On August 17, 2014 at 17:21, Ernie Gilman said...
I've recently gotten involved with an HoW (House of Worship) system and the question has come up: what is a realistic SPL. I'm so involved that for the first time, I'm working the board. And there's a difference of opinion. And it's a black church. Let's just get it out there: that can be a factor.
A new director of music is pushing for music SPL in the range of 95 dB. The system is very clean and would probably start clipping around 105 dB. Exact components don't matter because I'm asking about best practices regarding, basically, ears and their ability to keep working.
Right now there's a recently borrowed Hammond B3/Leslie combo, there's always been a bass player and drummer, and none of those are miked. Thus I have no control over those volumes and to get a correct house balance I turn up the singers. Oddly, until this week it was easy to be at 85 dB; today it had to be 95 dB to be balanced, and we had complaints from the attendants.
So what's a reasonable SPL for worship, especially considering they're trying to get younger people to attend... and I'd like those younger people to be able to hear forty years from now!
Since the congregation complained, let them complain to the Music Director and they need to be specific about their complaints. If it's SPL, he needs to accept defeat- 95dB is loud, when the music is full-range.
Use a DI for the bass and organ- it will make your life a lot easier. Might want to use a DI for the guitars, too. Less stage volume makes for a much better-controlled system and better sound quality.
Tell the drummer to buy thinner/lighter stick, or tell the Music Director that people will always complain as long as the drummer and bass player have free reign on their output. The drummer should be using Simmons, or something like that, or clear panels to block the sound. They (drummers) don't usually effing understand, so I'm not sure I would bother to talk to him/her and the bass player is just trying to hear over the drums. For that matter PA systems really serve one purpose- to make everything heard with the drums. Make the drums more quiet and you can make everything more quiet.
I worked for an A/V contractor that did primarily LDS facilities, based on the design by the EE for the church. IIRC, the systems were set up to perform at 85dB, but I could be wrong. I do know that Salt Lake City made the decisions for damn near everything, but the engineer was able to achieve great system response with Atlas in-ceiling speakers that were mounted in plywood boxes. We did all retro work, so the speakers replaced whatever was there already.
The EE definitely knows his shyte, too- he designed the system for Texas Stadium.
Here ya go-
[Link: ehpub.com][Link: sweetwater.com][Link: wfxweb.com][Link: waves.com]
