The historic St. John’s Syro-Malabar Catholic Forane Church has been a cornerstone of spiritual life in the quaint region of Parappukkara, Thrissur district in Kerala. The church had recently implemented a complete overhaul of its audio architecture that synced well with the reputed heritage architecture of the church, accentuating grand interiors appeal with quality sound.
Taking the honours were systems integrator Angel’s Media, in association with VMT, QSC, Harman, Sennheiser and Yamaha.
An SIA snapshot:
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-By Elton Noronha
Believed to have been established in 400 AD, the St. John’s Syro-Malabar Catholic Forane Church is considered by worshippers to be nothing less than a heritage structure, with a cross that is believed to have been erected in the mid-1600’s and the inner walls of the establishment highlighting paintings from the early 1800s, all of which remain intact to this day.
Renowned for its unmistakable external façade, the church is situated at the highest point in Parappukkara, and is surrounded by a huge protective compound wall called Aana-Mathil or Elephant(ine) wall. The church belongs to Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Irinjalakuda, and the pilgrimage centre of St. John Nepumcian’s Forane Church occupies most prominence in Parappukkara in three Villages.
According to the priests, they felt the need to overhaul their audio system, and wanted to have in place a system that delivers a great audio experience without tampering with its grand architectural heritage.
A diligent market scan brought them to Jerin George of systems integration firm Angel’s Media, and a quick analysis of the site resulted in evolution of a comprehensive audio architecture that essentially featured QSC as the primary brand, besides other audio majors- Harman, Sennheiser & Yamaha.
Additionally, multiple units of the QSC CP 12 and CP8 powered loudspeakers have also been deployed to cover potential low energy areas. Each of the loudspeakers have been meticulously placed at strategic points across the entire inner perimeter of the church premise to ensure optimum intelligibility and impactful music experience.
Choir exigencies at the church have also been fulfilled with multiple units of the e35-S dynamic cardiod live vocal microphone and XS-1 vocal microphones from Sennheiser to support speech and singing applications. Finally, the quality of sound derived from the comprehensive audio system is controlled through a single unit the acclaimed MGP24x mixing console from Yamaha and the famed 231s dual channel 31-band equalizer from dbx by Harman.
“The sound system maintains remarkably consistent sonic characteristics,” says Jerin George. “It has always helped houses of worship achieve a closed, more engaging experience for their congregation.”
According to the Angel’s Media exec, the QSC K.2 Series represents the best-in-class loudspeaker for today’s demanding audio professionals. The perfect combination of elegant design, superior audio performance, high functionality, simple and intuitive operation, and genuine QSC reliability, ensures that K.2 delivers extraordinary results for users in both portable and installed applications, while the KS112 presents an ultra-compact active subwoofer for installation and highly portable entertainment applications.
The CP series too have high performance, superior quality and lasting reliability. More, when combined this with the dbx heritage of revered 231s pro EQ and Yamaha’s formidable MGP24x console it creates a system that perfectly meets the needs of the church, while offering the simplicity of straightforward control.
“The church now provides it pilgrims with the best music, and we’re absolutely thrilled about it,” asserts Jerin.
VMT Enterprise – the Mumbai-based audio distribution major – provided crucial logistical and technical support to the Angels Media team throughout the course of the project.
Says VMT Enterprise’ national sales manager Jeff Mandot: “This project took us one step further towards enhancing experiences and creating memories through great sound.”
The parish community at the church is evidently the most satisfied of the task accomplished. “We definitely feel more of an emotional connection to the Congregation,” commends Fr. Albin Davis. Fast installation and a high level of customer support of VMT have grabbed my attention along with amazing sound quality.”
