New Albany, Ind. For Northside Christian Church, the recent purchase of a Solid State Logic L300 live console was one of the latest steps in an ongoing project to update the worship space's gear.
Growing from its small beginnings, the church, which began in a small basement more than 45 years ago, has grown to serve more than 5,000 congregants each weekend.
Helping to decide on the right console for Northside was administrator Ted W. Roberts.
"It's very different when you work with only one or two key department heads and then everybody else is a volunteer. They have to be set up for success," said Roberts. "If you don't provide the right tools for the job, the volunteers can't enjoy it, because they sense imminent failure all the time."
For Nic Braune, the technical coordinator who works with the church's sound system, the upgrade has been a notable improvement since it was installed in October.
"It's a much warmer sound and it makes a louder sound, without it hitting people as being harsh," said Braune. "One of the selling points is that it is a fairly modular console, and I see it as something that will last for many years."
When Roberts arrived at Northside about five years ago, the church was already using a digital console, but it was largely underutilized, because of its complex interface.
"They had barely scratched the surface of the console,” Roberts noted. “There wasn’t anyone who used the console effectively, because it got dicey so quickly. Everybody quit touching it - only using it at the surface level."
Under such circumstances, the church recognized the need for change. Over a period of about a week more than four months ago, the install of a new console was completed between a Monday and Friday, to avoid any cancellation of services. In addition to the install, the staff fit in training on the L300 during that same week, said Braune.
Acknowledging that the purchase of the church's next high-end console would have to be seen "as an investment," impacting "everything that we do in our primary mission, every week," explained Roberts, Northside arranged for a demo at the church of the Solid State Logic console when the staff was still in the decision-making process.
Other consoles were looked into, but "when we heard the sound quality, we could tell that was the direction we wanted to go," said Braune. "(During the demo), there was no EQ, a completely dry channel, and you could tell the immediate difference in the sound quality."
Roberts added, "“It was one of those great confirmation moments for us. The whole team was standing there and just went ‘Wow’!"
While the prior console had the ability to handle a similarly hefty workload, the sound quality with the new console is dramatically improved, Braune explained.
The amount of channels has never been an issue, as the other board could do 88 channels. I think it allows the quality of our worship service to reach another level, with the sonic quality, especially when we plan to do an upgrade of our PA system later this year," explained Braune.
In opting for the right console, having the appropriate level of support also served as a key factor, noted Roberts. "There are certain products that we would eliminate immediately,” he said. “...Because there’s no way to feel like we have the level of support that we want - both at the local and at the manufacturer level."
Both Roberts and Braune noted having a solid relationship with Acoustical Audio Designs, located in Jeffersonville, Indiana, was a significant factor in their decision, with Braune highlighting how AAD helped in a pinch recently with the new console.
"I havent had to use SSL support that much, but with AAD being local, we had some routing issues, and the owner came out that weekend and got it straightened out," noted Braune.
For a typical Northside service, there is a combination of live music and spoken word, with the L300 tasked to run both FOH, while the monitor feeds to an Aviom in-ear monitoring system. To give a glimpse into what the L300 handles on a regular basis, Roberts said, "There are 56 channels give or take in constant use over a weekend." Beyond weekly masses, the new console capably handles the added workload that comes with special Christmas or Easter events, with their large musical groups or choirs.
Even with such a workload, Roberts explained that the volunteers have not been overly challenged working with the L300.
"Once you understand the layout and the flow it’s easy to move your way through what you want… The touch screen is awesome ... Easy to understand. Everything is right where you would expect it to be when you’re looking for it."
Beyond just the volunteers who work with the L300, Braune also talked about the positive feedback from the church's musicians in recent months related to the new console.
"From our musicians who play during the weekend services especially when they first installed it they noted how much warmer and richer the sound is, and how it had the same energy, and it wasn't making their ears tired."