Audio Problem Common to Houses of Worship

Almost every church, temple, synagogue, or other House of Worship shares the common audio problem of intelligibility. Yet, most Houses of Worship throw their money at more electronics instead of addressing the primary problems with their acoustics.

The primary need of any church or House of Worship is to deliver their message. Therefore if the congregation can't understand the worship leader, for whatever reason, then that need is unfulfilled. Emphasis is usually placed on the electronics of the sound system to try and correct the problem, and little attention is paid to the acoustics in the space.

The acoustics of the room should be the primary environmental aspect to be addressed. Why? If the acoustic problems are fixed first, then the electronics will have a much easier time delivering a clean message.

The most common sound issue is the long decay time in these large and beautiful spaces. As the worship leader has speaks the first word, the sound waves bounce all around the room, off the walls, off the windows, off the ceiling, and every other reflective surface. But as the worship leader begins to speak the second word, the reflected energy from the first word is still arriving at the members of the congregation. The result of this is that the congregation will have difficulty hearing the second word, and the next word, and so on. The longer the decay time, the more garbled the message.

So how to you address this common audio problem in your church? Contact an audio professional (and you should), but first understand that some of the audio energy should be removed from the room. Acoustical panels, heavy drapes, ceiling tiles, and more can help alleviate this problem by absorbing the direct sound wave and preventing it from being reflected towards the congregation.

How much acoustic treatment is needed? Every House of Worship, church and temple is different and the approach should be tailored to the specific problems of the space. However, roughly figure that about 25% of the available wall space should be treated.

Does this mean that the walls will be covered in unsightly materials? No, not at all! A talented acoustic designer will select materials that exemplify the overall message of the sanctuary, yet be able to remove enough of the original reflections so that the message arrives clean and intelligible.

If you need an experienced consultant to fix this problem in your House of Worship, then please feel free to drop us line, we'd love to hear from you!