Services at First Presbyterian Church Thrive with Lectrosonics

Since 1804, First Presbyterian Church has been meeting the spiritual needs of people in the Augusta area and around the world. Music plays a prominent role in the church's worship activities, and to ensure the best possible sound quality for all involved, an impressive assortment of wireless technology from Rio Rancho, New Mexico-based Lectrosonics is utilized.

Brandt Fincher serves as the media consultant at First Presbyterian Church. He specializes in location audio recording, audio for video post-production and mastering, as well as film scoring, video production, and media integration for distance learning. With this background, he is a natural choice to assist First Presbyterian Church in their efforts to improve their sound reinforcement capabilities. He discussed the project and his decision to deploy Lectrosonics' Quadra IEM systems as well as the Digital Hybrid Wireless UM400a beltpack transmitters and HM plug-on transmitters in conjunction with the company's Venue receiver mainframe and VRT receiver modules.

"Worship can occur in a variety of settings at First Presbyterian," Fincher explains. "Our music and arts director, Paul Roberts, is encouraged by the church leadership to explore a variety of musical avenues. We are not only covering traditional services that incorporate a wide scope of instrumental ensembles and choirs but contemporary services that can range in a variety of styles from blues to bluegrass. With roughly 1,500 worshippers each week divided among the various services, we need equipment that can reliably perform well. Of particular note, after vacating the sanctuary for renovations, we also found ourselves with limited space in our current location. We couldn't afford to sacrifice the amount of floor space stage monitors require, so an IEM system was very appealing. This eventually led us to the Lectrosonics Quadra system."

"Our goal has been to maintain a relatively clean stage while keeping sound quality and flexibility a priority," Fincher continues. "I have a long history with Lectrosonics and selected their products for their exceptional sound quality and reliability. When the company introduced the Quadra, I knew it had to be good and viewed it as a wise and very low-risk investment. We initially bought six Quadras but added two more systems shortly after. The Quadra system is a unique fit for us because we are able to feed multiple channels of clean audio for each person -- enabling them to custom tailor their own mix without having to resort to networked systems. The Quadra IEM's provide the versatility we need without having to maintain extra lines and hardware in an already confined space."

For wireless microphones, Fincher's choice of UM400a beltpacks and HM plug-on transmitters proved a great choice to address the church's wide range of wireless applications. "Our microphone requirements vary quite a bit," Fincher reports. "Having the ability to use any mic in our collection wirelessly without a noticeable loss in gain or sound quality is a great advantage. With the HM transmitters, not only are we able to choose which mic we need for a particular purpose, we are also able to spot mic choirs and other ensembles without having to run cabling through a congested area."

Fincher's choice of the Venue receiver system addressed the church's space limitations with equal aplomb, "As is the case with both the Quadra IEM's and the wireless mic transmitters, the Venue system doesn't require as much rack space as many other systems. The Venue receiver setup was yet another space-efficient choice that addressed our requirements very well.

Reflecting on the variety of Lectrosonics equipment First Presbyterian Church uses, Fincher offered these final comments, "Collectively, the Lectrosonics Quadra IEM's, transmitters and the Venue receiver system deliver exceptional audio quality. We could not be more pleased. The gear is very well crafted and performs beautifully. When the time comes for us to move back into the sanctuary, we already have plans to add more Lectrosonics equipment."