Our Work

First Baptist Church

Location: Midland, Texas

TMS Scope: Room Acoustics, Mechanical Noise, Sound Isolation, Sound, Video, Theatrical Lighting

Architect: Jay Bradford with JSA Architects in Odessa, Texas
Construction: Cooper Construction in Odessa, Texas

Project: I was first invited to consult with First Baptist Church in Midland, Texas in 2001. I helped them move their old Mackie console from its location in the balcony down to a better listening position on the main floor of the sanctuary. A few years later I helped them replace that console with a new Yamaha DM2000 console.

Media Minister Jim Cawthon brought me in annually to re-voice their main loudspeaker system. Their original loudspeaker system was not only inadequate for their needs, repeated test sweeps of its frequency response produced a difference curve for every sweep. So in 2009 I was able to commission my design for a new sound system for their sanctuary. The new LCR loudspeaker system was designed using Danley Sound Labs loudspeakers and subwoofers, mixed on a Yamaha PM5D-EX, with all 96 channels shared with the DM2000 by using the AuviTran EtherSound hub.

Later that year I began to hear the first conversations about remodeling the main sanctuary and adding to their facilities. Their congregation welcomed the opportunity, and today they enjoy their worship services in a fully renovated main sanctuary, with the platform now doubled in size. They also built a much needed Welcome Center, new Baptistery, and a gorgeous new Chapel. The room acoustics were beautifully executed by Eric Seifert at K2 Audio, stunning theatrical and house lighting was designed by Keith Buresh with KBL Design Group, and extensive video projection, distributed video displays and two new broadcast TV control rooms were designed by Lubbock AV.

One unique feature of the new sound system is the use of Yamaha CL5 consoles at four locations - FOH in the main sanctuary, audio for video in the main broadcast control room, FOH in the new Chapel, and audio for video in the Chapel's own TV control room. All four of those consoles are interfaced using a Dante network. Need to set up the Chapel as an overflow room at the last minute? Easy - just soft patch the Dante network to send a mix or specific channels from the Sanctuary over to the Chapel's console. Sweet!

Their first service with the new systems took place on March 10, 2013.

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