| The more ambitious the Christmas production, the greater the need for professionalism. That's what Prestonwood Baptist Church, led by Dr. Jack Graham, has learned in the evolution of its Dallas Christmas Festival. Approximately 1,000 cast and crew members teamed in 2005 to perform for more than a dozen sold-out audiences in a 7,000-seat worship facility.
Directed by Minister of Music and Worship Dr. R. Todd Bell, the festival imparts the Christmas spirit through spectacular pageantry and astounding special effects in three unique acts. Act One features Santa's arrival on a flying sleigh and Dickens-style carolers singing Jingle Bells and other traditional favorites. Act Two's formal choir production of devotional Christmas music sets a worshipful mood for Act Three - a full reenactment of the life of Jesus Christ told through the eyes of Peter.
According to Chris Hinkle, Director of Engineering at Prestonwood, a commitment to professionalism makes the production a success. "The Christmas Festival is an important ministry of our church,” Hinkle said. “The Los Angeles Times called it ‘A Christmas pageant that is pure Texas-sized,’ so people are attracted to it because of the pageantry. But, in the end, they are moved by the Message. Therefore, our staff always rises to the challenge – delivering the best of their abilities."
While the same commitment to quality is reflected throughout the sound system - which includes EAW loudspeakers, Crown amps, London Soundweb processing and Yamaha PM1Ds and DM2000 submix consoles - Hinkle says the right microphones make all the difference in a production of this caliber.
"The best sound system in the world can't make up for a microphone that fails to capture the passion in a performer's delivery, so high-quality mics were crucial," he said. "At the same time, visible microphones would have stood out in the period settings of Acts One and Three, so we wanted something that was less noticeable."
That's why Prestonwood invested in 32 Countryman E6 mics to support the Christmas Festival and other applications year-round. "We chose Countryman's E6 for the sound quality we got in both singing and spoken word reinforcement, but frankly, they wound up being even more affordable than the competition," Hinkle said. "Used with Shure wireless bodypacks, E6 mics were comfortable for the performers and invisible to the audience - we used black mics in men's beards, and the beige mics matched almost every skin tone."
While quality and aesthetics drove the choice of E6, Hinkle found its unique features added convenience to the Festival. "Thanks to the E6's snap-on cable, a performer coming offstage could quickly hand off his wireless bodypack to the next performer going onstage, which meant we could manage the production without the expense of additional bodypacks," Hinkle said. "In addition, Countryman offered a choice of E6 pad sensitivity to accommodate different voices. We used a 20db pad for the actor playing Jesus, while the woman playing Mary required a 0db pad, since she's very soft-spoken."
Beyond the Christmas festival, the mics help other church productions project the same quality. "We use the E6s every week in worship services, high-school-age productions in the Student Ministry Building, and children’s services we produce called Rooftop Kids and KidZone," Hinkle said. "The E6s are great-sounding, rugged mics that help us project the spirit of our community and the message of Christ, which is what our church is all about." |
