Poor sound quality is laid to rest

[HIGHGATE CEMETERY in North London was consecrated by the Bishop of London in 1839 and formed part of an initiative to provide seven large, modern cemeteries to ring the city of London. Perched on a hill to the north of Hampstead Heath and above the smoke and filth of the city, Highgate Cemetery soon became a fashionable place for burials and was much admired and visited.

The Victorian romantic attitude to death and its presentation led to the creation of a labyrinth of Egyptian sepulchres and a wealth of Gothic tombs and buildings. Novelist George Eliot and revolutionary Karl Marx are among the historical figures buried at the cemetery along with electrical engineer Michael Faraday and, more recently, musician George Michael.

Two chapels, one for the Church of England and the other for Dissenters, were housed within one building, built in the Tudor Gothic style, topped with wooden turrets and a central bell tower. The archway beneath the bell-tower gives an imposing entry to the cemetery. One chapel remains in use for committal services, lectures, meetings and arts events. The lighting has recently been upgraded as part of renovation works but the existing sound system was in need of improvement and no provision had been made for hearing aid users who may require an induction loop or another form of assistive listening.

The importance of good quality audio reproduction cannot be overstated, especially for those who suffer with hearing loss and use a hearing aid or other assistive listening device. This was at the forefront of the mind for Ian Dungavell, cemetery manager at Highgate, when he made contact with audio and visual installation specialists Cunnings Recording Associates on the recommendation of their lighting contractor Anthony J Smith of Gloucester.

A number of options were considered for an assistive listening system but the least intrusive solution was the use of infrared. Daniel Cunnings, senior engineer and member of the Institute of Sound, Communication and Visual Engineers, explained: “A traditional loop is always the preferred choice wherever possible as this couples directly to a user’s hearing aid through the telecoil often referred to simply as the T position. Induction loops are commonplace in public buildings and there is no embarrassment for a user to discreetly select the T position on their hearing aid. However, installing a loop cable around the chapel wasn’t a possibility as it would have detracted from the ornate decorative finish, so using an infrared system was the obvious answer.”

Infrared systems radiate infrared light throughout a building which is picked up by small receivers worn around the neck. These create a small induction loop field for each user which can be coupled to the hearing aid just like a larger loop system. These systems are easy to deploy and, critically, don’t create any delay to the audio signal so lip reading is not impacted. A single infrared radiator, almost imperceptible to the gathered congregation, has been installed above the main arch in the chapel and this provides coverage across the whole room to a number of rechargeable receivers.

During discussions with the cemetery team it became clear the existing sound system was also in need of enhancement. Audio quality was poor and the system was being controlled through a basic analogue mixer tucked away in a side room making it difficult to hear what adjustments were needed, especially for larger services which require overflow speakers.

Cunnings have installed a new digital audio control system which greatly improves the use of the sound system. Simple wall mounted control panels replace the analogue mixer to provide volume adjustment and recall of presets which allow for different positions of the lectern. This control can be replicated wirelessly on smart phones or tablets which allows operators to stand in the chapel and hear what adjustments are required. The existing loudspeakers and microphones were retained and correctly set up to improve the audio quality and speech intelligibility. A new power sequencer allows the whole sound system to be powered on and off from a single button in the correct sequence, without causing any unwanted noise through the loudspeakers.

Daniel concluded: “Although the changes to the existing system were fairly minimal, the improvement to the quality of the sound and to the ease of operation has made a significant difference for users and operators alike. Together with the provision of an assistive listening solution the issue of poor sound quality has now been laid to rest.” q • Daniel Cunnings MInstSCVE is senior installation engineer at Cunnings Recording Associates, a specialist design and installation company providing quality audio, visual and induction loop systems for churches and prestigious buildings since 1977. Call 020 8767 3533 or email info@cunnings.co.uk to arrange a consultation.