Church Sound System and Church Acoustics

Westside Evangelical Lutheran Church,
Barrie, Ont. Cdn. 2004

When we visiting a church that is pre planning for a new building, we often will use the sound lab as a resource center and as a hotel on wheels. With the Lab on site, we can create detailed reports that can be followed for building committee, Architects, engineers and audio contractors to move the project forward rather than having endless delay where people are second guessing themselves. The Lab costs less to use for travel than any other form of transportation and we pass on the savings to our clients..

Life Abundant Assembly,
Niagara on the Lake, Ontario 2004

Since the Lab went into service in 2002, it has been used at over 60 churches across Canada and the USA. For churches that are pressed for time, we have reports for sound and acoustics ready within 6 days or less instead of 30 to 60 days.

Église Baptiste Évangélique de Trois Rivieres, Quebec.
Fellowship Baptist Church 2005

Many churches think that consulting is a luxury or for large churches. We have been making every effort to keep our services affordable for churches as small as 150 seating. Before the Lab, it often took several trips to complete our work. Introductory visits, the forensic study and room/audio system testing, analysis of the testing, proofing the test results and presentation of the report. For any project it takes 3 to 6 visits which is added to the consulting fee. With the mobile lab we usually only have to go to a church only once to collect all of the information to complile a report. Reports are usually generated within 2 weeks after we return to our Toronto*** office with the recommendations needed to solve the problems the church is having. With fewer trips to each church we have been able to adjust our fees for smaller churches to afford a service like ours - even with the current high cost of fuel.

Église Baptiste Évangélique de Shiwinigian, Quebec.
Fellowship Baptist Church 2005

Here is a small sample of other Churches the Sound Lab has been to.
Hope Christian Reformed Church, Thunder Bay, Ont Canada 2004 (300 seating)
First Baptist Church, Lloydminister, Sask. Canada 2004 (450 seating)
Gateway Community CRC, Abbotsford, BC Cdn 2004 (350 and 1200 seating)
Colony Lutheran Church, Newberry, SC 2003 (400 Seating)
Mundelain Vineyard Church, Chicago, Il 2003 (500 Seating)
Asbury United Methodist Church, Petal, Mississippi, 2002 (250 Seating)

In the end, the Lab has allows us to do a better job. The reports are completed in 5 days or less and it saves your church money. For most churches that seat 500 people or less, a single visit is all that is needed. For larger church, the lab does still reduce the number of trips it takes to complete a project.

** The orientation program has be used by JdB Sound Acoustics since 1990. Until 2002, we used hotels as our temporary offices as we traveled from church to church. Although the motor home has provided an extra level or convenience, it is not always available or needed for all orientations or consultations.

*** Reports can be created on site for Canadian Clients when time permits it.

--- Oct 2005 ---

TO learn more about our services and discounts, please ask for our PDF Brochure
at jdb@jdbsound.com

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Hello and welcome. Being a consultant a lot of traveling is involved. Whether it is a local or a long distance, each church has both common and unique needs. When traveling by car, van or when flying, you try your best to take with you all of the tools you need. Many times, to help a church properly, you either have to make several trips or you need a method of carrying more tool. Bring test equipment also costs more. You, the client pays for these extra costs.

Rock Forest Fellowship Baptist Church
Sherbrooke Que. 2003 Seating 250

The Mobile Testing Lab is not really a Lab, but it does carry all of the equipment needed to do lab work on site. By being able to go to a church and stay on site long enough to complete each job in a single visit has given us time to do a better study of each church building, the congregation and each ministry which in turns has made our consulting reports much more accurate and valuable. As a bonus it has also been a health benifit and a time saver. (You never know what kind of health surprises hotel rooms can carry. Since using the motor home, there has been no flu's, colds or other illness related to traveling)

St Bernards Catholic Church
Keenes, New Hampshire 2003 Seating 800

Since we started using the Lab in 2002, we have been able to take more time to interview people, have more time to test a room and retest a room if our post analysis raises some red flags. We also have time to test and see if our recommendations will work before we leave. When the report is completed, you will get answers that are backed up with with our unique on site testing techniques which we have been improving over the last 22 years. We don't leave until we have verifiable answers to your sound system and acoustics problems.

St. Joseph Island Free Methodist Church
St Joseph Island, Ontario 2004 - Seating 300

What also happens often is while with a church, they ask for help in other rooms or with sister churches in the community or a near by town. The Lab affords us the ability to respond to churches as their needs arise.

Divine Infant Parish (Catholic Church)
Orleans/Ottawa, Ont. 2004 Seating 650

Here are some of the tools the lab is equipped with:
--- a portable MLSSA Audio and Acoustical Test System,
--- Smaart acoustical and audio testing program
--- Smaart Live for sound system tuning and processor setups.
--- Tannoy Reference Test Speaker,
--- Brüel & Kjær test microphones and
--- Symetrix Pre Amps
--- ready to test any church up to 2 million cubic feet (a 10,000 seat church.)
Other tools include:
--- modeling software
--- rendering software
--- prediction software
--- CAD Software
--- 2 Laptop Computer - one for programing DSP's and CAD work, the other for reseach and creating reports
--- Flatbed Scanner
--- Presentation Tools
--- Color Printer
--- Mobile Internet Access

New Church Projects and Renovations

It should be no secret that the best time to hire an acoustical consultant for a new church building is before an Architect is involved. For renovation, it should be at the same time you hire an Architect and to be present at most meetings.

When your church is at this stage, it is still not to late to make changes or even to redesign the whole church or just the Sanctuary.

If your project is at this stage, it is still not too late to make meaningful low cost changes.

Oshawa Community Church (seating 2500)
If your project is this far along, you can still make changes that shouldn't cost too much to make. However, about 8 weeks after when the interior walls are completed, any changes you make are most likely going to be a high cost add on. After this point, it doesn't matter when you do your acoustical changes, it will most likely be highly visible panels mounted on finished walls..