Church in a movie theater.. help

[Joshcobia]

Hey Leaders! My name is Josh Cobia and I'm the new Worship leader over at Life Change Community church in Calabasas, CA. This is a church plant and we have decided to meet in a Movie theater which has turned out to be great! Does anyone have any experience with sound systems in these theaters? Or any experience with meeting in a theater? We just had our preview service and I lead some songs on an acoustic guitar. The system we rented worked well enough for that but when we add drums, and a full band in December I want to be as prepared as possible... The room seems to deaden the sound. Any suggestions on systems to buy, or sound tips would be much appreciated! Thanks!

Josh Cobia

[theatre church]

Josh--

I run the group that is renting the theatre to your church on Sunday mornings. We have several resources and pastors we can get you in touch with to make sure prepared for your December launch. The person who can direct you in the right way is Lindy Barnard. Her e-mail is lindy.barnard@ncm.com phone is 303-792-8861. We'd love to give you as much info as possible to ensure your happy with the acoustics in the auditorium.

In HIm,

Barry Brown

[nomad100]

that is awesome, that the room deadens some sound!

As a rule bare 1000W minimum for mains threw 2 speakers with 12's. That's mostly for vocals. If you want to put keyboards or bass guitar threw it, you'll need subs with separate amp. I prefer self powered monitors no bigger than 12's.

[Joshcobia]

Barry, SO awesome to see you are on here! I really appreciate the contact info! ill be hitting that up for sure. Thanks so much!

Nomad100, thanks for all the suggestions!

[travisvwright]

Is this even more Coloradans? Seems like Connecticut is going to have a run for their money.

[russhutto]

I worked full-time for 3 years on staff at a movie theater church.

Here's my top 10:

1) Do whatever works. Sometimes you'll have to rig stuff, other times stuff will workf fine.
2) Go with subs. There's a reason sound in a movie theater sounds amazing, it's the subs hidden behind the screen.
3) Be prepared for a LOT of work. If you're not allowed to leave anything behind the screens, you'll need a trailer (or a few) to house all your equipment and a crew to set it up each week.
4) DO create a crew. During the 3 years I worked there, I saw so many people get plugged in right away. It's a hard volunteer position but a great one.
5) Are you allowed to use the theater projection equipment? If not, what are your alternatives? If so, LUCKY!!
6) Schedule every element of set up and tear down. Have a schematic/a diagram. Let every person know their job. Be specific as possible. You'll have a smooth running machine if you do so.
7) Secure an offsite rehearsal location for your band. Some people can get by with an early morning run through, but the chance to build relationships and hang out with your team one more day of the week builds a strong team!
8) Encourage, encourage, encourage. Let ALL your teams know how important they are to making things happen!
9) Have a great "lobby" experience designed so that when people come through the door they feel welcomed and loved. For us this included greeters and a big ol breakfast spread every week. Also, another opportunity for volunteers right off the bat.
10) Think forward. When you grow larger will you go to multiple services or run video/audio feed to the next theater and run a video service, or will you be moving on? As you build your system now, make sure you think ahead so that when you do transition into the next phase you're not having to buy all new equipment.

[amprodirect]

Great advice Russ! We have a remote location that meets in a movie theater. There were some real challenges with working with that type of room. You forget how much you depend on a "live" space. In a room like this your sound system will do all the work, the room will offer very little help. I would bet that there are a number of other churches in your area that are meeting in theaters, contact them and find out what works for them. Perhaps event go do a service with them to see how they do it. We welcome other churches frequently to observe our load in.

And again, I second Russ' points.

[nomad100]

for a guitar player, it means you can crank more, lol!