Yamaha solution for Crossway Christian Centre
- Details
The church, which had existed for over 150 years, recently moved to a new building and required an adaptable audio system was needed to serve its numerous congregations.
Rev. Dr Peter Stevenson, Minister at Crossway Church, consulted with Daniel Cunnings of Cunnings Recording Associates and chose an audio system based on two Yamaha MRX7-D and one MTX3 matrix processors. The system is controlled by six surface-mounted DCP4V4S panels, with Yamaha’s ProVisionaire Touch iPad app for Peter and church music leaders.
“A key factor in the choice of equipment was that the system had to be complex enough to cope with everything from tiny meetings to large congregations with music. It needed to handle different congregations meeting in different rooms at the same time, using the same system,” says Daniel.
The system provides audio in three spaces - the main worship area, a secondary worship area upstairs (which can also be used as an overflow for the main area) and a third, multi-purpose room. The main and secondary worship areas feature audio inputs for music-based praise, as well as projectors and screens. The system has a range of presets to allow audio to be input and output in any configuration.
Daniel continues: “There were a lot of people to please, so everything in the building needed to be configurable to suit whatever reason anyone has for being here,’ Peter adds, diplomatically noting, “We are in Zone 1 London, so the audio system also had to be integrated into the building’s structure, with no need for any movable components.”
“It needed to be very much ‘hands-off’, with very straightforward control,” continues Daniel. “The Yamaha solution did everything we needed, including Dugan automixing for the microphones. People turn up, they press a button and the system configures itself to do exactly what they need.”
The final requirement was that the system should be future-proof. The processing power of the MRX and MTX series units means that many enhancements to its operation and control can be made, if needed, while extra inputs and outputs can be quickly and easily added.
“With such a diverse and fast-changing array of users, one of the hardest things was knowing exactly how the spaces would be used once the building was open,” says Daniel. “We did things like duplicating inputs on the left and right of each room, but one of the great things about the system it is that nothing needs to be replaced if it has to be expanded - it’s very easy to reconfigure the system. It’s nice knowing that, no matter what the church asks for, we can say yes!”
(Jim Evans)
