By Russ Cooper, JaffeHolden

Michigan's largest United Methodist Church, First United Methodist Church of Birmingham (FUMC), had a vision for a house of worship that would reward its rich musical programming without altering its architectural character or breaking the bank. A search for the answer to this dilemma led them to JaffeHolden, Norwalk, CT (www.jhacoustics.com).

Architectural Acoustics, Electronic Architecture and Audio System Design by JaffeHolden, Norwalk, Connecticut.

The magnificent interior of FUMC (www.fumcbirmingham.org) was decorated with ornamented plaster walls, exquisite woodwork, and stunning stained glass. Unfortunately, that visual beauty of the sanctuary did not extend to its acoustic behavior. The relatively low total acoustic volume and the extensive use of plaster walls made the room's natural acoustic signature short and brittle. When coupled with other sound-defeating elements (including acoustic wall tile, absorptive carpeting, noisy mechanical systems, and a concealed organ), the result was a space with scant musical warmth for either voice or organ. It was easy to feel isolated when in the pews because the room gave so little sound back to the congregation's singing, and the organ could not fill the space with a sound to match the congregation's spirit.

The church embarked on a major campaign to replace the organ with an instrument better suited to the world-class musicians who play there. The organ maker, Schoenstein & Co. Organ Builders of San Francisco, in turn, challenged the church to improve the acoustic environment for the organ. Thus, what started as an organ replacement, turned into a substantial renovation of the Sanctuary's interior.

Collaborating with architect Kevin Marshall of Jickling Lyman Powell and FUMC project manager, Darrell White, JaffeHolden provided the acoustic answers to this challenge, guiding the church through important architectural improvements during the renovation:

FUMC's noisy air-handling equipment (previously located in closets adjacent to the Sanctuary) was replaced with quieter units in remote spaces, connected to the Sanctuary through absorptive lined ducts. Absorptive carpeting in the Chancel and front part of the Sanctuary was replaced with stone, acoustic tile was removed and plastered, and the Chancel woodwork was redesigned to better feature the choir, pulpit and lectern. However, improving the "bricks and mortar" acoustics of the remainder of the Sanctuary simply was not feasible from either a cost or timing perspective. Instead, JaffeHolden designers implemented an electronic architecture system to fill in electronically and extend the room's natural sound for acoustic music, and also designed a state-of-the-art audio reinforcement system to provide warm, intelligible spoken-word reinforcement for services and amplification for occasional reinforced music presentations.

Electronic Architecture and a Speech Reinforcement Systems
"One of the keys to understanding good electronic architecture is that these systems are not reinforcement systems in the traditional sense of the word," says Mark Turpin, JaffeHolden's system designer for FUMC. "Electronic architecture creates virtual walls in a space, making existing walls seem to reflect sound differently from their natural ability, or even changing the apparent volume of the room. The objective is to fill in what the room should or could have, subtly, not to create some artificial space unrelated to the real room. An electronic architecture system is very different from a reinforcement system; sound reinforcement systems for churches are about clarity and coherence combined with the majesty of The Word, but electronic architecture is about diffusion, decorrelation, and the art of shaping a musically three-dimensional acoustic space."

Architectural Acoustics, Electronic Architecture and Audio System Design by JaffeHolden, Norwalk, Connecticut.

The acoustic solution at First United Methodist consisted of two separate systems—one for electronic architecture and one for sound reinforcement—that are linked together for shared control structures and interoperability. The electronic architecture, built around the Level Control Systems Matrix DSP frames and VRAS algorithms, uses predominantly hidden speakers to create the church's new "virtual walls", while a state-of-the-art audio system built around the Symetrix Symnet DSP provides reinforcement for the spoken word.

The relatively simple appearance of the audio racks in the rack room at FUMC, however, belies some of the underlying complexity of the system. All of the electronic architecture processing, matrixing, and output control is handled within the LCS Matrix DSP. All of the input control, matrixing, automatic mixing, compression, EQ, delay and crossover duties for the reinforcement system happen in the Symnet DSP.

"One of the beauties of an electronic architecture solution is its flexibility," says Turpin. "The room can subtly transition between different states—a relatively dry environment for the spoken word; a normal default state for contemplation, congregational singing, and choral singing; and a bigger, more open sound for solo organ."

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