspeakers  

Designed especially for the worship environment, aesthetically aligned with Church architecture. Extra steps include coloring the speaker casing to perfectly match the wall, wainscoting, columns or railings to which they are affixed.

3. Digital Sound Selector – for each church sound scenario

A digital wall-mount remote controller contains   presets which are customized for different sound settings i.e. Size of Mass attendance, different Music Ministries, Seasonal changes etc. The system performs perfectly for every Mass, every time.

4. Re-purposing older equipment in new church audio visual systems 

The old speakers from the nave were installed in the choir loft. Sometimes equipment needs a good cleaning and tuning and then may be re-installed in an area it is better designed to service. The speakers at this parish were not optimal for sound coverage throughout the nave but were a good choice for church sound projection in loft.

5. Portable Sound for Chapel, Lawn, anywhere 

BOSE quality sound in a discreet 6 ft tall x 4 inch wide speaker. At the Sconset Chapel—which has some strong historical significance related to its aesthetics— hard-wired speakers were not ideal. BOSE® offers a portable version of the church sound system speakers we employ for many AV system designs. The speaker(s) may be used for Mass or set up elsewhere indoors or outside for use as needed.

Fr. Bouchard spoke of his trust in Power Sound- having chosen our company at more than one parish where he has served as pastor. He entrusted PSNE with another Massachusetts Church Audio project when he was pastor at Corpus Christi Parish in East Sandwich. Now at St Mary, Our Lady of the Isle he again entrusted PSNE with a 2-phase AV system design and installation project. When asked what about our company he favored he was quick to reply:

“Always Responsive… You keep proving yourselves!” 

- Rev. Marcel Bouchard

The Project Phase 2: Church Video Projection in the sanctuary.  A Video projection system was designed/installed in the sanctuary several months prior to the church audio system part of the AV renovation. In our next post we’ll share a little about its genesis and how the parish is utilizing the new technology. 

How’s the sound in your church? How about the chapel, classrooms, Sunday school, or nursery? When we ask this of any clergy and staff we often hear your replies that tell us you want and need much better, much more intelligible sound. If you’re nodding along you may want to read more about audio visual systems for worship by visiting our website:  http://powersoundne.com/ worshipav.html