Every exhibition is unique, and so is every exhibit

However, unlike cinemas, for example, which are certified with standardized standards for room acoustics, audio technology and the arrangement of listening seats, every exhibition is unique. Every exhibition has unique acoustics, which are determined by the architecture and exhibition buildings or the scenography. In addition, exhibition spaces have a much more complex structure than a movie theater, the exhibits can usually be perceived from all possible perspectives, and ultimately it is neither controllable nor predictable who pays attention to which exhibit and for how long. In terms of media technology, the situation is most comparable to a VR game: While a movie is a linear medium, you can experience a VR game interactively, walk around, stop, come back. But an exhibition is even more complex: all visitors can potentially see and hear everything, including each other. The exhibition experience does not take place in a technically and physically simplified version of the world, i.e. in virtual reality, but in a far more complex “real life”.

When you consider this complexity, it seems unthinkable to even begin to imagine an ideal sound system here, let alone any standards. Rather, the complexity of the exhibition medium seems to explain why the sound occasionally doesn’t sound as appropriate as one would like to hear it.

Thinking about the sound system from the exhibit

In exhibition projects, it is therefore not usually advisable to think of the sound system from the end, i.e. from the general ideal, but from the beginning, from the object. What does that mean in concrete terms?

Thinking from the end means that the ideal sound system that can do everything is very large for physical reasons alone and therefore not only expensive, but also quite inflexible to install in exhibitions.

Thinking from the beginning means thinking about the sound system from the perspective of the exhibit or event. You take a close look at the specific exhibit and the spatial context in which it is to be presented in order to then find a sound system as a very specific solution for it. The answer can be very different: It can be a 1-channel mini solution, for example. Or a larger, multi-channel sound system. Or headphones. It depends. Basically, it can be anything that generates sound waves.

An example

For example, a bird’s voice is to be made audible. Such a loudspeaker only needs to reproduce the sound range in which the bird sings sufficiently well. The loudspeaker therefore does not need to reproduce low tones and – in line with the exhibition concept – it may not need to be able to play louder than the bird itself sings. The loudspeaker can therefore be relatively small. A small loudspeaker can be positioned relatively easily exactly where the bird is to be perceived in the room. It is also visually less conspicuous and attracts less attention. Both audibly and visually, the technology disappears behind the event. We experience the exhibit, the message, the atmosphere – not the apparatus. We experience presence in the theme – not its technical communication.

A strategy for complex exhibition projects

In this way, you can look at each individual exhibit in an exhibition project that has a sound component and first define the specific requirements in each case. Following this principle of thinking from the exhibit, there will be a variety of different requirements for loudspeakers and audio technology, depending on what the exhibit in question needs.

You can then consider whether certain sounds can perhaps share a speaker, or how certain speakers can be used simultaneously for different purposes.

The extent to which compromises can be made here must be assessed with regard to both the exhibit in question and the overall concept. The respective solution does not always have to be ideal – but good enough to fit perfectly into the overall picture.

And the use of digital audio networks or spatial audio technologies can be useful to make the complex distribution of audio signals manageable.

What “thinking from the beginning” really achieves in the end

When it comes to a large number of audio exhibits, this planning quickly becomes complex and requires a bit of experience to find a technically, financially and creatively elegant solution. And it is obvious that not only a sound engineering but also a holistic design perspective is required here.

But the result is worthwhile in many respects. The most important thing is that the soundtrack has a differentiated, precise, nuanced and natural effect in the overall picture of the exhibition; this is essential for conveying content.

What must not be forgotten, however, is that the sound system alone does not make a single sound. The basis for a good “soundtrack” is an exhibition concept in which the visual and auditory information is sensibly balanced, a sensitive selection, production and design of sounds, as well as a mixture of all sounds that creates a holistic sense of space in interaction with the scenography. The sound system is nothing more, but also nothing less, than the prerequisite for being able to translate the soundtrack of an exhibition into a convincing listening experience.