Traveling with Alexander. Discovering Romania, a country rich in history, culture and nature.
Date: June 07, 2013
During a stay that lasted four days our dear friend and colleague Alexander visited some of the oldest and most beautiful Orthodox and Catholic churches of the "Dacia Felix" province, crossing the unspoiled landscapes of unexpected beauty. Mr. Mihai Buculei, the Belltron dealer in Romania, was a tireless, enthusiastic guide. He was full of compliments for the work that the Belltorn team in Italy does; always in search of the best solutions.
The trip proved to be an acclaim between the Belltron equipment and the Romanian clergy.The trip only lasted four days, from the 20th to the 24th of May, just a short time in such a large, country, but it was enough to confirm the excellent relationship and the strong ties that have been established in eastern Europe that has been going on for the past five years. Alessandro was met with some surprises and satisfactions; the accurate and detailed work that Mr. Mihai Buculei has accomplished, and continues to carry out in his country, has made us increasingly aware of the importance that every single individual that collaborates with our company has. The relationship with the patriarchs are good and the connections with the bishops of the Catholic church are excellent too. Alexander was invited to see the various completed installations and helped to individualize any interferences in order to optimize the audio performance of each church.
Orthodox Church of Borzesti - Bacau.
The pride of the efficiency of the audio system and look of the Belltron equipment can be seen in the installation made in the Adromirea Maicii Domnului Orthodox church in Borzesti in the county of Bacau. The church is dedicated to the Assumption of the Mother of Christ and was built in 1493, in a land of mystical beauty. It produces a deep impression on the visitor who are struck by its simplicity and elegance.
The Diocese of Romania took the initiative to decorate the church and started the work of frescoes realised by the famous painter Grigore Popescu. The paintings were inspired by the representation of the commander Stefan, in memory of the symbol of unity in Romania, defender of the Orthodox faith and founder of the holy places. The colours that give life to the painted scenes are lively and attractive, perfectly integrated with the environment and the era. On this occasion Belltron gave its best by inspecting the church to find the correct blend of colours of the sound system to fit the atmosphere. The CA65 series speakers were consequently realized in cobalt blue in order to provide a valuable result of aesthetic harmony and perfect sound for the reverberant environment.
The assignment was fully agreed upon and was concluded by this trip. In addition to the supply of the CA 65 speakers an audio amplifier BPA 95 TC with integrated antilarsen , microphones of various class features and outside horn speaker were supplied. The outside speaker was necessary in order to meet the needs of some of the congregation which often remains outside owing to the size of the church.
The Cathedral of Iasi.
Continuing their journey to the north east, a few miles from Moldova, hidden among the Seven Hills, Alexander and Mihai arrived in Iasi. The beginning of spring is definitely a good time to visit the country; the continental climate is not too hot and the colours of the nature begin to paint the landscape. Forests and woods, cultivated fields, soaring mountains, rivers that mark boundaries and cross the city.
Iasi was the undisputed protagonist of the history of the region. In the past it was the capital of the Principality of Moldavia (1565) and today is the most important intellectual crucible of Romania being the home to several universities and cultural and religious centres.
Iasi is the Episcopal capital of the Diocese of Iasu, currently ruled by the Bishop Petru Gherghel (since 1990). The Cathedral of Santa Maria Regina has one of the most important Belltron audio systems installed. It all began two years ago with an inspection of the Church by SC Prompt Audio (the company run by Mr. Mihai) to find an optimal solution for the requirements of the place of worship. The bishop, father Gherghel, was aware of the difficulty of the project to realize a new sound system owing to the round shape and design of the Cathedral. The previously installed audio system was a disaster and after only five years from its installation, a decision was made to improve the audio inside the cathedral with a new effective installation made by Belltron.
The assessment.
An inspection of an environment to detect acoustic reverberations, closely related to the audio intelligibility, is first of all to verify the size of the place and analyze the delay time.
Environments such as churches and Cathedrals, are very often analyzed from an architecturally aesthetic point of view but not of the sound; this can give serious problems regarding the intelligibility of speech. Reverb is the sound that persists in an environment when the direct signal is void. This sound is originated from the signal of the original sound in the areas that it encounters. A part of the sound wave of the signal phenomenon is absorbed while the rest is reflected. Therefore, when a wave reaches the boundary between one area and another, a portion of the wave undergoes reflection and a portion undergoes transmission across the boundary.
The second stage of the survey regards choosing the most suitable type of speaker for the environment and finding the correct position inside the Cathedral. At the same time the number of microphones required is established.
The solution for Iasi.
The best solution for the acoustic requirements of the Cathedral in Iasi was the combination of the CA 65 series of speakers that allow a clear voice and sound diffusion and the series BPA 240 MEA, the digital mixer with integrated antilarsen and parametric equalizer. We tried to meet the requirements of the Bishop and to make the installation cost effective. To do so the mixer was connected to the existing amplifiers in the Cathedral with different volumes. Also included in the installation were a number of various types of microphones according to their final use within the church.
Following the above survey, a trial test phase is organized during which the speakers are placed on tripods (before actually fastening them to the walls). The microphones are then connected to be tested and the PC to the digital mixer through which, thanks to special program, the pink noise signal or rustling is identified. The PC clearly shows the response curve of the environment. The systems which detect reverbs are all digital and use very sophisticated algorithms methods the implementation of which is made possible thanks to the continuous increase in computational power available.
Once the highest and lowest peaks are determined, the frequency responses that are outside acceptable acoustics can be changed on the display of the PC. Consequently, the audio emitted through the Belltron equalizer has no annoying reverberations and crackles.
TheBPA-240 also offers the possibilityof saving the balance foundin the internal memoryandif necessaryadjustthe parametersduring the individualfunctions, depending onthe amount of people in the placeof worship.The BPA-240 has no knobs and therefore is not subject to adjustments ortampering byunauthorized individuals.
The congregation has repeatedly expressed its enthusiasm regarding the proven effectiveness of the devices made by Belltron. This is why the Bishop, Petru Gherghel and Father Aurel Perca, were very pleased to see Alexander and to report the positive responses that have been made. As a sign of their gratitude, Father Aurel dedicated a space on their web site to Belltron Italy:
http://www.ercis.ro/actualitate/viata.asp?id=20120459.
Other encounters.
Even the dealer Mr. Mihai was very pleased to be able to show the work he had carried out with enthusiasm and tireless energy to one of Belltron’s representatives. The days were spent visiting very impressive sacred images, monasteries, natural landscapes and marked signs of modern cities. Alexander visited many churches and monasteries where installations were made by the SC Prompt Audio company. Amongst these was the parish church of Cibesoaia.
Some of the visits carried out in the course of this journey to find new installation sites took place in Buzeu, at the headquarters of the Orthodox seminary and at the Bishop’s head office (audio tests were made using the GL 205 speakers) and in Bacao at the Orthodox Cathedral now under construction, for the complete sound reinforcement system.
The churches in these areas are taken very much into consideration and a lot of them receive improvements almost every year unlike many other buildings which date back to the Soviet occupation. The employee, Mr. Mihai, is a tireless worker and a dear friend of the Romanian clergy therefore a direct channel for Belltron to the Eastern Europe market. This is a good market for those who, like Belltron, wish to obtain impeccable achievements, promote all the comforts of an installation, ease the management of services and promote advanced technology products.
