The APi Sound & Visual team will be exhibiting on stands A11 and A15 at the CRE Midlands from 8 to 9 November 2023 at Cranmore Park in Solihull, Birmingham.
Join hundreds of local church leaders, officers and anyone involved in Christian work and ministry in this one-stop shop for church supplies, resources and ideas.
This will be a great opportunity to ask Andy and the team any questions you might have and gain free expert knowledge and advice.
The Location:
Sidmouth is a charming town on the Devon coast, with a pebble beach and a bustling town centre. The parish church sits at the heart of the town, just off the high street and is used regularly for community events, such as the annual folk festival.
The Challenge:
APi Sound and Visual were called in as the church was in dire need of a new sound system, which had not been sufficiently invested in when it was put in 20 years ago. This led to a serious lack of clarity due to poorly positioned loudspeakers and a system that could no longer keep up with the requirements of the church.
With the Nave stretching 20 metres front to back and 17 metres wide, with an open-style layout, the new sound system needed to cover a large area, whilst remaining as discreet as possible. Flexibility was another key factor for the new audio equipment, with the church being used by a number of different groups for a variety of events throughout the year. This meant that, although speech was the primary use for the new sound system, it needed to be adept at reproducing full-range music from CDs and other music sources when required.
Our Solution:
As with any audio-visual installation in a church or heritage building, great care was taken by APi both during the design process and installation to ensure the fabric of the building was disturbed as little as possible.
APi’s Stephen Neath designed the system and speaks about the challenges faced in the design and implementation phases. “With the space being so large and the central columns not suitable for positioning loudspeakers on, I decided on a column speaker with a wide coverage, so that they could sit on the outside walls but still cover the centre pews.”
The client was treated to a demonstration of the selected equipment before the final go-ahead was given by the church council. This also gave Stephen a chance to test his proposal and ensure the coverage would be as even as he hoped. “A demonstration is both great for the client, but also a useful exercise for us as engineers, as we have the chance to test the products we are recommending in the space before it gets installed.” He adds “It gives both parties confidence - I know I’ve designed a system which will deliver, and the client gets to hear a preview of what is to come.”
Other areas of the church were covered by smaller columns, which were fitted lower down the walls than the previous speakers, to decrease the distance between the loudspeakers and the listening height. Choir microphones were installed in the chancel to give an ambient feed into the existing live-streaming setup and give the choir a boost in volume in the church.
“As with any sound system, you have to find the sweet spot between performance, visual impact of the installation and ease of use for the customer”.
“But with our years of experience installing into church and heritage buildings, I feel we are always able to get this balance right and deliver exactly what the customer is hoping for.”
A digital mixer with both physical and app-based control was installed, to give the church the option to operate the system in whichever way suited them best. A subwoofer complimented the column loudspeakers, giving warm depth to music and speech that had been lacking with the old sound system. Cables were painted in and run at a high level wherever possible to minimise the visual impact of the installation.
The Outcome:
“I am really pleased with the quality and intelligibility of the sound we have been able to achieve”, says Stephen. “You can go anywhere in the church and hear exactly what is happening, with a consistency to the level and tone of the sound.” At the end of the installation, the sound system was fine-tuned by APi’s engineers to minimise feedback issues and ensure optimum audio quality. “The difference is night and day!” states Stephen. Within a few days of completion, the client received a detailed walkthrough document which can be kept at the operating position and be referred to when required.
“When you have to point the speakers out to people during the training session, then we know we have chosen the right product to blend into the environment!”
APi Communications Ltd, Unit 9, Sandpiper Court, Harrington Lane, Exeter, Devon, EX4 8NS
Tel: 01392 677668 Email: info@apicommunications.co.uk Web: www.churchsoundsystems.co
The Location:
When it comes to installing an audio-visual system into a building that is nationally significant for being one of the first combined police stations and courtrooms in the country, it is fair to say there is a lot to think about.
Tavistock Guildhall and Court Room is set in the heart of Devon and is now a popular visitor attraction for people who want to get a sense of what it would have been like all those years ago, walking up from the holding cells into the courtroom. As well as inviting visitors, it is still being used as a functioning council building, and it was this use that meant an audio-visual system was required.
APi Sound and Visual were asked to supply and install a full audio, projection and streaming system, bringing the space into the 21st Century, but crucially without impacting the impressive aesthetics of the well-kept interior of the building.
The Challenge:
It was clear straight away that one of the most challenging aspects of the installation would be the projection screen, as it needed to be as unobtrusive as possible when not in use. Even once it has been decided that a winch screen would be deployed to allow the screen to be raised out of the way, the curved design of the ceiling in the courtroom made fixing this without leaving brackets exposed very tricky, and there was a large crest which the screen would need to avoid.
Next on the list of challenges to overcome was the cabling that would be required to run between the main control system in the rack cabinet to the equipment spread throughout the room. Two pairs of loudspeakers, a projector, a professional PTZ (pan, tilt, zoom) camera and a hearing loop system would all require cabling, but these would need to be hidden from sight as much as possible.
Lastly, the system would need to be easy to operate, as often it would be a town council member or site volunteer setting up for an event, so a simple control interface would need to be designed, to avoid a complicated on/off procedure before and after each use.
Our Solution:
Using our previous experience working with heritage buildings, APi’s skilled engineers fabricated unique brackets and pelmets to encase them, meaning the screen winch mechanism was completely hidden from view and enclosed by something that looked like part of the room’s original design.
The projection system was completed by a high-powered laser projector, which gives almost instant on-time. It is capable of Full HD quality image reproduction, which allows the system’s users to show high-quality content from the DVD player, a laptop, or even the streaming system with this maximised on the projection screen. The option to screen share wirelessly was also included, for times when tablets or other devices may wish to present without being tied to a physical connection point.
The live streaming system was fed by a single PTZ camera, which was connected to a streaming PC in the equipment rack, along with the inputs from the two laptop points and a DVD player installed in the room for ad-hoc connections. This camera could be simply controlled using the customised control interface installed and programmed by our engineers, allowing manual control of the camera, or quick recall of pre-saved positions.
This central control interface also gives simple control of the audio system which consisted of two pairs of ultra-slim line array loudspeakers and a complimentary subwoofer to give a clear, well-rounded sound to both speech and music playback. A total of 12 gooseneck-style wireless microphones were installed which acted in a conference setup during town council meetings, with the ability to set priority on one or more of the microphones if required for the chair of the meeting.
The Outcome:
The verdict came back as overwhelmingly positive on completion of the project, with the new technology enhancing the use of the space for meetings and other events by the town council. The equipment is locked up safely in the rack cabinet which is tucked neatly into an unused area of the building but is easily accessible for users who require interaction with the control interface.
Visitors enjoying the history and atmosphere of the courtroom do not have their experience limited by the audio-visual equipment due to the careful selection of products which have a perfect balance between aesthetics and performance, and the expert installation carried out by APi’s team of engineers.
You will be installing bespoke audio-visual systems for a variety of customers of which at least 80% are in the church market, with the remaining 20% split between the Education, visitor attraction and commercial sectors. You will be working with a well-established engineering team based in Exeter with a mixture of local work and travelling to areas typically Southern England, Wales, London and Home Counties. You will be expected to stay away whilst on jobs typically more than 2 hours from Exeter and this will involve periods of being away from home.
This role may suit someone who already has extensive experience in the audio-visual sector or someone who has practical or technical skills from a related field. You must be able to work in a team and be keen to learn new skills from experienced staff but also be able to complete tasks independently.
A clean driving licence is essential and all candidates will have to pass an enhanced DBS check to remain in the post due to regular work in the education sector.
Good health - The role is a physical one whilst on site and often requires working at height, manual handling of equipment and fixing to walls and ceilings.
Strong IT skills - especially in networking and streaming are desirable, with an interest in gaining some programming knowledge.
Construction/practical skills - in the course of a project it is often necessary to use metal and woodworking skills.
A large part of installations involves running cabling to equipment, so an eye for detail will be necessary to ensure this is completed to a high standard.
Problem-solver who is able to work flexibly.
Confident and listening communicator.
The confidence to deal with customers is essential and skills in managing customer expectations will often be required.
We welcome applications from people who have experience in the electrical installation trade or have held a position in a practical discipline.
Experience in live sound and video distribution plus basic networking and a general interest in technology.
We use the Google Ecosystem for all our internal systems, so familiarity with Google Drive would be beneficial.
The Location:
Ladywell Convent is the home of the Franciscan Missionaries of the Divine Motherhood (FMDM), who are an International Religious Congregation of Catholic women who travel across the world helping others through their love and compassion.
Ladywell is one of their largest properties, based near Guildford in Surrey and is surrounded by a beautiful area of gardens and green space, which attracts visitors for retreats and conferences. At the heart of the building is a large chapel, with an incredible hand-built mosaic on the front wall which has been beautifully cleaned and restored in the last decade.
Ladywell's size has increased over the years, but the chapel has always been at the heart of the building, acting as the focal point for prayer and reflection.
The Challenge:
APi Sound and Visual were contacted to provide a quotation for a new audio-visual system, with sound and live streaming on top of the agenda. With a domed ceiling and hard surfaces all around, the chapel is a very reverberant space, meaning the new sound system needed to be designed very carefully to be capable of providing clear and intelligible speech throughout.
Any live streaming system had to be simple to operate but be of high quality, for it to be viewed by other Sisters across the globe. “An important factor of the design process is always finding out from the client how much they want to interact with the system on a day-to-day basis”, says APi’s managing director Andy Pidsley. “For this project, it was clear that minimal interaction was desired, but it would still be useful to have physical controls when required for things like microphone level adjustment.”
One unique factor which had to be considered when designing the live streaming system was that the client wanted the camera to always be streaming to their website, so it could be viewed at any time across the world. This meant APi had to be sure that the streaming equipment they installed would be reliable enough to cope with this demand.
Our Solution:
APi decided on Audac ultra-slim loudspeakers, distributed throughout the chapel and positioned close to the seating positions around the outside of the space. This ensured that sound did not have to travel far to reach the listeners, which in turn reduced the amount of reverberation the sound system would create.
The sound system could be controlled either by the wall-mounted control panel (pictured below) or through the iPad app which was customised by APi’s engineers to make user interaction as simple as possible. This gave the users a choice of how they felt most comfortable operating the system.
The constant stream demand of the camera meant APi had to test and implement a unique setup for the camera, which reboots it at midnight every night to ensure there are no issues during the day. This PTZ (Pan, Tilt, Zoom) camera gives a variety of shots which can be used during services and a high-quality feed from the sound system is sent to the stream, so those watching online can hear clearly.
APi's custom control interface for moving the camera position was installed in the vestry area, which gives the ability to change the camera view when required during a service.
The Outcome:
Ladywell Convent’s main worship area is now a space where services can be heard and understood not only by those present in the room but also by the members who join in from all corners of the world.
The camera feed is constantly streamed live to the centre's website, allowing anyone from across the world to watch and take in the peaceful setting of the chapel.
“It is a breathtaking space and I am very pleased we were able to deliver an audio-visual system that both produces the required performance, but also ticks all the boxes for being unobtrusive and not taking away from the architecture of the room”, says Andy.
This was actually the last of a number of projects completed at the convent, with activity and conference rooms also having smaller audio-visual systems installed by the team at APi.
APi Communications Ltd, Unit 9, Sandpiper Court, Harrington Lane, Exeter, Devon, EX4 8NS
Tel: 01392 677668 Email: info@apicommunications.co.uk Web: www.churchsoundsystems.co
The Location:
St Mary the Virgin is a beautiful, large Grade 1* listed parish church, set in the heart of a bustling town in Oxfordshire. The church’s presence in the town has been steadily growing, and they now have a large regular congregation both in person and online.
The Challenge:
As with any large project, APi’s Andy Pidsley had a lot to think about when it came to designing the new audio-visual system.
“The church had a strong idea of what they wanted, which helped me quickly narrow down a lot of the equipment I was going to specify. But there was still a lot of thinking to do about speaker positioning and creating a simple user interface for what is a very complex audio and live streaming system.”
The size of the building was a challenge in itself - cable routes had to be found from one end to the other and loudspeaker positions and types had to be carefully chosen. As with all of the APi’s designs, there was a focus on creating an audio-visual system that would be simple for everyone to operate.
Another consideration was the need to disguise the equipment within the church, with the building’s listed status putting strict rules on what could and could not be done. This ultimately was a big reason for the model of loudspeakers used in the sound system design.
Our Solution:
“We decided from an early stage that a demonstration of the loudspeakers would be important, both so that we could make sure they would perform in the space, as well as to give the client an opportunity to see and hear them.”
After a successful demo, the Audac Krya series reinforced their credentials for the installation and a total of 10 ultra-slim line array units were fitted throughout the church, complimented by two compact 12-inch subwoofers.
The live-streaming system was based around three full HD Pan, Tilt, Zoom (PTZ) cameras, which are able to move between preset positions to give the operator almost unlimited shots to send to the live stream. APi’s custom control interface was configured in such a way that live streaming could be operated with minimal effort, with one button to start and stop the streaming and pages to control each camera independently.
“The customised live streaming control surface we have created takes so much stress away for the person operating the system”, states Andy. “Having buttons which are labelled to tell you exactly what they do allows anyone, even someone who has not used the system before, to sit down and be 90% on their way to operating the live streaming system.”
A Yamaha matrix handled all the audio requirements, routing four Sennheiser radio microphone systems, a four-channel floor-mounted input box and four hanging choir microphones to the desired areas of the church. APi’s engineers configured the associated Yamaha iPad app to be personal to the church, making operation as easy as possible from anywhere within the building.
The Outcome:
Andy reflects on a job well done;
“this project was the largest of the year for APi Sound and Visual but was a glowing success thanks to the hard work and skill of our engineers, who made sure that the system was easy to operate, sounded fantastic and had the smallest possible visual impact on the church.”
Now the Oxfordshire church has everything it needs to allow both the physical and online congregation to clearly hear and see the message the church is trying to get across. The delicate selection of equipment has resulted in a high-quality audio-visual system without impacting the heritage and grandeur of the building.
In the weeks following the installation of the new audio-visual system, the church has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from the congregation (and not the sound system!). The customer was delighted with the outcome and stated that “Our expectations have been vastly exceeded”, adding that working with APi “felt like a partnership”.
10-14 April 2023
Spring Harvest Festival (Butlins, Minehead)
The Spring Harvest Festival held in April at Butlins, Minehead will be an opportunity for APi Sound & Visual to engage with the church in the exhibition space. This longstanding event is an annual source of inspiration and spiritual refreshment for the church.
Visitors of all ages enjoy worship and community plus the holiday atmosphere.
Tickets are selling fast, so if you would like to attend please contact Spring Harvest.
APi Communications will be exhibiting from Stand J6 at the forthcoming CRE National 11-13 October 2022 at Sandown Park, Surrey.
Described as a one-stop shop for church resources, supplies and ideas; it’s a great opportunity for some free and practical advice in relation to your AV system and to meet some truly inspiring people!
As an exhibitor, we are pleased to offer FREE tickets to the exhibition (worth £8 on the door).
To book simply click on the following link:
https://eventdata.uk/Comp/CRENational2022.aspx?TrackingCode=API
To enter all you have to do is :
Register your details with the APi team on Stand J6 at the CRE National between 11-13 October 2022, completing all questions in our survey.
One lucky winner will be randomly selected (24.10.22) and contacted by direct message. The winner will be announced on APi’s Facebook page. All entrants must be UK residents aged 18+.
For more information about the exhibition please go to http://creonline.co.uk
Be sure to come and say hello to Andy and the team on Stand J6, we hope to see you there!
Come and visit us on stand J6, and find out how we can help your church get its message across. We design and install sound and projection systems, as well as streaming systems.
It takes place at Sandown Park, Esher, Surrey. Situated only 15 miles from central London, Sandown Park is easily accessible by rail and road and parking is free.
As an exhibitor, we are able to offer free tickets to the exhibition, worth £8 on the door. To book simply click HERE
For more information about the exhibition go to http://creonline.co.uk
So unsurprisingly any works to update the sound system and add an installed camera, streaming and projection system were examined in fine detail by the DAC to ensure that the impact on the aesthetics was minimal.
Burford is a very attractive Cotswold town which brings in tourists throughout the year and because of the church's strong links to King Henry VIII, the church has a large number of visitors who stop in while exploring the town. This meant that any audio-visual equipment - especially the projection system - had to be as discreet as possible so that it would not impede on the grandeur of the space.
Being a large evangelical Anglican congregation, the church decided that it was more inclusive to turn 90 degrees so that they could gather in a more relaxed theatre-style layout of chairs. However, for more traditional services such as funerals and remembrance Sunday they still need to be able to switch back to the original layout.
This was achieved by adding a 3rd loudspeaker so that with a simple switch the audio orientation can be changed.
The audio system is based on our favourite Allen and Heath digital desk, offering a handy touch screen plus full wireless control via iPad. This is a great step up from their existing digital desk with its microscopic screen and fairly daunting control app. A 4-channel digital amplifier gave us a good choice of equalisation options, limiting and crossover adjustment allowing their existing subwoofers to be included in the new arrangement.
Two remote HD pan tilt zoom (PTZ) cameras were installed in locations which suited both church orientations and were controlled by our own ultra-simple button control pad with backlit displays behind each button allowing the functions to change over various pages of options.
In addition to camera control, this unit also controls the video switching and streaming unit removing the need to understand a potentially baffling array of additional controls. So streaming to YouTube is just a matter of a single button push, with a monitor screen displaying both camera images, the outgoing image and the sound levels.
We set up the audio processing so that the sound was optimised for listening on a device with smaller speakers such as a tablet or laptop, compressing the music and speech to deliver a comfortable consistent level.
The projection system was successfully installed using two winch-down projection screens, which were able to lift up into the aisle above the archway when not in use. This was important as this side of the church is what you see first when entering the church through the main door, so it was crucial that these screens could disappear from view.
Two laser projectors were installed in the arches on the opposing side of the nave to price a clear and bright image onto the large screens, allowing the congregation to see regardless of where they sit in the nave.
The projectors were suspended just below the top of the arches, to remain as hidden as possible. The on/off control of the projectors was also programmed into the customised streaming control interface, giving the church a central control panel for both the streaming and visual systems in the church.
On the day the system was handed over we received this message from our customer, “Trial run this afternoon with band practice. All very good and epic sound. iPad App is very easy to use and so great to be able to wander around the church with it”.
The cameras are a high definition remote pan, tilt and zoom type, one which is fitted on the gallery face and the second being mounted on a pillar with a thin strap for fixing so that DAC approval was not required.
The main benefit of these cameras is that they offer exceptional image quality even in low light, a frequent issue in many churches.
The supplied joystick remote control has a number of preset memories so that commonly used shots can be quickly recalled, with the joystick allowing fine control.
A four input switcher and combined streaming unit makes the whole process of selecting a source for the projector and stream simple and removes the need for an additional computer to perform the streaming function. The illuminated controls clearly show the current source, and also allow more advanced functions such as superimposing words over images. The unit also doubles as a recorder and will record to a USB device.
A 22" monitor shows a 4 way split of the different input sources available to the mixer. Finally a small microphone was positioned on top of the rood screen to pick up singing and other ambient sounds just for the streaming audio.
After installation training was provided with on-going telephone support as and when needed.
They have had a two year building and renewal project both refurbishing the worship space and building offices and an enlarged community cafe space along one side of the original building. For our part APi have been involved in installing a simple to use 8 camera digital CCTV system, plus a full audio visual system.
We are used to working at height but usually this is in Anglican buildings so we were surprised at the 10m tower scaffold we needed to fit the screen in this project, but our engineers all have a head for heights so took it in their stride. With an install this high we had to use a special winch down unit that allows the screen case to descent 7m to the correct height for viewing. A Panasonic projector provides the images with the laser light source good for 20,000 hours there will be little need for maintenance and the low power consumption gives it a low total cost of ownership.
For the sound system we used some of our favourite products with the Allen And Heath QU-PAC for mixing, and slim high performance FBT line array loudspeakers giving room filling sound from just 2 speakers. Professional radio microphones from JTS (all rechargeable of course) and a digital 4 channel power amplifier from DAP audio’s new range plus one of their subwoofers to fill in the low notes.