Just completed inspecting two churches.  Peace Mennonite in Richmond BC and Gateway Community Church in Abbotsford BC.  The results are amazing.  While Gateway’s acoustics are not finished yet, what has been completed so far sounds great.  meanwhile, at Peace Mennonite the performance of the square room with corner stage turned out exactly as predicted.  Photos of these two churches have been posted here.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jdbsound/collections/72157627021000982/

Fixing the acoustics of a church requires a system. Evidence shows that single purpose acoustical fixes may solve the original problem but the fix can, and often creates 2 or 3 other problems. Since all churches with acoustical problems come in layers, you need a system to treat all the layers in one step. Since proper acoustical fixes are a system, you have to complete the system to realize the full benefit of the acoustical repair.

Acoustics 103

A church without acoustics is a church that has never been finished.  (This message will be repeated often.)

The rectangle -shaped room for a church is the best when it is in the right ratio. All other room shapes are rooms that people spend millions on with sound equipment and acoustical panels to make them sound like a rectangle room.

The truth is, the most you can do with other room shapes is make them as usable as possible. You can make any room perform almost as good as a rectangle but they will never “sound” like a rectangle. Every other room shape will have its own unique sound.

Consider this, if room shapes were compared to the musical instruments of an orchestra, the premium instrument d would be the violin.  You could say that the rectangle room shape in the right ratio can have the performance of a great violin.  Unfortunately, people rarely get to experience such a high performing room in a church because when a church is absent of proper acoustical management of sound, you could say that the room is broken.  The good news is that most rectangle-shaped rooms can be upgraded and repaired or in most cases, have their church completed.  That is a comment often shared with me when churches use the right kind of acoustical upgrade.  It doesn’t seem to matter if the church is 5 years old or 300 years old, getting the acoustics done properly is like saying that the church is finally finished.

When it comes to other room shapes, such as square, fan, octagon, oval, round, or any other room shape, most rooms are absent of the proper acoustical treatment.  I often think of a square room as a trumpet or a fan-shaped room as a clarinet.  The problem is, most people never really know the full potential of how these rooms can sound.  Most churches just put up with their broken worship spaces, never knowing the full performance their worship spaces can offer.

The truth is,  every church member and adherent has the solution to fixing their church in the palm of their hands.  You don’t have to be a rocket scientist or an acoustical engineer to know how to fix your church.  All you need to do is follow what the Bible says.  This is not a miracle or a trick.  It is science at it’s best, transforming broken worship spaces into the sanctuary most churches deserve to have.  The Bible details a specific recipe that if followed, can make the worst sounding churches be the best sounding churches.  To learn more about this, read this article.  Biblical Secrets in Plain Sight.

Estevan Church of God is in Saskatchewan, Canada.

Before the acoustical changes.

After Acoustical Changes.

Did you know that if you use hard shell half round shapes in a sequential pattern, you will not need bass traps in the corners of your room!

It’s true.

Did you know this if you use hard shell half round shapes in a sequential pattern you can reduce excess bass in some frequencies over 40dB?

It’s True.

Did you know that in larger churches, the half round shapes can increase the bandwidth of a sound system, increase the gain before feedback and increase the bass output of sub woofer up to 6dB!

It’s True.

Did you know that if you use hard shell half round shapes in a sequential pattern around your whole worship space, you can double or triple the number of people singing during worship without having to tell them to participate more or to sing louder!

It’s True.