Guest experience
What a guest hears, and why it decides whether they stay
Nobody leaves a wedding saying the sound was nicely EQ'd. They leave saying they could hear everything, they could talk, and the music made them want to stay. That can be designed.
The principle
Good sound goes unnoticed; bad sound is never forgotten
A guest does not evaluate an audio system. Without realising it, they judge three things: whether they can understand what is being said, whether they can talk to the person next to them, and whether they feel like heading to the dance floor. All three depend on technical decisions, but none of them is expressed in technical terms. That is why quotes that only list equipment tell you nothing about how the event will go.
The difference between an event that is remembered fondly and one that is only half remembered is almost never the grade of the equipment. It lies in where the speakers were placed, what volume each moment was set at, and whether someone was on hand to turn it down when needed.
Three signs that the sound is failing
People shout to talk. If guests raise their voices during the cocktail reception, the background level is higher than it should be. Within half an hour everyone will be hoarse and looking for the furthest corner. People drift away from the dance floor. It is not always that it is too loud: often it sounds harsh, with too much energy in the upper-mid frequencies. People ask what was just said. There the problem is intelligibility, and turning it up makes it worse.
Intelligibility
Understanding words is harder than hearing music
Music tolerates far worse sound than the spoken word does. A song is recognisable even when it arrives full of reverb with the consonants turned to mush; a sentence is not. When someone says “you couldn't hear a thing” about a speech, what they almost always mean is that you could hear it but not understand it.
What destroys intelligibility
Reverberation. Courtyards, cloisters, industrial buildings, rooms full of marble and glass: the sound bounces, one syllable overlaps the next and the brain stops separating words. The answer is not to turn it up but to bring it closer. More speakers, closer to the audience, each at a lower volume.
Distance from the microphone. A microphone thirty centimetres from the mouth picks up the voice and the room's echo in almost equal measure. At five centimetres it picks up mostly the voice. That is why, for speeches, a headset microphone usually works better than a lavalier, and both work better than a stand mic with someone who steps back when they get emotional.
Background noise. An air-conditioning unit, a nearby generator, the kitchen or the road all eat into intelligibility. If it cannot be eliminated, it has to be offset by getting closer, not by adding power.
At events where the spoken word is the content — conferences, official ceremonies, company meetings — this is not a detail, it is the whole service. There, a distributed PA system usually makes more sense than two big speakers either side of the stage.
Volume
Each moment of the event calls for a different level
The classic mistake is setting a volume at the start and leaving it. An event has phases, and each one has its sweet spot.
| Moment | Level | What you are aiming for |
|---|---|---|
| Reception and cocktails | Background music | People should be able to talk without raising their voices. The sound is there to avoid silence, not to be listened to. |
| Ceremony or speeches | Voice takes centre stage | Everything else is lowered or switched off. Understanding comes first, full stop. |
| Meal or banquet | Low background | Goes up slightly between courses and down while food is being served. |
| First dance or key moment | Goes up and takes focus | This is the moment of greatest attention: here you do want impact. |
| Open bar and dance floor | Party level | With subwoofers, and with an area of the venue where people can still talk. |
| Wind-down | Gradual fade | Cutting the volume suddenly empties the dance floor too early; lowering it gradually sends people off on a high. |
Placement
Where you put the speakers matters more than which ones you use
A modest, well-placed system beats an expensive, badly placed one. These are the rules most often broken and most often noticed.
Always in front of the microphones
Any speaker pointing at an open microphone is feedback waiting to happen. Reinforcement speakers go in front of the microphone line, never behind it. If the speaker on stage needs to hear themselves, that is solved with monitors aimed at them, not by turning up the room.
Spread out rather than concentrate
In long, narrow spaces — courtyards, streets, warehouses — two speakers at the far end force the front row to get too much so that the back row gets something. Spreading the same system across four points at a lower volume evens out the experience and lowers the maximum level in the venue, which also helps with the noise regulations.
Height and angle
A speaker at head height gets swallowed by the front rows. Raised on a tripod or flown, and angled slightly downwards, it covers far better. At events with a stage or platform, the height comes built in; in a flat function room you have to gain it.
Subwoofers don't go just anywhere
Subwoofers are placed on the floor and grouped together, not split into the corners. And you have to think about where you don't want bass: the older guests' tables, the children's area or the neighbour's façade, since the neighbour may call the local police.
Listening rest areas
A long event needs at least one area where people can talk. If the venue allows, an area is left without reinforcement or at a very low level. Older guests appreciate it, and it stops them leaving at eleven.
In practice
How this changes depending on the type of event
At a wedding, the challenge is the outdoor ceremony: wind, scattered guests and words spoken softly. In a Feria caseta (fair marquee), the challenge is putting sound into a canvas tent with neighbours three metres away. At a flamenco show, the challenge is making the footwork and the guitar heard without losing the voice. At a graduation or a First Communion party, it is making hundreds of names understood one by one.
The equipment may look similar; the placement and the tuning do not. That is why we always ask what is going to happen at the event before proposing anything.
Keep reading
To keep reading
Frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions
My guests are older; how do I keep it from being uncomfortable?
By lowering the overall level and spreading the sound across more points, instead of concentrating it in two powerful speakers. And by leaving one area of the venue at a low level, usually the one furthest from the dance floor.
Can you have good sound on the dance floor and still be able to talk at the tables?
Yes, if the areas are kept separate and the speakers are aimed properly. It is one of the reasons for using several small reinforcement points instead of a single large system.
The ceremony is outdoors and it's windy. What can be done?
Microphones close to the mouth with windshields, speakers close to the audience and, if possible, a layout arranged so the wind doesn't hit the microphone head-on. Wind is not fixed by turning up the volume.
Is a technician worth it if there is only recorded music?
If there are speeches, yes, even if only for that part. Someone has to open the microphone, set the voice level and go back to the music without an awkward thirty-second silence.
Tell us what is going to happen at your event
You don't need to know what equipment you need. With the running order for the day, we'll size it for you.
