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Keith Monks Sound Systems is the Audio Installation Division of Cunnings Recording Associates
This quick guide is written to help you decide what facilities you want, and what you need in your sound system. Is is not written to replace a site survey by one of our engineering team, but to help clarify your requirements in advance of that visit, possibly even before you become involved with the committees and all the others who inevitably become involved in the decision making process. Out engineering team combines over 60 years of experience of all sorts of church sound systems, from small chapels to large special events country wide.
There are many factors that may have persuaded you to investigate the possibility of a new sound system for your church.
These may have included the general increased awareness of quality sound caused by the improved quality of domestic hi-fi equipment. Your church congregation may well have changed over the years, or an increased of outside noise, from perhaps traffic or aircraft may make a new system more desirable. Alternatively the worship style and format may be changing, revealing the shortcomings of your current system.
In view of the level of expenditure involved, and the fact that modern electronic equipment has a long design life, you need to look to your potential future needs when planning a new sound system to ensure its capabilities are not quickly overtaken by changes in the church worship style and outreach programs. This not only makes sound economic sense, it is also good stewardship.
Statistics say that 20% of the population have a hearing impairment of some sort. Therefore it would not be surprising to find that you have members of your congregation who do not yet realise that their hearing is failing them. In a church situation they may well feel that the preachers are not as clear as they once were, when it is in fact their own hearing that has deteriorated as a natural by-product of ageing. At this stage they do not normally want, or need a hearing aid, but need instead a simple speech reinforcement system.
If you have a number of hearing aid users, or are looking to extend your church outreach into this section of your local community, then an induction loop system if invaluable. It allows anyone who uses a hearing aid with a T
position switch to have the audio fed straight into their ear without any distracting noises. Induction loop facilities are required to be fitted to all public buildings by 2004 as part of the disability discrimination act.
There is a risk of making a system too complex for ordinary church members to operate. We aim to provide a system that will be easily operated for normal Sunday services, yet retain sufficient flexibility to meet the needs of the church activities that take place.
Aesthetics are important to worship for many people. Churches can spend vast sums on elegant buildings, painting and decorating. It makes sense therefore to ensure that the speakers are colour co-ordinated
to the overall decor. We have a range of specialised speakers available in a variety of different grille fabric colours and cabinet finishes to help ensure that these larger items blend in well. In addition there will be cables to be run around the building, and these need to be lost into the building fabric whenever possible. These are also available in a range of colours, and the installation teams are weel versed in the art of hiding cable wherever possible.
A sound system is a major investment. It makes sense to ensure that it is not made easy for someone to steal it. We can supply a metal cabinet with a locking door, portable cases or customised wooden cabinets finished to blend in to the decor. Optional castors allow equipment to be moved to a secure room when not in use. If the security implications mean that the system has to be fitted away the main worship area, a master volume control and a master power switch located in an easily accessible location, can make the system easy to use.
Radio microphones are increasingly popular with preachers and worship leaders who find the freedom to move around the sanctuary invaluable. They are especially useful for childrens talks or the occasions when it is necessary to come down from the pulpit or lecturn all without needing to worry it you can still be heard. We can even ensure that the grounds of the church are covered; especially useful during weddings of funerals.
How about relaying the sound out of the main worship area, to a secondary hall, crèche, kitchen or office area for instance? It is much easier and cheaper to include these facilities in the orignal installation than add them later.
It is increasingly popular to record church services for those unable to attend that week, and we expect this need to increase. A twin cassette deck will make this a simple task to perform when only a couple of copies are needed, whilst a simple cassette copier will allow a number of cassettes to be copied in a matter of minutes rather than the hours it takes on a domestic hi-fi
machine.
We aim to avoid long cable runnings across aisles and other open spaces. Additional microphone points can help to reduce the risk of accidents, as well as increasing system flexibility. It is much cheaper to include an extra socket when the original system is installed, rather than have to add it later.
You may want to look at amplifying your Worship Group. Music groups have differing needs from a pure speech only system, and these is a vast grey area between them. You can end up with a full Rock and Roll
system, which may be ideal for some churches, or just a few music microphones for smaller congregations. We have wide ranging experience of these systems; from monitors to large mixing desks, outboard racks to DI boxes, multicores to microphones. Many sound systems can be adapted for use by a worship group at reasonable cost, however there are strict limits to this half way house
solution, but for a church experimenting with other forms of worship it can be a cost effective starting point.
We are always happy to organise training for your sound team, but would like to remoind you that those who speak into the microphones might benefit from a quick reminder of microphone technique to ensure that the sound operator has a fair chance to do a good job.
As part of a Christian organisation (our proprietor is a member of the leadership team of his local Baptist church, others are actively involved within churches of different denominations) we are aware of the constraints placed upon churches anxious yo obtain the ideal sound system. As such, we have a number of choices to suggestm including the possibility of re-using equipment from an old system where appropriate, and the option of using the skills of some of the congregation to install the cables and brackets. This will reduce the labour costs, leacing our engineerers to connect up and commission the system.
Keith Monks Sound Systems offer a UK wide free advisory service, by letter, fax, telephone or email. Alternatively one of our engineering team will be happy to visit your church to give free unbiased advice. This would be followed up by a no obligation written quotation detailing our recommended positions for speakers, microphone sockets and other relevant information.
Specialising in buildings with different acoustics, such as churches, school halls and similar venues, and working with churches of all denominations and creeds, Keith Monks Sound Systems has built up a zealously guarded reputation as one of the best sound systems installers in the country. Click here to see some examples of previous installations.
Our help is only telephone call away. Unless you try us, you will not know the difference we can make.
Off the Pegsound system.