Soundproofing Your Sanctuary in 5 Steps

Worship services in todays world can be filled with a range of sound signals, from the spoken word to drums, base guitars, organs, choirs, keyboards and a host of other musical instruments and related guest speakers. The key to the success of any soundproofing treatment in a sanctuary is to control the level of background noise, which in turn, will produce more favorable sound quality, greater clarity to human voice, and better harmonics for choirs and musicians alike. Listed here are five of the most popular steps taken to produce more favorable acoustics in a sanctuary.

Your first goal with any sound project is to control the level of unwanted echo in the room. Wall or ceiling mounted panels that are decorative, durable, self installable, and class A fire rated can make a great compliment to the design of a sanctuary, both in terms of sound quality and aesthetics. Sound panels can be evenly distributed around the side or back walls of a sanctuary, or suspended mechanically from the ceiling where wall space availability is limited. The goal with the panels is to capture sound wave reflections, and minimize the impact that unwelcome background noise will have in the room. The quantity of panels you introduce into the room will be the key to determining the sucess of the treatment. Do not undertreat the room, but also be careful to not over treat the room. There are break even points in the world of sound absorption, beyond which you can throw more dollars into a project and gain less and less incremental value back.

The second step in sanctuary sound control is diffusion. Remember, diffusion panels scatter echoes into multiple directions, breaking up standing sound waves, while absorption panels capture unwanted echoes to deliver greater clarity to the sound signals in your room. Diffusion panels will serve to more evenly distribute sound signals to every member of your congregation seated in your sanctuary. WIthout diffusion, standing sound waves can be created, especially in shoe-box shaped rooms filled with 3 parallel sets of surfaces. By breaking up the direction of the sound wave, you even out the distribution of the signal, creating equal sound quality levels to every person seated in the congregation, regardless of their location. Remember, diffusion panels scatter sound, absorption panels reduce background echoes. The combination here is your best overall bet for maximum sound quality, and both panels can be wrapped in the same cloth cover. Use a ratio of 5-1 when configuring sound absorbing to diffusion panel ratios.

The third step in sanctuary sound quality is to control impact noise generated from contemporary services that have drums. The easiest thing to do is introduce a decorative drum shield enclosure to set your drumset inside. The enclosure won't completely block the noise, of course, but simply help reduce its impact so that it aligns more evenly with the harmonics of the other musicians. Otherwise the drums can take the room over and drown out other musical sound signals. If you don't want to enclose the drums, at least mount some thicker sound absorption panels behind the location of the drummer. If you don't have drums in your worship service, the same backdrop panels can be used behind any musicians to help reduce back slap echoes that hinder their ability to hear and harmonize with their fellow musicians.

The fourth step in sanctuary sound quality is your sound system. Here we recommend you check with a local audio video dealer in your area to ensure that you have appropriate signal strength from your various speaker locations. Poor quality systems will force speakers to have to produce stronger sound volumes to fill the cavity space of a room, while a properly fitted sound system will produce soothing sounds with the right amount of speakers, placed in ideal locations designed to fill the cavity space of the room without forcing decibel levels to peak to uncomfortable levels. Because every worship center is unique to its own size, shape and surface textures, onsite help with your speaker system is a must, while onsite help for panel treatments is not. You do not need onsite help for diagnosing your panel treatment options.

Finally, the fifth step in your quest to produce more favorable sound in your worship center is to control your costs. This can be done by accepting free advice, and having materials delivered to your facility that can be self installed. You do not need the industry expert to bill you for onsite consulting, nor do you need to incur expensive acoustical installation fees, as the sound panels and other items listed here can easily be self installed by volunteers from your church. The only out of pocket cost to improve the sound values in your worship center should be the cost of the panels and the freight charge to get them delivered to your site.

Upon the completion of your sound panel treatment, your sanctuary will be filled with maximum sound quality, which in turn will protect the future of your church. From worship services to holiday concerts, weddings, funerals and a host of other events designed for your room, these soundproofing steps will help deliver a more reliable sound environment for all to enjoy.


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Mark Rustad created one of the first, most expansive online websites in the field of soundproofing more than 20 years ago. He has defined hundreds of vertical market applications for a variety of acoustical materials, with 10,000+ venues receiving treatments produced by his company NetWell Noise Control. For more information visit NetWell online at www.controlnoise.com