Led by Senior Pastor Dr Janto Simkoputera, GBI has recently opened up a new church in the MGK Mall in downtown Jakarta, a move prompted by the need to accommodate its ever-growing community. "The new church is a great facility for us," said GBI's head of sound Handri Nathanael. "The church is on two levels on the 9th and 10th floor of the Mall, each approximately 3,300sq.m and for a big service on just the 10th floor we can accommodate 3,200 people, so we have space to grow."The new church opened towards the end of 2007 followed by a special service in December, "Dr Janto invited several VIPs and a couple of television stations including RCTI, the biggest television station in Indonesia; they are very interested in staging choir competitions there and were very pleased with the sound." Handri who has two major allies when it comes to controlling the sound at GBI MGK commented: "The acoustic is very good; the walls are double skin rockwool with thick glass-fibre content. There is no sound leakage to the surrounding Mall and inside the church we just have a slight natural reverb to lift the choir. The sound system is my other great benefit. Dr Janto insisted on making several comparisons between different PA system before deciding on the d&b audiotechnik Qi-Series installation range of loudspeakers recommended by Sebastian Song at d&b audiotechnik S.E. Asia Pte Ltd. He said the system is 'perfect' and I agree."
In fact, GBI has a mixed system of flown Qi1 and Qi7 loudspeakers, with a number of Qi10s as front-fills, J subwoofers installed under the stage, whilst on stage are several MAX 12 monitors all driven by d&b D12 amplifiers. Microphones are all Shure and Handri uses a Digidesign Venue for mixing duties. "We stage many community events at GBI, and we will be hosting Indonesian Idol here this year. The Qi-Series system is ideal for such variety; whatever the musical style you get true transparent sound with no colouration from the room or the system." Handri has been a soundman since 1995, learning his craft mainly in other GBI churches before the move to the MGK.
(Lee Baldock)
