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Church “Gymnatorium” Equipped with Danley Loudspeakers, Ashly DSP
The Hollowel Brethren in Christ Church “Gymnatorium”
JANUARY 2011
WAYNESBORO,
PA — Steve Christiano
of G.A.D.G.e.T.
Media saw some red
flags when Hollowell
Brethren in Christ
Church opted to
scrap plans for a new
facility in favor of
converting the gymnasium
into a multipurpose
facility.
“To me, the
word ‘gymnatorium’
screams compromise,
as in, ‘does nei-
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ther one well,’” said Christiano, who ended up
designing and installing all of the project’s
sound, lighting, and projection, as well as
much of the acoustics. “It makes me nervous.”
Adding to Christiano’s anxiety was the
“absolutely amazing ear” of the person who
would judge the project a success or failure:
Paul Beard, maker of top-quality resonator
guitars, who is the senior sound reinforcement
tech at Hollowell.
“People like Jerry Douglas use Paul’s
guitars,” said Christiano. “The system had to
deliver superlative midrange clarity and a
transparent, balanced response from top to
bottom. Paul would be sure to hear any shortcomings,
however minor.”
But careful planning, abundant acoustical
treatment, and top-rate gear, including
Danley Sound Labs loudspeakers and Ashly
DSP, helped the project win Beard’s approval,
and also an award recognizing successful
renovations among churches with 800 seats
or fewer.
Christiano and acoustician Neil Thompson
Shade of akustx developed a plan to
knock the gym’s five-second, 500Hz-centered
reverb down to an even one second. They
built “clouds” of perforated aluminum filled
with twelve-inches of unfaced fiberglass,
which, in addition to damping reflections,
served to protect the lighting and projection
equipment from errant basketballs. In
addition, Shade had the idea of repurposing
an overhang that ran all the way around the
room. The team filled it with four feet of fiberglass
and replaced the sheetrock of the soffit
with perforated aluminum, effectively building
a huge bass trap.
The choice of loudspeakers for Christiano
was an easy one. “I’ve been doing live sound
now for 26 years,” he said. “Danley Sound Labs
builds the very finest sound reinforcement
loudspeakers that I have ever heard. The midrange
clarity, three-dimensional depth, and
separation are fantastic.”
Because of their efficiency, Christiano
only needed two full-range cabinets with fill
from a center cluster of three Fulcrum eightinch
loudspeakers. On either end of the stage,
a flown Danley SH-96 delivers full program
content with stereo imaging. Powersoft K3
and K10 amplifiers provide power.
To provide the system with the modest
conditioning required of the Danley speakers
and, perhaps more importantly, flexibility,
Christiano installed a modular Ashly
ne24.24M DSP with four inputs and eight
outputs. Together with a Crestron touch-panel
interface, the Ashly ne24.24M affords Hollowell
tremendous flexibility to deploy the
technology to match the scale of a particular
event.
“The Ashly programming interface is
remarkably easy,” Christiano said, also crediting
the ne24.24M’s reliability and audio
quality. Because the Ashly ne24.24M is network
ready, Christiano was able to attach the
sound system to the church’s local wireless
network and adjust settings from a netbook.
Consistent with its “gymnatorium” functionality,
Christiano installed a Roland M
400 digital mixer, which is capable of being
disconnected and rolled away in a matter of
moments. The church also opted for Roland’s
on-stage monitoring system, affording each
band member his or her own mix with integrated
ambient mics to facilitate band banter.
“The whole point of doing this was certainly
not to have the technology be an
end unto itself,” said Christiano. “Rather, the
church wanted to be able to communicate in
the most effective way, and they wanted to
be a resource for the community. Perhaps the
coolest testament to their content-centered
vision is the fact that by going with a ‘gymnatorium,’
they ensured that money would
be left over to fund the programming in that
space.
“I think that other churches can learn
from Hollowell’s example,” Christiano continued.
“Often, church leaders are afraid that the
older members will be turned off by technology.
At Hollowell, the exact opposite is true.
The older members enjoy seeing and hearing
clearly, and, perhaps more importantly, they
enjoy seeing the younger members of the
church fully engaged.”