Southcrest Baptist Church, Lubbock, TX
Southcrest Baptist Church in Lubbock, Texas, holds five weekly services, three of them involving a full choir and orchestra. The church also offers seven weekly television broadcast programs that reach a local and worldwide audience. Along with its weekly services, the church hosts an Internet live stream three times a week.
Rusty Trowbridge, technical director/lead audio technician at Southcrest Baptist Church, wanted to improve the overall sound quality for the prominent Northwest Texas church’s weekly services and broadcasts. After testing various options, Trowbridge reports that he found that a selection of DPA microphones produced the best sound and were able to handle the church’s high-production demands.
Mic selection
The upgraded microphone package Trowbridge employed consists of DPA d:vote 4099 Instrument Microphones for most of the orchestra, including all of the stringed instruments (violin, viola, cello, double bass, and harp), 12 DPA d:sign 4098 Supercardioid Ceiling Microphones hanging from the ceiling for the choir, and a d:fine 4166 Flex Omnidirectional Headset Microphone for the church’s senior pastor.
"I ... like how sensitive the microphones are. I do not have to give them a lot of gain to get them to a usable level." Rusty Trowbridge, Technical Director/Lead Audio Technician, Southcrest Baptist Church, Lubbock, TX
Trowbridge says this of the move to DPA. “I felt that the microphones we were using unpleasantly colored the instruments. We found that with DPA’s d:vote 4099 instrument mics, not only was the sound quality of the orchestra outstanding but the reproduction of the instrument sound was unmatched to what we had previously experienced. I also like how sensitive the microphones are. I do not have to give them a lot of gain to get them to a usable level. In addition, the instrumentalists love the way the associated clips attach the mics to each individual instrument. They do not get in the way while they are playing or even risk damaging the instruments when attached.”
Choir needs
For the church’s choir, Trowbridge needed something he could zone out. “Because our choir loft is so large, sometimes it is not completely full,” he notes. “In those instances, we create smaller sections where the entire choir stands instead of spreading them out, defeating the purpose of choral source. The d:sign 4098s allows me to mute certain zones we may not be using and unmute others, without having an unusable amount of bleed from our orchestra.”
With the orchestra and choir audio amplification taken care of, Trowbridge turned his attention to the church’s senior pastor, Dr. David Wilson. “Pastor Wilson had a tough time finding a headset that fit well and was comfortable for him,” says Trowbridge. “We tried a lot of options, and not surprisingly, he landed again on DPA and the d:fine 4166 headset microphone. He is responsible for mic'ing himself up each week and has no problems getting the capsule in the perfect place. Personally, what I love about the d:fine 4166 is how clear Pastor Wilson sounds now. It’s like he is right in front of you having a conversation. This also helps us regain intimacy in a large room. Since implementing all of the DPA mics, we have gotten some really nice comments from the congregation., [as well]."
DPA representatives report that the company has recently released a new, upgraded instrument microphone, the d:vote CORE 4099 Instrument Microphone. The CORE version adds another layer of sound quality, the company reports, by bringing more clarity and details to music across the entire dynamic range.
