HOUSES OF WORSHIP

When it comes right down to it, the main function of a sanctuary is assembly for the purpose of worship, which requires communication between the pulpit and the congregation. If that communication is not easily intelligible at every seat in the room, then the room cannot perform its primary function. Music in worship can be a powerful communicator and connector between people. Whether intended to sooth or stir the soul, raise the spirit, or engage our emotions, your attendees need to be able to clearly hear and feel it. When the complex sound of music is marred, smeared, unbalanced, too loud, too soft, or otherwise affected by reflective or reverberant room acoustics, inadequate or poorly tuned equipment, or untrained volunteers, that worship ministry will not be as fulfilling, enjoyable, or effective as it could be. Room acoustics play a crucial role in the design and selection of a sound system.

A sound system is a signal chain which is only as strong as its weakest link. Any equipment that is low quality, functionally inadequate for it’s task, or poorly maintained is likely limiting the entire system’s capabilities. However, even the best equipment does only one thing all on its own- depreciate in resale value. The real value for the user is in the capabilities it offers and how creatively it is used to engage your audience and maximize the impact of your message and music.

At ATS Communications we are sometimes asked to perform a specific task, more often we find that our house of worship clients come to appreciate and benefit the most from a long-term relationship and the assurance of an ongoing service contract.

To work with ATS Communications is to engage in a relationship where we bring several decades of engineering and production experience and expertise to you.

• We can advise and help guide your system upgrades and design and install an Audio & Video system tailored to your specific needs.
• We can do an acoustical analysis and  tune your sound system for your room and install acoustic treatments when needed.
• We offer training programs for your volunteers or staff in the skills of live mixing and recording.
• We hold our installations to the highest standards of professional work.

One of our transformations:

 

Announcing the Hybrid Ministries Tech Forum

A Live weekly Zoom show about maintaining and expanding your on-line congregation, transitioning from virtual to Hybrid worship and community.

Each week our panelists and special guests will discuss the many aspects of and questions about evaluating the resources, challenges, and technologies available to live stream your activities.

Extensive time will be given to Q&A from attendees and we maintain a Discord platform as a 24/7 resource for discussion and curated information.

Register Here:

Hybrid Ministries Tech Forum

VIRTUAL & HYBRID WORSHIP

Virtual and Hybrid worship webcasts have have reinvented church and ministry, and for many good reasons are likely to continue. During the Pandemic, churches are signing new members from across the country and beyond. No longer is your membership growth limited by physical size, number of parking spaces, or physical location.
No longer do parents with sick children have to miss church.
No longer do children with sick parents have to miss R.E.

However, the ease of attending services from home means that presentation quality can be a competitive differentiator between churches.

We can help by providing strategic and technical consultation, systems design, installation, training, and maintenance services.

No matter what streaming platform you use, a good webcast requires several basics:

• Good Sources-
• Audio at a good level, free of distortion, well balanced, low in room ambiance and free of distracting noises.
• Video that is well lit, correctly framed and colored, with a complimentary background.
• Pre-produced video segments that look and sound good and will hold the viewer’s attention.
• Internet connections with enough bandwidth to support the number of HD video signals required. That includes both inside and outside the buildings. Never rely on WiFi for hosting.
• Good advance planning- every program element of the webcast must be in place before the start of the webcast. This is part of ....
• A good workflow- Prerecorded videos should be pre-tested. Live participants should have their lighting, audio and video evaluated prior to “airtime”. There should be enough trained “hosts” to perform all the roles needed for a smooth webcast.
• Correctly optimized platform settings for high quality audio and video transmission and reception.
• And most of all, a great worship service whether in person or on-line, has to foster ENGAGEMENT.

Planning to webcast from the sanctuary with people in the pews is a very different affair than an all virtual service. In general, a good looking webcast utilizes multiple cameras and support equipment, a separate sound mix that's different than the sanctuary mix, a way to incorporate live content with prerecorded or remote content, careful attention to the Local Area Network, a technical design to make everything work together, a production plan, and a Technical Order Of Service that all the techs can follow.

For live and hybrid streaming, many equipment related questions need to be considered -

• How many cameras are needed?
• Where /how should they be mounted
• What kind of lenses do they need?
• What kind of video switcher do you need, and which type of connection should be used between the cameras ans switcher?
• How will you bring the online attendees together with the attendees in the room?
• Will video projection or imaging be needed in the sanctuary to show prerecorded or remote presenters?
• How will you do audio?
• Will your internet and Ethernet networks handle the bandwidth of web streaming?

However before even thinking about equipment, or more importantly to some, how expensive will it be, it is vitally important to establish certain non-technical project parameters.

• Within the scope of sanctuary sound & video and online streaming, what are your goals, why, and how important do you see those goals to the church's mission and/or success?
• Given the prospect that a financial investment in equipment may be necessary, have you thought about how to measure or define its success?
• What elements or segments would make up your services and/or streaming events?
• How happy are you with your current online worship, and what would you change if you could?
• After your doors are reopened, how important do you predict a continuing online worship service to be to the church?
• What people resources are available to operate equipment?
• How much funding would be available, and would you consider alternative funding?

 

No matter what streaming platform you use, a good webcast requires several basics:

• Good Sources-
• Audio at a good level, free of distortion, well balanced, low in room ambiance and free of distracting noises.
• Video that is well lit, correctly framed and colored, with a non-distracting background.
• Preproduced video segments that look and sound good and will hold the viewer’s attention.
• Internet connections with enough bandwidth to support the number of HD video signals required. That includes both inside and outside the buildings. Never rely on WiFi for hosting.
• Good advance planning- every program element of the webcast must be in place before the start of the webcast. This is part of ....
• A good workflow- Prerecorded videos should be pre-tested. Live participants should have their lighting, audio and video evaluated prior to “airtime”. There should be enough trained “hosts” to perform all the roles needed for a smooth webcast.
• Correctly optimized platform settings for high quality audio and video transmission and reception.
• And most of all, a great worship service whether in person or on-line, has to foster ENGAGEMENT.

Image Projection

In the Before Covid era, image projection was used in the sanctuary to enhance attendee engagement and to convey information, Spiritual imagery, image magnification, announcements, hymn lyrics, all effectively served one of those two functions.

In the Post Covid era, where continuing to provide online worship will be expected, there will be two audiences- one physically in the sanctuary and one virtually. It will not be practical to address them or to engage with them separately, but it will delight both audiences when they engage and interact together as one congregation, one community. All predictions are that the ability to grow a congregation regardless of building size or time of worship will be a boon to any church that does it well,

To accomplish this during live worship or events, both audiences will have to see and hear each other without feedback loops and without missing any communications. Image displays /projection will be an important key to this engagement.

• What type of display will be most appropriate for our room?
• How many displays should there be?
• What size should the display(s) be?
• How will they connect to the video production system?
• Should the image on the display be different than the webcast?

These are considerations we can explore together before we make recommendations.

Wireless Microphones

Wireless microphones are available with a very wide range of quality and in a wide range of prices. It is one area of communications technology where cost almost always relates directly to sound & build quality and reliability. Reliability is also directly related to your geographic location. Rural areas will have fewer interfering traffic than urban areas which can be critically congested with wireless transmitters.

Everyone loves the convenience and ease of using a wireless microphone. However as miniature radio transmitters and receivers, they have to compete with radio & tv stations and a plethora of other wireless devices in your neighborhood for clean frequencies to communicate on. If you use multiple wireless mics, then they may even be competing with each other.

We use sophisticated spectrum analyzers to detect “other traffic”, and then do a complex set of analysis to determine which frequencies each of your mics can operate on without interference.

Even then, wireless traffic is constantly changing. New transmitters can be turned on at any time, and existing ones can change frequency, and there will be no advance warning. It could happen in the middle of a service. A new transmitter across the street appearing on a frequency you’re using can disable your microphone.  This is why we encourage the use of a “better” class of systems with built-in monitoring and remote control capabilities that allow us to log in, look at the data, and make adjustments without having to schedule a visit.

Sound & Mixing Systems

How would we define Good Sound vs. anything less, or a Good Sound System for that matter? There are dozens of books written on this topic, but my elevator pitch would sound something like this:

A Good Sound System would deliver the same volume level, frequency response, clarity, presence, intelligibility, and articulation to every attendee in the room, regardless of whether the sound is from music or speech, performed live or pre-recoreded. Further, a Good Sound System would make enough inputs, outputs, tools, and controls available to its operator to make the critical adjustments necessary to accomplish the first criteria.

Sounds pretty easy, right? NOT!

In the Post Covid era, where live streaming will be imperative, mixing doubled in complexity. A streaming mix and a sanctuary mix are very different things, particularly when music is performed. There must be two different mixes, and this requires additional features from a mixing system.

SOUND MIXING AND RECORDING

Mixing sound is part science, part craft, and part art. A good mix achieves an even frequency balance, a high level of speech intelligibility, musical articulation, clarity. imaging, emotion, a controlled dynamic range, and most importantly is invisible to the audience. They are not there to hear loudspeakers. It is a good idea for anyone who mixes to have a comfortable understanding of the equipment under their control, a good understanding of music and speech, and to know what to listen for and how to translate what they hear to how to manipulate the mixer controls to get the desired results. They have the power to shape the performer's and presenter’s sound and to ensure that the intended impact and emotion is delivered. Whether in-person or watching from home, a good quality audio mix is easy to appreciate, while a poor quality mix is easily recognized and can reflect poorly on the host.

After 45 years I still get the thrill of watching an audience respond to a great performance and mix, and I still learn something new every day. And I enjoy passing on the knowledge I've gained to others.

If you are fortunate enough to have talented musicians singing and playing for you or a skilled orator in the pulpit and if these elements play a major role in your worship style, there are few better ways to pay tribute for their work and contributions and your church's culture than to deliver great sound capture great recordings. One church I set up now has 8 years worth of fabulous music recordings which they use for a 30 minute prelude before every virtual service. This prelude enjoys a high level of pre-service engagement in the chat room and appreciation for the music.

Multitrack recording allows you to get better sermon and music recordings, and then allows you to remix every input again, to clean up tracks, add effects and really polish it up. Today's digital mixers and software make it easier and less expensive than ever to do live recording.

 

Video Production Training

Have you adapted well to virtual worship services? Have you developed a style that engages viewers, creates a sense of community, and holds people’s attention long enough to get the day’s messages across?

Webcasting, like television production, is about NOT losing your audience. It is about visual, audible, physical, and emotional engagement, It is about assembling a series of content elements into a seamless flow of information that is engaging to watch and easy to comprehend and retain.

And let’s realize that with so many churches now online, you are competing for viewers, for new members, and for contributions. Therefore the quality of your presentation is critical to success. Your video and audio quality, transitions, themes, and story lines, all tell a story about your church. Your webcast is your virtual sanctuary and visitors will form and impression from it.

Fortunately, we live in an era where high quality video production tools are both affordable and relatively easy to learn. But tools alone do not make great products.  Their real value is in what you do with those tools.

How we can help you produce better webcasts:

• Develop a Signal Chain
• The signal chain of video and streaming devices can limit your productivity if it’s not well configured.
• Develop a Work Flow
• Successful video production is very detail oriented. There are many different segments and many people to work on them. Things have to happen in a particular order and within a time frame that allows on-time completion.
• Learn how to improve camera work, editing, and switching skills
• Video editing can manipulate images and footage in amazing ways, and fancy tricks can either help tell a story, or detract from it.
• Simple things like camera angles, framing, lighting, and depth of field can be used to focus the viewer’s attention.
• Transitions between shots and between segments should not be distractions. Smooth transitions usher the viewer along the story line, rather than interrupt it.

Post-Covid Revenue Opportunities

Many churches depend on the revenues from event rentals such as weddings, funerals, coming of age celebrations, meetings, etc. Now that your sanctuary and perhaps your community hall is equipped with video web streaming technology, your events can go online!

Now people who would not have been able to attend can join in remotely, and with a much better level of engagement than simply Facebooking live from a cell phone.