Echoes are too much!

Hi All,

Again we have been contacted with the age old question which crops up in older churches, especially parish churches. We quote....

"The acoustic [in our church] are extraordinarily good for music and singing; but the same qualities make it difficult sometimes to distinguish the spoken word clearly. Deaf people in particular have great difficulty in making much sense of the sermon etc. "

In an old church it is very difficult to control reflected sound without drastically altering the look of the building. In some churches it is possible to remove the pews and put down carpeting, which makes a huge difference. This will not be an option for most older church buildings! In a smaller way, hanging banners can be a way to get more sound absorbing material into a church in an "unobtrusive" way (these should be made of the heaviest possible material... see our post on sound deadening)

Adding a hearing aid induction loop obviously does not help those without hearing aids (with the following exception), but is amazingly helpful to those with a suitable hearing aid. The minister wears a radio lapel microphone which obviously captures the spoken word "at source" without any echo. A microphone is also generally sited at the lectern so that occasional readers are also clearly picked up. These microphones are connected to an induction loop amplifier, which in turn connects to a loop of cable run discreetly and securely around the room. Those inside the loop with a hearing aid pick up the speech in an amazingly clear way. Additionally, the loop amplifiers have built in "gain control" circuitry which ensures that even if a loud or a quite person is preaching, a crystal clear sound reaches the user.

We also supply loop listeners, which are a small battery powered unit, like a Walkman with headphones. These pick up the signal from the loop and amplify it for the headphones. These can be given to users without a hearing aid, but who are having difficulty hearing the spoken word. The unit provides the user with a volume control so that they can have the sermon as loud or as quiet as they like!

Finally, in some churches, the use of small speakers correctly placed can help to balance out the sound in a church. This can be especially useful if there are "dead spots" in the church.

Technology really can help in older buildings to help everyone hear the word of the Lord. It does not need to be expensive, and with the correct equipment and installation techniques can be almost completely unobtrusive.

Hope this helps!

Tim
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