After Katrina:
First Emanuel Baptist Church Makeover
There are many variations on a quote that goes something like: “Service is the price we pay for the privilege of living on this earth.”
Nowhere was this philosophy put into more visible action than at First Emanuel Baptist Church in New Orleans, located in a community devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) brought in a crew to rebuild and refurbish the church for its Extreme Makeover: Home Edition - After the Storm series. Here’s how a talented sound contractor and Shure answered the call.
We had no history with this church prior to the project. We became involved with the project as part of our efforts to help those battered by Hurricane Katrina rebuild in New Orleans. We volunteered our services at no cost to ABC or the church, and were selected from a pool of applicants.
I called several companies that I have a good relationship with and asked them to donate gear to help this church—Shure was one of these companies. We were initially looking at doing a lot more for the church, but ABC had already secured people to begin the reconstruction.
The roof was damaged, allowing water to enter the structure and ruin ceilings, floors, and furnishings in the chapel, gymnasium, and sanctuary. They hadn’t even thought about a sound system when we arrived on the scene, and that’s a very vital ingredient to the church’s worship service dynamic.
How much time did you have to assess what was required to repair (or upgrade/improve) the church’s sound system?
It was a fast-paced project, and with reconstruction already underway by the time we became involved, there wasn’t a lot of time to assess the situation or do the actual build. We arrived on-site and hit the ground running, working non-stop to get what needed to be done accomplished.
Then, how much time did you have to actually install it?
I traveled to New Orleans on February 18th of this year with fellow Church Interiors employee Todd Lineberry for what became a four-day ‘installation marathon’. Upon arrival, we met with local Church Interiors Audio and Video representative Rick Freeman and toured the site, made necessary adjustments, and coordinated with show production and other trades for access to scaffolding and conduit. Our team was assisted by New Orleans-based Church Interiors employees Chuck Wicker and Chris Frazier. Wire pulls and rigging points for the PA cluster and choir monitors—plus demolition of an existing sound room—were completed on the first day.
Was anything salvageable?
The system we installed was built with new equipment. It represents a vast departure from what was there before in terms of technology and capabilities.
What was the biggest problem you encountered?
You wouldn’t think that there would be a lot of RF interference in New Orleans given the fact that the city was nearly wiped out by the storm, but there was. Rescue operation communications required a lot of airspace, and that was a problem as we installed the church’s wireless systems. On-site, ABC provided
What does the church have now that they didn’t have before Katrina?
They were blown away by the microphone selection, it was a lot more than they are used to having at their disposal. I made up a wish list of gear that Shure supplied—they gave me everything I wanted: 8 UHF-R® wireless systems, an MX Series pulpit mic, KSM mics, and much, much more. Now, with the KSMs, the church can actually make high-quality recordings right in the sanctuary.
How does the system sound?
It sounds very natural. I’ve been using Shure products for, well…since I got into the sound business. Especially for wireless, it’s the only line I promote because it’s pretty much bulletproof, and Shure stands behind the product. The element that really struck me in this system is UHF-R. It seeks the best frequencies and channels out automatically, and literally sets itself up. We had no problem with RF dropouts. Being able to place two microphone systems in a single rackspace was critical as well because we didn’t have a lot of room; it’s an older church and space is at a premium everywhere. We had one rack for amps and another for all the gear. Everything was full, but we managed to place 8 channels of wireless in only 4 rackspaces.
The church was stunned when they first heard the new system. Previously they had a music store PA. Now they have a central cluster, digital console, 24-track hard disk recorder— there is $75-80,000 worth of gear. It would have been a $100,000 install with a little mark-up and labor.
We’d like to thank Dan Wood of Church Interior Audio and Video, First Emanuel Baptist Church and ABC Television’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition for making Shure part of this rebuilding effort and for allowing us to share it in Shure Notes for Houses of Worship.
