The
New Life Center was looking to refurnish the interior
of his sanctuary after smoke damage. The church essentially had
a blank canvas to work with, and acoustics was the element of the
reconstruction that needed the most attention. Pastor Todd Wagner
and others at the church had a range of choices for acoustic products
and consultation opportunities, but after hearing from the sound
engineer and one of their parishioners about Noxon, the New Life
Center felt confident in what he could provide.
A Beautiful Process
The church was faced with a number of acoustic problems. It is often
difficult for untrained church staff to recognize acoustic problems,
and it is common for a church to resort to electronic fixes—new
speakers and microphones.
Back wall, showing acoustic
SoundPlanks on walls and balcony face.
The area under the balcony was designed to house the sound engineer's
equipment. The ceiling of the space has an Acoustic Coffered Ceiling.
"When you find yourself buying a new sound
system to replace a perfectly good sound system, you know that your
problem is acoustics," says Noxon. So Noxon uses engineering,
and a lot of interviewing, to discover his client's acoustic problems.
"We felt like Art knew what he was doing, and
we approached him with specific problems," says Pastor Wagner.
"He wanted to know the church's goals, what we do during services,
because there are different styles of worship."
The information Noxon gathered about the New Life
Center is the same information he seeks when working on any church,
no matter the location.
"We have a pretty good system of getting all
the right information, so that a church doesn't have to spend money
to fly me out to the site," says Noxon. This helps to keep
the church's investment purely in the materials, rather than sink
money into travel expenses, blueprints, and consultation fees, and
allows Noxon to work with clients across the country.
A Band Shell was constructed
and lined with SoundPlanks covered in a
washable white fabric to give the musicians a lively space to play.
The information Noxon gathers includes technical
data—room dimensions building materials, and the sound equipment
used during the services—as well as more unique and personal
information. Noxon likes to know the style of worship, and he will
speak with members of the choir, ministry and congregation, to make
sure that he has a good understanding of all of the church's acoustic
issues.
"I don't try to impose a design for them to
adapt to," says Noxon. "I instead try to facilitate what
they do. I learn what they do during services, and then try to acoustically
optimize each part. It's a beautiful process, because each part
is able to function as part of the whole."
With services that utilize multimedia presentations,
a choir, piano and praise band, the New Life Center had to find
a balance between all of the elements. But a balance was hard to
achieve in an untreated space. The choir members felt isolated,
unable to hear one another and failing to connect with one another.
The praise band, complete with acoustic and electric
instruments, was wrestling with the monitors and microphones, so
they would not overpower the room.
Finally, the musicians needed a controlled environment
that allowed them to hear themselves and play at comfortable levels,
while still filling the sanctuary with a balanced amount of sound.
But acoustic problems were affecting the entire space, not just
the choir and praise band.
"There was so much reverberation and echo,
we needed to smooth out the room," says Pastor Wagner. Noxon
discovered that members of the congregation were not hearing sermons
and readings as clearly as they could, and when singing hymns, they
felt isolated and without energy.
The side walls were conditioned
with SoundPanels (low)
and SoundPlanks (high).
Breathing
New Life
So how did Noxon approach the problems with the New Life Center's
acoustics? With seemingly conflicting needs for the various parts
of the service, the challenge was to not compromise one element
for the other. The solution came from breaking down the sanctuary
into different spaces, and making sure that each part had its acoustic
needs met, and matched well with the other parts.
Noxon's constant communication with various members
of the church was helpful in creating solutions that balanced the
acoustics. For example, Noxon discovered that the choir members
could not hear themselves, and so he brought back the traditional
choir loft found in many older churches. To experiment with the
idea, he had the members of choir rehearse in their usual spots,
but with no carpet and no padded seats. Then, by setting up cafeteria
tables around the choir, he was able to box them into a reverberant
and lively space.
"They heard it, and they loved it, because
they could hear each other," says Noxon. "It was more
real, more natural, and more of what they should expect." So
Noxon had the church install a knee-high wall to surround the choir,
and gave them an active and ambient choir loft that can be heard
in the congregation.
The Coffered Ceiling of the
engineer's booth.
The opposite was done to the praise band space,
which was also closed in with a short wall. This time, Noxon called
for ASC SoundPlanks to absorb and diffuse the sound, making the
praise band space sound more like a session studio. The sound that
flowed over the top of the wall was filtered, clean and crisp, with
no more monitor, microphone, or sound system feedback problems.
So each side of the stage has a different acoustic theme that addresses
the need of each group: an acoustically "live" space for
the choir, and an acoustically "dead" space for the praise
band.
For the rest of the sanctuary, Noxon incorporated
a field of SoundPlanks on the back wall, letting the sound from
the stage flow through the audience, but preventing it from bouncing
back and cluttering up the sound. No acoustic products were placed
on the side walls, so the congregation could hear the many side-to-side
reflections that their singing, clapping, and speaking would create.
The result is a controlled reverberant space that can build up the
volume and energy of the congregation as it sings a hymn or applauds,
making services more emotional and confident.
The stage-facing sides of two
of the ceiling beams were treated with an art-deco
sunrise motif of SoundPanels.
Other solutions Noxon designed into the package
included two sets of SoundPanels that were custom designed for
the face of two laminated beams.
"The first thing done was the treatment on
the beams, and that was a noticeable difference," says Pastor
Wagner. The beams were interfering with the ceiling-mounted speaker
box, and the SoundPanels helped remove the noise and clamor that
the congregation heard from the sound system.
A Win-Win Situation
With the range of solutions Noxon offered, the New Life Center has
come back from its smoke and fire damage far ahead of where it was
before. The confidence of the congregation has increased, and the
services have become more smooth and energetic. But with acoustics,
good design should make problems disappear.
"I want the whole experience of sound during
a worship to be transparent," says Pastor Wagner. "If
it's right, you don't think about it."
Noxon's design has proven that he can create good
acoustics without compromises, as long as his clients trust his
system.
"It's easy for a consultant to come into your
church and do a big pony show of tests that look impressive, but
church acoustics is personal. What works the best is to focus on
what the people of the church need," says Noxon.
Noxon shows a sense of pride in how he has been
able to improve the acoustics at churches like the New Life Center.
The New Life Center was a unique project because Noxon was allowed
the opportunity to create a brand new acoustic space from top to
bottom.
"The New Life Center was great to work with
because— outside of the basic shape of the hall—I was
given a blank canvas," says Noxon. "When you start over
with a clean state, you can carve something out that's beautiful
and complete, and I was happy to be a part of that."