“ Then we started thinking and said , ‘ You know , this building , especially the main room of it , is mostly only used on Sundays . And even then , it ’ s only for a couple hours and that ’ s it . What a complete waste when in our area there ’ s really a need for a good performance venue that ’ s affordable for the whole community ,’” says congregation member Aad Vermeyden , the church ’ s point person on the project , to Professional Sound . “ As a church , we want to be known not more for doctrine , but for the things we stand for , in positive way and not a negative way . So , with that , we said , ‘ Well , wouldn ’ t it be lovely if we put something in that everybody could use ?’ So , that means we need to take the front out , we need to put a stage in , and if we do a stage , then clearly this is the time to do everything . So , let ’ s do a good sound system and let ’ s put a lighting system in , and let ’ s do everything right .’”
Given the building ’ s history and look , there were congregants who were somewhat against any significant changes beyond necessary repairs .
“ We had a reasonable contingent of people who said , ‘ But it ’ s such a beautiful building , it ’ s over 100 years old , so we should not change it .’ We went against that and said , ‘ Well , you know what ? That building is a blessing that we have and God wants us to use it for what it ’ s needed for today . So , let ’ s make the changes and make it available to the community at a very reasonable price .’ That does two things . It gets people into the building and they see that we ’ re not all that weird – hopefully [ laughs ] – and they get to use it for what they want to use it for .”
With a plan in motion to turn Paris Presbyterian Church into a better-equipped , multi-use space for the community , Vermeyden and company turned to Jon Jukes of Waterloo-based CS Acoustics . Jukes has extensive experience installing sound systems and improving the acoustics in places of worship , including having installed the original sound system at Paris Presbyterian about 20 years ago . This project , though , would prove to be a larger beast than usual for him , as ultimately , on top of the new sound system and acoustics , he also designed and built a new stage and installed a new lighting and video system .
“ Their primary drive was they wanted to rebuild the stage because the stage was on four levels and they had a contemporary worship team , and they wanted to also do theatre , or maybe rent out for theatre ,” recalls Jukes about where the project discussions began . “ So , it was to take that whole stage area and make it one level so you could do so theatrical stuff as well , but they wanted to maintain the look and honour the building , the heritage , and you have this pipe organ behind it . Pipe organs , of course , look kind of cool even though it ’ s not always a contemporary look . So , it started with the stage and then it became the sound system and then some lighting and , of course , when they contacted me , I said , ‘ Well , we have to deal with the acoustics .’ So , it ’ s ‘ Oh really ? Well tell us why .’ So , we talked about standing waves , we talked about their bass in the sound of the organ , and they embraced the idea .”
Dealing with the building ’ s acoustics , both Jukes and Vermeyden concede , was the hardest sell for a couple of reasons . For one , acoustics are simply less tangible for most people than a shiny new sound system . As Vermeyden says , “ It wasn ’ t like people were going , ‘ Oh , we couldn ’ t understand what was being said .’ We could , it just wasn ’ t great .”
“ Initially they said , ‘ The thing is , it doesn ’ t sound that bad . Why do we even need to do anything ?’” adds Jukes about improving the acoustics . “ So , my hardest sell was to convince them that if we do this , you ’ ll be able to do more things . You want to do theatre , you want to do speech , so on and so forth ? They didn ’ t really realize and that ’ s often the case . People are quite ready to spend money on a sound system or maybe lights , but they ’ re hesitant to spend any money on acoustics , because it ’ s like , ‘ Is there really a problem ? Our room sounds good .’”
As mentioned , one of the biggest issues Jukes identified in the space were standing waves , which diminished speech intelligibility .
“ There ’ s so much sound pressure level feeding back in itself , it impeded the clarity of the speech , it impeded the bass , it was muddy . And a lot of churches do this , they put in a big sound system and they want more bass , so they add subwoofers ,” he explains . “ What ’ s really happening , though , is because you have acoustical problems , those frequencies are distorting what should be clear . We ’ ve seen this time and time again that if we deal with the underlying acoustical issues , you don ’ t need as many subwoofers . You don ’ t need much bass energy . So , by dealing with the standing waves and a number of other issues , we improved the speech intelligibility and the music fidelity of the room for both amplified and unamplified sound .”
Initially in Paris Presbyterian , Jukes says , if two people were 20 ft . apart , they could hardly understand each other . That , to say the least , is not ideal in a church where hearing someone speak is generally the point of being there .
“ You have a pastor trying to speak from the front through a sound system , but it ’ s hard to hear . We can now speak across the room , acoustically , and hear each other . You can actually be up in the balcony and you can hear on the floor below ,” he notes . So , we improved the gain-before-feedback . What a lot of church sound guys don ’ t realize , and that ’ s true anywhere , is if you have good gain-before-feedback , you can have more microphones open at a time and have more distance from the microphone without any feedback .”
Getting the acoustic treatment in place
PROFESSIONAL SOUND 39