Like the Sound of It?

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Sound is commonly the last thing people think about for their events — perhaps because we can’t see it. And yet sound is, I believe, the most important dynamic during an event.

If you don’t want to take my word for it, think about this: Remove food and drink from an event, and it can still be a great experience. Remove the lights and your event will still be entertaining. You can even remove the decoration and people will still have fun. However, if you remove the sound and the music, your event won’t keep most people’s attention.

Sound and Emotion

The difference between poor sound and perfect sound is the quantity and quality of emotion your guests receive.

Imagine having your guests dance to a little stereo from your living room — it’s not loud enough, the bass has no impact and you don’t reach your audience. With the correct sound system, though, guests gravitate to the dance floor as soon as the music begins.
To get this effect, you need a good subwoofer that carries, in the bass, the body and the rhythm of the music.

The “beat” of the music comes from the cooperation between the kick drum and the bass. If you cannot reproduce this sound with your system, the quality of your sound, and therefore your audience’s experience, will suffer. Meanwhile, the higher frequencies provide the swing and melody, etc.

If you want people to dance to the music, you need one or two good subwoofers to accurately reproduce the low-end frequencies.

What your DJ May be Missing

Surprisingly, most mobile DJs for corporate and other events don’t have subwoofers in their systems. Yet they could have three times the impact just by having the correct equipment. Sure, people were dancing before subwoofer technology, but if you compare two systems at the same time with the same audience, most people will go directly to the system with a subwoofer. It pulses in a way that creates in the body a desire to move.

Another point of interest is the balancing effect when you cover the low end of the frequency spectrum. Sometimes the high frequencies can be so high they’re painful (or “aggressive”). When you add a subwoofer to cover the low end accurately, the high-end frequencies suddenly become nonaggressive, since you have a balance between the high and low frequencies.

Next time you feel something isn’t right with the sound, first check to see if there is a subwoofer in the system.

It’s All about Technique

The next aspect to discuss is technique. For the dance floor or audience, you need at least two speakers on stands. Inside the speakers are two drivers, one of which reproduces the low and medium frequencies, called a woofer, and the other of which reproduces the high frequencies, called the horn or tweeter. To reproduce the lowest frequencies, the bass, you normally have another stand-alone woofer with a 15-inch or, even better, an 18-inch driver (this is the subwoofer we spoke of earlier). Unless your speakers are self-powered, you also need an amplifier to power your speakers. This is the most basic system that will give you the sound you desire.

Now you need a crossover. A crossover is a system that prevents the upper frequencies from being reproduced on the subwoofer. This enables you to push more power to the sub, which produces more punch in the bass. The subwoofer has to work within a narrow frequency range (30 Hz to 120 Hz) to be able to give you the sound it is meant to deliver. The lower frequencies move much slower than the higher frequencies. If the subwoofer is not dedicated to the bass (low) frequencies, it cannot accurately reproduce them because the subwoofer is moving too fast trying to reproduce the high and low frequencies concurrently. This is why a crossover is almost mandatory when using a subwoofer and must be connected between the sound source and the subwoofer amplifier.

If you’ve determined that the system has a subwoofer, but you still don’t like the sound, check to see if you have this very vital piece of equipment and that it is connected in the right place.

The All-Important Horn

The horn reproduces high frequencies. To have a smooth response in this range (6,500 Hz to 20,000 Hz), you need a high-quality horn. The difference in horn quality determines if the high frequencies are aggressive instead of smooth or unintelligible instead of clear. This is why, especially for this range of frequencies, you need to have high-quality equipment.

My passion for sound led me to build my first speaker at the age of 12. Since that time I have done many tests, on many different horns, and I can tell you that the difference is huge between a cheap horn and a high-quality horn. Your ears and your audience will be very grateful!

How was the Sound at your Last Event?

This is a good question to ask yourself. Even more importantly, did your audience enjoy the show? The point is, if you have good performers coupled with great sound, your clients will notice, and when the sound system is sub-par, knowledge of how to improve the system and work with sound engineers is crucial.

First of all, keep in mind that sound systems are simply tools used to carry the communication of a performer further. That’s it. This can be achieved without any degradation of sound quality or harmful sound interference. The ultimate goal is to have the emotion created by the performer carried far enough with at least the same level of emotion, if not more.

Sometimes people think they need the biggest and best sound system they can find. But there are many different ways to contribute to the communication of the performer as effectively as possible, and if you keep this purpose in mind, you will consistently achieve success with your sound system.

Once the purpose of a sound system has been understood, it’s critical to evaluate how to improve its quality:

• Is your sound system good enough?

• Is the brand of your equipment recognized in the industry?

• Is everything connected correctly?

• Is the sound person a professional?

• Is your sound system loud enough? (Is it too loud?)

• Do you have any feedback problems?

• Do you have subwoofer speaker units to cover the low-end spectrum (for music only)?

These questions will help you determine if your sound system is capable of meeting your needs. A good reference can be to play a CD you know very well, and correct the sound until you are satisfied. You can use this technique before the event and make all the sound adjustments you need.

Additionally, keep in mind that it’s better to have four speakers at half power than two speakers at full power, especially if your guests are in front of them. Structured like this, the sound is equal in the rear as well as the front of the room. It’s slightly more expensive, but it will please your clients.

Try it and create very satisfied customers while securing their business for the next year!

About the author: Philippe Carillo

Philippe Carillo is the founder of Studio 116, an audio, sound and lighting rental company based in Los Angeles.

Contact: phil@studio116.net