Accommodating up to 3,000 worshippers, the sanctuary of the Healing Place Church (HPC) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was the church’s first location – and is presently the largest of its 12 internationally located campuses. With contemporary services using a praise band with between six and nine singers, along with drums, percussion, bass, electric guitars, acoustic guitar, keyboards and occasionally a choir, the church recently upgraded its sound to include a d&b audiotechnik’s Soundscape immersive system.
Mike and Rachel Haman serve as Lead Pastors and oversee all of the campuses. ‘At HPC, we want to be big enough to reach the world, but small enough to feel like home,’ says Pastor Mike. ‘Starting with 12 people in 1993, our vision has always been the same – to be a healing place for a hurting world.’
Supporting the church’s wish to upgrade, the Orlando and Pensacola offices of Pro Sound & Video recommended and installed a d&b Soundscape 360 system with Vi-Series loudspeakers.
‘Soundscape provided immersive sound that engaged the audience from the front to the back,’ says Pro Sound Business Development Manager, David Leuschner. ‘Soundscape also helped with sight lines as a traditional stereo line array would have protruded into sight lines.
‘After church leadership listened to a demo and heard how engaging it was, how the sound really made them feel connected, as if they were a part of it, they chose to go that route. Not to mention, using d&b En-Scene and En-Space modules through the R1 Remote software is very easy to operate, even for volunteers, and allowed engineers to develop a 360° mix in minutes instead of hours.’
Leuschner reports that the installation not only improves on the previous worship experience, but it has made it a more engaging one. ‘We chose the Vi-Series because it fit the room best and made it sound so smooth. The system has the power and clarity that we needed, and maintains a wide coverage as well. The client had a demo of the system and fell in love with it.’
‘The pursuit to find a new system was driven by the desire for excellence at every seat in the arena,’ says church Technical Director, John Tillman. ‘Initially going into it, we thought Soundscape would add those bells and whistles for our big events, but I think it’s had more of an impact on our week-to-week basis than we expected. I feel like I’m now able to produce the sound I’ve always had in my head. And knowing what the congregation’s response used to be and now seeing that response trickle up to the outer edges of the room is just fantastic.’
‘The speaker system is automatically optimised for every performer separately,’ says d&b audiotechnik Advanced Systems Specialist for the Americas, Nick Malgieri. ‘This allows every speaker to automatically handle a different mix of signals which alleviates issues with fidelity and headroom. The engineer often requires less channel processing and plug-ins because the system doesn’t require as much mix processing. Adding surrounds then elevates the capabilities even further.’
En-Space is used at the front-of-house DiGiCo Quantum 338 console as desired, but can also be fed via eight DPA mics suspended from the ceiling to enable the mix engineer to change the acoustics which are experienced by the congregation.
‘A noticeable increase in the congregation’s engagement was noticed on the first weekend,’ Malgieri says. ‘Because of the more inviting acoustics provided by Soundscape, the audience feels more comfortable to sing and cheer, something that must be experienced to be understood. It’s also fast and easy to commission. Adding the suspended mics took about 30 minutes to program.
Malgieri adds that the ability to route background vocals throughout surround loudspeakers also helps people feel included and engaged with the music.’
In addition to a Soundscape 360° system, the loudspeaker configuration includes five main hangs of eight Vi-Series boxes, with four flown SL-Sub. Front fill is provided by 13 44S flush-mounting loudspeaker. Further low end comes from ten 21S-Subs. For the surround system, there are six 24S-D and 15 10S-D two-way point-source loudspeakers, with eight 8S point-source loudspeakers overhead. Amplification for the system is provided by 22 40D and two D80 amplifiers, with four DS10s and a DS100 audio network bridges.
Pro Sound & Video installed three DiGiCo Quantum 338 consoles for FOH, monitors and broadcast sound, with Klang IEM systems for the performers, controlled by touchscreens and a WiFi network for iPad control. There are also two DiGiCo SD Racks, and an SD Mini Rack. A DMI Dante card sends audio to a laptop with a DiGiCo MGB interface for multitrack recording at FOH.
