In addition to his role as head of Ottawa’s Dominion Sound, Alex Benn has a lengthy association with the Metropolitan Bible Church, having first become involved with the church several years ago. “I knew many people there, so they contacted me. They were struggling with their live and online mix, and I helped figure that out for them, which morphed into my coming in on a contract basis to deal with their AV systems. Essentially, I’m their Technical Director.”
Knowing the MET’s needs intimately, when tasked with upgrading their existing FOH/monitor control systems, Benn specified a DiGiCo Quantum 225 console supplied by Wall Sound, a KLANG:vokal immersive in-ear monitor mix processor, and 8 KLANG personal monitor controllers.
Founded in 1931, the MET inhabited several locations over time before relocating to its current facility in 2008 to accommodate the exponential growth of its congregation. “The sanctuary seats about 1100 people over three Sunday services, so regular Sunday attendance is about 2700,” Benn notes.
The issue Benn needed to address most recently was ensuring the sanctuary's control systems were optimized for the MET’s current and future needs. “One of the main issues was that the existing console was old and didn't sound good. We were also running into problems like not having enough outputs. And the church had an older personal mixer system that didn't have enough channels for each mix.”
While they’d been coping using workarounds, the previous console’s sound quality and limitations were becoming an ever greater liability for both in-person services and streaming. “Thousands of people watch the live stream on YouTube, and it goes to radio stations across the US, Canada, and Asia. The church’s needs are growing, and the Quantum 225 console was phase one of meeting those needs.”
In doing so, the DiGiCo console offers far more functionality, he adds: “We’re planning to use Nodal Processing to create a mix better suited to broadcast and to apply different processing on the band using the same channels as we use in-house, so we don't have to duplicate channels. We could, but the console has 96 inputs with the Pulse update. So we've got options. And obviously, the sound quality is night and day different now.”
Benn also provided additional infrastructure, the beginnings of a dedicated Dante-compatible AV system with a DiGiCo DQ rack and a new stage patch, “Which allows us to power up all the KLANG controllers with a dual redundant POE switch and functions more like a festival patch so a tech can walk in and understand the routing immediately.”
That, in tandem with the Q225 and KLANG, provides much-needed flexibility. “They frequently have a nine-piece band, but sometimes they’ll add cello, a second electric guitar, or decide to move the drum kit. Now, we can just grab a KLANG controller and set it up anywhere on the stage via CAT5.”
Again, it’s all about options: “DiGiCo’s integration with KLANG is great. We mix monitors from FOH so if I need to change something, or if someone is struggling I don't have to go up on stage and play with the controller physically. And showing the musicians how the controllers work was a breeze – everyone picked that up pretty much instantly.” As for KLANG’s deeper immersive functionality, “As they’ve started to figure it out – they'll move things around in a bit, go back to stereo, or do whatever they want.”
“Once we were up and running the result was great,” says MET Music Director, Josh Ninaber. “The team is very happy and the difference is significant. One of the really nice things is having more direct communication with FOH to navigate KLANG. That’s huge for us. The control musicians have over their in-ears – they can’t believe the difference, and there’s no way they want to go back to what they had.”
As for the console, “The response was fantastic,” Ninaber says. “I was delightfully surprised by the difference, the clarity – even before we got everything dialed in. Knowing the direction we were headed, expectations were high.” But the upgrade has met and exceeded those expectations, “which was very encouraging,” he adds.
Joe Candy, MET’s Music Assistant and one of the band’s guitarists, concurs. “I love the clear sound we get, and I also really appreciate knowing that what I send to FOH from, say, my electric guitar setup, is going to come out to our in-ears and the PA without having the life squashed out of it in the console.”
“The musicians can hear the separation between instruments with much less tweaking,” Benn puts in. “And the congregation says the same thing.” Ultimately the upgrade has allowed them to resolve all their previous issues, he adds – citing the flexibility of DiGiCo’s Dynamic EQs for fine-tuning vocals as an example, and his anticipation of further improvements offered by DiGiCo’s Spice Rack.
It also offers room to grow. “The major part here was the availability of individual channels on a network. That’s why I went with the DQ Rack. So, if we add a dedicated monitor or broadcast console, we have options to send things around easily over Dante; whether it's stems, full mixes, or individual channels.”
Benn obviously uses and specifies a variety of products for various projects. “But I'm a bit of a DiGiCo fanboy. If you give me the choice, I'll often go with DiGiCo.” That said, he did explore other personal mixing solutions that could have been integrated with DiGiCo, “But KLANG was the most cost-effective, the best solution and, with its immersive capabilities, ended up being the coolest, and, naturally, the easiest to integrate with the Q225.”
It was a win-win situation,” he says, for everyone, including volunteer mixers and techs with varying levels of experience. “We're asking a lot of the FOH operators because we’re doing nine or ten monitor mixes on Sunday morning from FOH, that’s a lot to ask of anybody, but we've been going through DiGiCo training with them, and they’re picking it up well – even things that would be considered more advanced. Despite the fact it could be perceived as a fairly complex desk, it’s pretty much plug-and-play.”
While Benn’s familiarity with the gear made getting up and running fairly automatic, he concludes: “It’s awesome to have GerrAudio close by and available for support. I know they're always available by phone if I do have questions about the routing or setup.” While he didn’t need that type of help, when a problem developed with the first KLANG:vokal unit, he says: “I was able to get a replacement within 12 hours. I sent Gerr an email at 8 or 9 PM and by 7 AM the next day I had a solution.”
DiGiCo and KLANG Bring Enhanced Sound to Ottawa's 'The MET'