LEENS, NETHERLANDS―Founded in 1313, Petruskerk van Leens is one of Holland’s oldest churches and home to its famous, recently restored organ, which has been treasured by parishioners for generations. Once churchgoers were faced with stay-at-home orders due to COVID-19, the church decided to introduce live streaming services to bring mass, and their beloved organ’s music, into the homes of the parish. To help the church design its AV set-up, it called on Bart Hof, owner of HOF AV. Based on his previous use of the mics in live music applications, Hof recommended DPA Microphones to support the audio needs of the church.
“In my opinion, when it comes to the equipment, the simpler and more straightforward way that you approach music is actually the best way to handle audio in a natural way,” Bart explains. “With DPA mics, it’s just a matter of connecting it, and you get this natural sound with no compromise at all.”
For Petruskerk, HOF installed one stereo pair of DPA’s 4060 Series Miniature Omnidirectional Microphones with extension cables as overheads, approximately 10- to 15-meters above the organ. This approach was chosen after listening to the organ and testing how the mics reacted to certain levels. Rounding out the AV install was a Roland audio mixing console, which the DPA 4060 mics are plugged into, and a variety of Panasonic 2K cameras running on SDI.
“Through our testing, we found that we didn’t have to put the mics too close to the organ, since the sound of this organ is so huge,” Bart explains. “You have to balance the audio for broadcast or streaming, so we run the mics directly into the mixing console. With the paired mics, we were able to acoustically and electronically match them together, so there is no EQ’ing needed at all, just panning left right, and that’s it. In my opinion, that’s the way it should work.”
Since the microphones are so diminutive and able to fade into the background, Bart says they further proved to be the best solution, especially for streaming, as they are not seen—just heard. In addition, the ease of use was also a big factor.
“The majority of the people running the AV equipment are volunteers,” adds Bart. “To have the equipment run and sound smooth for them is a huge priority. The church and its volunteers are all so positive and enthusiastic about the result of the live stream and how it sounds. Their parishioners, both local and around the world, have truly enjoyed the weekly services that Petruskerk provides to them.”
Founded in 2013, HOF provides rental and support services to a wide array of live events clients, in addition to offering technical production, AV equipment sales and live streaming services. For more information, visit: www.hof.nl.