CMU School of Drama


Wednesday, November 04, 2020

3D Immersive Sound: Blending Art and Science

Church Production Magazine: A key element in the powerful worship services of Pastor David Cooper at Atlanta’s Mount Paran Church is great audio. So, when the church’s aging sound system started experiencing failures, Mount Paran’s technical director, David Mendoza, started looking for solutions. “The 15-year-old sound system was original with the building,” Mendoza recalls, “and its failures and weak points were becoming more and more obvious.”

2 comments:

Jin Oh said...

First of all, I was surprised because the appearance of the church was very different from what I have imagined. I was thinking of more traditional-cathedral like building, not the one with the LED walls standing no both sides. Anyway, as I am learning more about sounds each week, I am realizing that it is operated with way more intricate ways that I have imagined. It might be the most area-sensitive field in the theater, even more than the actual sets, because the sound is affected by how the building is built, just like they were considering various locations and the shape for each location in this article. Furthermore, unlike the set, which is relatively easier to spot the flaw on stage, it would be harder to check the sounds since it is invisible. It was exciting to see how the sound system for this building was not only get fixed but also got even better, with the sound “interacting” with the room.

Harrison Wolf said...

Like Jin mentioned above, I was astonished at the modernity of this church. Every time I see an article from ChurchProduction, I am reminded of some of the technical necessities to create and deliver an artistic experience like some large church services have become. And what an artistic experience this is. When someone says the term "audio-visual", I think of each as a separate aspect of design, each restricted to its own sense. However, when I read about how the L-ISA processor "interacts" with the room, it became clear that the line might be a little bit more blurred than I originally thought. When you give an audio processor the ability to "see" like this, it opens up a whole new world of possibility. Outside of church and inside a theatre, being able to change the sound engineering based on a new type of structure onstage would be a massive development. This is definitely an interesting concept with lots of exciting potential and I'm almost sorely disappointed that I don't have the technical know-how with sound to make much sense of it beyond what I've already extrapolated. However, I am certain that this kind of technology will be at the forefront for theatre in the coming years.