Back wall, showing acoustic Sound Planks on walls and balcony face. The
area under the balcony was designed to house the sound engineer's equipment,
and the ceiling of the space was treated with a Coffered Ceiling. (see
photo below)
"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 treated with white acoustic Sound Planks
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 treated with Sound Panels (low) and Sound Planks
(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 Sound Planks 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 Sound Planks
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 Sound Panels.
Other solutions Noxon designed into the package included two sets of Sound
Panels 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 Sound Panels 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." |
