The First Church Of Christ, Scientist
210 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts
The First Church of Christ, Scientist Enhances the Sound in the Visitor Center
The First Church Of Christ, Scientist’s Mother Church and Extension were constructed in 1894 and 1906 respectively. This was to accommodate the rapidly growing congregation of Christian Science followers and founder, Mary Baker Eddy.
Publishing House Renovations
The Publishing House portion of The Mother Church recently underwent renovations. The renovations include new permanent exhibits and an immersive Welcome Hall to the Visitor Center. “The Church wanted everything done right with the sound of the visitor experience” said Kevin Peterson, Senior Acoustic/Audio Consultant for SH Acoustics of Stamford, Connecticut. Luci Creative, out of Chicago, was hired to create the exhibit “How do you see the World?” Luci partnered with Creative Technology Group, SH Acoustics, and Bag End Loudspeakers on the AV system design, implementation, and installation.
The Results
Nine custom Bag End T33-SHV1 column arrays were installed in the Welcome Hall (click for video). As a result, they were able to accomplish the soundscape desired. The speakers had to fit precisely on existing beautiful stone columns, which surround the room, and provide balanced sound down to 100Hz. “Our research did not find any off-the-shelf column array that would meet the dimensional and performance specs required, so we approached Bag End to develop a custom solution,” explains Peterson. SHA previously has worked with Bag End on the development of custom sized and shaped IPS subwoofers to fit in a variety of unique spaces within dozens of their museum exhibit projects.
The column array speakers were designed with 8 woofers and a tweeter for vertical directivity control. SHA’s audio design distributed two array speakers on each of three walls, and three on the fourth. This allowed for a fully immersive experience with a flexible setup that could be instantly reconfigured via the DSP. The room was set up for two primary uses. Most importantly, an originally-composed 2-hour musical soundscape, by Winikur Productions, which plays through the arrays and an overhead distribution of speakers and subwoofers. In addition, regular events are held with a platform situated on one of two sides of the room. All nine arrays were calibrated in a unique time-delayed and level-balanced manner by SHA Principal, Steve Haas. This was done to deliver even sound throughout the Welcome Hall that localizes to the presenters at the front, in either of the two physical setups.
The Mapparium™ Experience
Next, you walk through one of Boston’s historic landmarks, the Mapparium™. There were unique acoustical challenges in this three story, stained glass, walk-thru, inside-out, globe of the world. First, it was all glass, except for the doors and bridge. In addition, it was almost completely spherical (as most globes are!). When you speak in the room, the person ten feet away may hear you better than the person right next to you. Inside, a 10-minute audio narration explores the history of the world and Christian Science.
The Results
The sound had to reach the ears of a seven foot tall person, down to that of a three foot tall person, anywhere along the bridge. The goal was for everyone to enjoy the experience – but without spreading the sound all over the highly-focused acoustical surfaces, which would wreak havoc on the intelligibility of speech. Two custom Bag End TS33-SHV2 column arrays worked perfectly in this unique space. They were mounted horizontally, on either end of the room, above the doors and engineered to match the width of the bridge where people gathered. Along with a precise downward rotation of each array, SHA’s DSP calibration proved that intelligible sound can be made to work in even the most challenging acoustic spaces. “We are thrilled with the outcome of the revamped sound in the Mapparium™ and have received so many pleasantly-surprised reactions from both the clients and visitors,” says Peterson.
Quince Rooftop
The number one rooftop destination in the world installs a Bag End Sound System. QUINCE ROOFTOP RESTAURANT San Miguel de... Read More
Bag End is Helping Talk to Elephants
Vocal Communication in African Elephants Samburu National Reserve, Kenya Dr. Michael Pardo is a post doctoral research fellow in the... Read More
Not New …But Interesting
Reflecting Back to the 1980’s This custom made loudspeaker was designed to demonstrate the then newly invented Time-Align technique. Time... Read More
Bag End Makes a Splash at Water Park
Audio System Designed and Installed by Automated Lifestyles Lost Island Water Park in Waterloo, Iowa just prior to the Memorial... Read More
Lewis University, Joliet, IL
Bag End gives Convocation Hall a Serious Sound Upgrade Lewis University purchased St. Charles Borromeo property in the summer of... Read More
RPM Seafood
Chicago Riverfront Multiplex Loads Up On Bag End Chicago, IL – Lettuce Entertain You has a new four-floor riverfront multiplex,... Read More
North Shore Congregation Israel
Bag End Gems Shine at North Shore Congregation Israel North Shore Congregation Israel (NSCI) 1185 Sheridan Road in Glencoe, Illinois. North Shore... Read More
ISUB-12 & ISUB-18
Home Theater and Studio Powered Subwoofer Systems As seen in Widescreen Review Magazine The Bag End ISUB-12 & ISUB-18 Self-Powered... Read More
The Jewell
New Omaha Jazz Club ‘The Jewell’, installs Bag End PHOTO COURTESY OF HDR © 2019 DAN SCHWALM A... Read More
The Houston Museum of Natural Science
Weiss Energy Hall Three Bag End TA6002-I speakers were installed in the time travel experience called, The Geovator. The world’s... Read More
Statue of Liberty Museum
The New Statue of Liberty Museum The new Statue of Liberty Museum involves three main components: Accessibility, Education, and Sustainability.... Read More
Riviera Theater and Performing Arts Center
Tonawanda, NY The Riviera Theater and performing arts center is listed on the National and New York State Register of... Read More
Keith Emerson
Keith Emerson and his Bag End System D18E-R’s with TA15 Keith was a keyboard player, composer, pianist. In addition, he... Read More
David Prater – Record Producer
Renowned multi-platinum selling record producer and musician, David Prater, gave Bag End a call recently. David said, “I am still... Read More
Creative Music Services
Meet performer, producer, educator and consultant Eric Chun, owner and operator of Creative Music Services (CMS). Creative Music Services... Read More
Space
Live Music Hall/Recording Studio Adds To Their Arsenal of Bag End Monitors! Evanston, IL Established in 2008 SPACE has... Read More
MacMillan Planetarium at the New Bell Museum
Whitney and Elizabeth MacMillan Planetarium, at the University of Minnesota’s, St. Paul campus © Peter J. Sieger The Bell Museum... Read More
DoubleTree By Hilton Hotel, New York
DoubleTree by Hilton – Times Square West Theater District, Hell’s Kitchen, Midtown West The DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel is located... Read More
Pastel Painting Preservation
Bag End In Retail
West Elm – Oakbrook, IL Retail space has become more and more of an engineered environment looking to create a... Read More
The Nebula Series
Check out the whole series… After 25 years our Bass Instrument series has undergone a significant change. In short, the... Read More
NYSE Boardroom Renovations
New York Stock Exchange Boardroom Renovations NYSE Puts a Buy on Bag End Loudspeakers Renovations inside this iconic building at... Read More
Northbridge Church Installation
Bag End Installs New Sound System at Northbridge Church! Antioch, IL After fifteen years of worshiping at Antioch Community High... Read More
Smithsonian’s African American Museum
And Bag End Bass The National Museum of African American History and Culture at night. The exterior is turned into... Read More
Blue Man Group
Blue Man and Bag End for over 20 years…. From the earliest times Blue Man found Bag End speakers to... Read More