One of the biggest challenges the church faced prior to the equipment upgrade was the building's hexagon shape, with the pulpit centred on one of the six sides. The live band is located directly to the right of the pulpit and the choir is positioned on the left. The separation of the choir and the band, along with the uncommon shape of the worship hall, added to the unfavourable nuances of the audio system.
With this type of design, speech intelligibility was a prime consideration for selecting the new audio equipment. The church wanted parishioners to be able to hear the services clearly, no matter where they sat in the sanctuary. CODA looked to Aviom to provide a clear audio signal through a single Cat 5e cable, which would simplify the entire setup. In the short amount of time since the Aviom gear has been installed, it has helped solve all the audio problems.
The musicians now use eight Aviom A-16II Personal Mixers at the church so they can tailor control over channel volume, grouping, pan, stereo spread, master volume and tone to their individual needs.
"Though this was a simple upgrade for the church, the Aviom gear supplied by CODA has helped tremendously," says Henry Han, chief AV technician at Aldersgate Methodist Church. "The musicians can now focus on playing well together rather than dealing with the constant struggle to attain the perfect monitor mix." The Personal Mixers are connected to an A-16D Pro A-Net Distributor, which receives audio from an Allen & Heath iLiIVE-T112 console by way of an iDR-48 Mix Rack. With one A-Net input and eight parallel A-Net outputs, the A-16D Pro provides a low-cost way for Aldersgate to distribute audio and DC power to all the Personal Mixers from the front of house console.
"Aviom has proven to be the best solution for decreasing stage noise level for the Aldersgate band," says Ng Xin Yi of CODA Audio Services. "Previously, stage noise spilled over to the audience, which created discomfort among the patrons and confusion throughout the audio setup."
Established in 1978 under the name Clementi Methodist Church, the institution took its current name after settling into its home at Aldersgate Chapel in 1995. Today, there are over 1,000 members of the congregation.
(Jim Evans)
