Speaker Location; A Sound Delivery

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Speaker Location; A Sound Delivery

Listen … what can you hear?  Very rarely will it be silence; there will always be a ticking clock, the rain pouring down, or the clicking of a computer keyboard.  Sound is everywhere; we are subjected to it continuously from the monument we wake up until the moment we fall asleep.

The effect of sound is often subliminal and as such, getting the audio right for your venue is a key factor in creating the ambience and mood you want to achieve for your guests. Deliver poor quality, inappropriate sound and people will always complain, get it right and it enhances the décor, service and experience of a venue, and customers will rarely remark.

So how do I deliver quality sound?

Delivering quality sound is down to what you play and how you play it.  The most carefully selected play list is useless unless the music is of the right quality, delivered through the correct hardware, which in turn needs to be expertly installed in the right position.

We have spoken about sound quality in other articles; ‘A sound decision’ http://www.cga-integration.co.uk/downloads/product_information/A%20sound%20decision%20music%20vs%20silence.pdf and ‘Using sound to differentiate your spa’  http://www.cga-integration.co.uk/downloads/product_information/Using%20Sound%20to%20Differentiate%20Your%20Spa.pdf so here we turn to sound positioning; where should the speakers go and why does this matter?

Getting the positioning right; the proximity effect

Obviously, the closer you are to a speaker, the louder any transmitted audio becomes.  However, a well designed sound system can help to balance how sound is delivered throughout a room, to minimise or completely avoid any ‘proximity effects’. 

Historically sound was delivered through speakers which were screwed onto the outside of walls in a room.  Not only was this often unsightly, but as sound was ‘squirted’ into the room, it remained loud in the immediate proximity of any speakers and quieter in the centre of the room.  In addition to this, as the sound waves converged in the centre of the room they worked against each other, and as such the quality of the sound here become ‘muddy’; unclear and undefined, creating a less than desirable experience for those in that area.

Ceiling Speakers

At CGA Integration we try, wherever possible, to use ceiling speakers in our designs and installation.  This enables us to create a grid of speakers to offer an even coverage of sound throughout a room.  As customer’s ears are always a constant distance from the ceiling and therefore from the speakers, (no matter how tall they are!), they will receive a consistent sound as they move throughout the room. In addition to this, mounting speakers on the same level within a ceiling gives you the hidden advantage of the speaker cones coupling, which gives greater efficiency and a theoretical large driver area which allows for increased bottom end sound throughout the room.

Speaker design
Although speaker technology as a whole has not evolved greatly in recent years, ceiling speaker design has been refined and it is now possible to generate a good quality, full warm sound from a ceiling speaker, without the need for a separate bass bin.  This will satisfy audio needs in most situations, but there are still areas where separate bass bins are required;

‘Party Level’ Audio

In bars and function rooms which demand ‘party level’ audio, separate bass bins are still required to deliver the sound level needed in these environments.  Bass may be ‘omni- directional, but bass bins need to be positioned to generate an even balance of sound throughout a room; otherwise they will generate the same proximity effect as badly positioned wall mounted speakers.  Ceiling mounted bass bins are now available which enables the bass to dissipate above the guests rather than be focused in one point at floor level, again minimising ‘proximity effects’.

Design led small speakers

Many designers request that we use tiny ceiling speakers which look chic and compact.  If this is the case, a ceiling mounted bass bin will also have to be factored into the audio design to ensure a full and warm sound.

Speakers need to be a certain size or diameter to enable all frequencies of sound to be projected into the room at a balanced usable volume.  If the size of the speakers is greatly reduced, separate bass bins are required to enable lower frequency sound waves to be amplified and transmitted.  Small speakers are great for personal use; one person listening to their headphones hears well balanced audio, but these same speakers can not be used to fill a room with well balanced sound, the result would be a very thin and tinny noise.

‘Invisible’ speakers

Speakers are now available to deliver sound in challenging areas.  CGA has designed and installed sound systems with invisible drive units which deliver quality sound through the following media;

• Plaster in plasterboard ceilings
• Wood panelling in wooden ceilings and walls
• Glass
• Sheet metal.

This enables superior sound to be delivered in areas such as spas, lift cars or highly design lead environments.

Again, due to the specialist nature of these units, separate bass bins will need to be factored into the audio design in these areas to generate a fully balanced audio.

Always start early

If you are refurbishing or building a new area within your venue it is always worth considering your audio needs early on within a project.  By factoring audio requirements in at the design stage, the best possible sound system can be designed for you, which will blend seamlessly with the rest of the décor within a room and create the best possible results for you and your guests.  With so many factors to consider we would be happy to advice you.  For more information or to discuss specific project requirements please contact CGA Integration; Specialist sound, light and video system integrators.

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A Sound Decision

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Music is everywhere; in shops, lifts, even while being placed ‘on hold’ in between being told that our call is important to the company in question. With the dawn of mobile digital music, we can listen to our own choice of tracks wherever we are; exercising, sitting on the train or just walking down the street. Music is very much part of everyone’s lives every day. So do we really want to listen to music when we go for that important business lunch or a special meal with friends or would silence be a welcome relief?

Without background music intimate restaurants can make guests feel uncomfortable as they are concerned that they will be overheard by others on adjacent tables, whereas larger open plan venues run the risk of background noise becoming too overpowering and creating the feeling of a workplace canteen.

The answer seems to lie with the quality and appropriateness of a venue’s audio. Get it wrong and people will always complain, get it right and it enhances the ambience and experience of the venue and customers will rarely remark.

Walking across a gravel path, breaking a pane of glass, puffing up a feather pillow, sound is so evocative and can conjuring up such vivid imagery. Blended correctly with creative interior design, superior customer service and exceptional cuisine it plays a critical part in delivering a memorable dining experience, for all the right reasons.

There is so much we can do with sound. By investing in carefully placed speakers, a good quality music source and good quality audio content, the whole dining experience can be greatly enhanced. Venues need to ensure that sound is properly budgeted for when designing or refurbishing. Digital music formats such as MP3 files or iPods are badly compressed forms of recording and storing music. As such, although fine for personal use, these will never sound very good if used to play throughout a large space such as a restaurant. Venues need music servers which can store CD content in an un-compressed format (the same quality as the original CD). These servers allow the delivery of music in a far superior dynamics, depth and clarity which in turn delivers an overall better experience for their guests.

Sound is no longer a visual ‘blot on the landscape’ either. Speakers available today do not have to impact on the visual look of their surroundings, tiny speakers can be finished to any RAL colour to enable them to blend in or plastered in speakers which are completely invisible can be used. These can be placed in ceilings, behind wooden panelling or even behind glass or mirrors to enable quality sound in all environments. In fact technology can now allow each diner or table of diners in a restaurant to hear different music or sound effects to complement their menu choice and totally enhance the ambience of their dining experience through invisible speakers, directional speakers and sound cannons. The opportunities are endless.

So don’t eat in silence, but don’t tolerate a barrage of bad noise either. Make a sound decision and invest in a well designed quality audio system and hear the difference from your satisfied guests.

Refurbishing your events room? How can I maximise the effectiveness of this critical space?

Background

Much consideration is placed on the look and ambience of events spaces and ballrooms in our hotels, these rooms are a key part of the hotel armoury, as a successful conference or function booking secures sales in so many other areas.  It is therefore vital that their role, and the technology required to deliver this, is carefully considered as part of any refurbishment cycle.

Design vs. Functionality  Design vs. Functionality

You should not have to trade off design for functionality.  With careful planning the functionality of a space can be delivered alongside beautiful design.  To create a successful ‘events space’ it is vital that the technological aspects are considered alongside the visual appearance of the room as part of the planning process; not just what you need the technology to do, but what hardware is required in order to make this a reality.  Where carefully designed together, a holistic approach to lighting, audio and video needs can be seamlessly integrated into the design of a room to deliver the functionality required in an unobtrusive, even invisible manor.  When done effectively, this actually enhances the overall ambience of the space, as sound and lighting are critical in creating the optimum guest experience,

What Hardware do I need?

Before this question can be answered, it is vital that the key usage of the room is understood.  Requirements for conference delegates may be very different from wedding guests and may differ again for those attending a charity fundraiser or gala dinner.  Understanding how you wish to position your ‘events space’ is key in delivering the best technology to suit your guests.  Many hotels may find that they require facilities which are flexible, to meet the needs of all these kinds of events.  In addition ‘types’ of customers also need to be considered.  Sometimes spaces are hired out directly to ‘the end user’ who will need the venue to provide all of the facilities and at other times they are hired to an ‘events’ or ‘production’ company who will provide their own technology and room dressing, each have very different requirements of the events space.  

  

Designing the most flexible events space

Flexibility is often the answer, as many venues need to be able to adapt to suit many different requirements.  As such, it is important to own a certain level of hardware to allow ‘in house’ events and conferences, as well as to have the ability to provide an adaptable and technologically compatible venue for events companies to hire.  As a basic requirement, every venue needs its own PA and Projector system to allow for background music, speeches, announcements, and presentations.  The specification of these will depend on the acoustics and size of the venue.  It is always worth discussing your customer’s needs with your lighting, audio and video integrator during the planning of your refurbishment.  They will be able to suggest the best solutions for your particular events space.

How do I make my facility appealing to events companies?

Increasingly, large companies are employing events organisers to deliver important events in their corporate calendars.  In turn, events organisers need reliable venues to work in partnership with, as they strive to be as professional as possible.  They need interesting and unique rooms to hold events within or the ability to easily create a unique environment within an existing space.  This relies on three key attributes;

1. Accessibility 

2. Power 

3. Compatible technology 

These in turn need to be designed into the structure of the room to ensure that they are as seamless as possible.  This will subsequently free up more space and therefore enable maximum occupancy within the room. 

  

Accessibility

Dressing a room, building a stage or bringing in lighting & PA equipment requires a large team, lots of boxes and often odd shaped things! If you have the opportunity to consider the loading route for a venue, it is helpful to allow vehicles as close as possible to the events room and if possible, allow the main loading path to be on a level route or one with ramps rather than steps. If this is not possible, lifts are an option, but these need to be goods lifts with a good internal volume and load rating and not guest lifts, as even the best handles of a flight case can bang, scuff or dent a lift interior. 

Power

All events need power, and lots of it!  It is vital that events rooms have a good number of 13amp sockets in a suitable number of circuits, spread around every wall and between multiple doorways. If you have a venue large enough to justify a stage or a flown lighting rig it will be worth fitting what is called hard Power; some large Cee Form/commando style connectors offering higher currents of single or three phase power. These are most usefully placed near the side of the stage, just outside the loading doors near back stage or behind panels in the room where the desk/amps might be or the cable runs to the lighting rig may come down and will allow the staging area to be effectively lit. 

  

Compatible Technology

Sound:  It is essential that your systems are never compromised in the desire to make your facilities as appealing as possible to events companies.  When considering sound requirements it is paramount that your ‘main racks’ and ‘controls’ are not touched by any third party as this will void your warranty with the installation company.  If your existing room sound configurations do not meet the requirements of an events company, it is always safer to allow them to provide their own systems for further specific requirements.  If however you have established a good working relationship with a particular events company it is possible to allow them to connect to the ‘front of house’ audio or video sockets to use the ‘house’ system in parallel with the ‘events’ system.  If you feel this is beneficial for you, it is always advisable to contact your installation company to ensue that relevant safeguards are in place and any training required is conducted with the relevant events company staff.   

Lighting:  There are positive benefits in allowing an events company to integrate their DMX lighting desk with your in house lighting system.  Working with your lighting system provider, it is possible through the installation of DMX sockets and a DMX merge unit to allow the events company to take control of the lighting within a designated room or area.  Your lighting system provider can ensure that this is set up such that the events company can only control the area you choose and that this will not affect any other areas of the venue or safety measures such as ‘lights to full’ in the event of a fire.  Once established, it will enable the events company to dim house lights and bring up stage lights seamlessly. 

  

Hiding the Hardware  

By their very nature, events and functions are temporary affairs and with them they bring what has become an inevitable number of cables, rubber mats and gaffer tape, running around your beautifully decorated venue!  To minimise the visual impact, however, the events room infrastructure can be designed to hide a large proportion of this temporary ‘hardware’.  This in turn will free up more space and therefore enable maximum ccupancy within the events room.  Some options include fitting; 

• Removable skirting board which has a void and trap doors to enable cables to be routed around the walls without being seen. 

• A trough in the floor around the perimeter of the room to allow cables to be laid in and covered.  This works well as it allows cables to cross doorways without impeding pedestrians or wheel chair access. 

• Vertical panels in walls at strategic points to allow floor to ceiling cabling to be hidden behind panels.  This allows the connection and control of lighting equipment without the need for big tripe’s of cable hanging down from trusses. 

• Video screens in the ceiling.  The use of video is becoming more and more prevalent in events for video, data and lighting projection. If screens are pre fitted in the events room ceiling, it produces a clean finish as these screens are nearly invisible once installed.  It also reduces the need for stands and rigging, allowing projection to be done swiftly and easily. 

• Rated flying points in the ceiling*.  Having properly rated flying points in the ceiling, which are compatible with the systems used by the events companies you work with, will enable a rigger to fly all of the lighting rigs and speakers from the ceiling, leaving you with the best possible space for your guests. 

* Flying points always need to be designed with your structural engineer to ensure stability.  Likewise it is always advisable to check riggers qualifications and insurance prior to their arrival on site even if they work for the events company. 

What else should I think about?

Your own staff or events coordinators will often know what will help to make a room work better as they experience the downfalls everyday.  This may be moving doors, changing the direction in which they hinge or the type of hinge fitted to allow silent access for minimum disruption.  It may also be prudent to fit general purpose cameras that can be accessed in back of house areas or the kitchens allow staff and events teams to have an unobtrusive view of the event room to enable them to deliver seamless timely service to guests.  It is also important to ensure that you have the relevant PPL and PRS licenses to enable music broadcasts to prevent any legal infringements.  

Conclusions

Getting both the design and functionality right will deliver a flexible and desirable events space which in turn will pay dividends for your venue.  It is vital to work with your lighting, audio and video integrator during the planning of your refurbishment to ensure that the best solutions are designed for your particular events space to maximise your return. 

Call CGA Integration Today to discuss your next project - 0845 058 4650

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info@cga-integration.co.uk

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Ceiling speakers

One of the most common questions we get asked by designers is:

"Can we have those small Bose cubes on the side walls of our new restaurant/bar?"

And unfortunately our answer is normally NO!

·        Bose will be the first people to tell you that these are NOT a commercial product and should not be installed in a commercial environment

·        Secondly designers normally choose these are they are discrete - but when you install small speakers such as these you always need to have a complimentary larger cabinet to fill in the bass and low frequencies that these cabinets cannot reproduce.

·        And most importantly mounting speakers around the outside of a venue is not always the best solution and can lead to an uneven sound field within a venue.

What do we need in a good restaurant?
When a guest dines in your restaurant they all receive the same quality of service, they have the same menu, linen, drinks offer, etc
So your sound system should be delivering to ALL your customers the same sound levels, ambience and atmosphere.

What is the best way to do this?
In a simple venue this even sound field is most evenly achieved by using a grid of ceiling speakers.
If you think about it a person walking through a room will always have their ear a constant. Distance from the ceiling, so if the speakers are placed correctly they will have a consistent sound level all the way throughout the room.
Unfortunately if we where to have used the wall mounted solution the same customer will find that the sound is louder near the walls and the sound will be lower in the middle of the room and then get louder again when he/she approaches the perimeter of the room
CGA use a ceiling speaker distribution calculator to match the height of the ceiling, the size of the room and the specification of the speakers to create an even sound field

We can apply this formula to most rooms and the current generation of ceiling speakers have white grills for white ceilings and as they are outside of our normal field of vision they disappear very quickly.

CGA Integration have used this formula in a wide range of venues, following are some of the CGA installations that use ceiling speakers to fulfil our clients requirements:
http://www.cga-integration.co.uk/case_tamarind.htm
http://www.cga-integration.co.uk/case_ducasse.htm
http://www.cga-integration.co.uk/case_chinatang.htm

What if I have not got a flat ceiling?
We can apply this principal to ceilings with exposed beams or even open up to the apex.
In Spains hall in Essex CGA used the ceiling beams to create a virtual ceiling and mounted speakers on this level to create an even sound field across the main dining room.
At Great Fosters in Egham CGA used the apex of the ceiling to mount the speakers - putting all listeners in the far field of the speakers, but also ensuring that all customers are a consistent distance from the speakers creating an even sound field at the listening positions - I.e. At the tables

Obviously every room if differentand each customer requires a different exeperience for their clients. CGA Integration pride ourselves on understanding customer needs to try and apply the corrcet solution in every application. Please see subscribe/Follow this blog to see different ways we solve problems for our customers.

Best regards
CGA Integration