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Topic: Octophonic installation? (Read 7392 times) previous topic - next topic
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Octophonic installation?

Hey guys,

I have a question concerning an octophonic audiovisual installation I will have to mix for. It's driving me nuts, I so hope that someone around here has the knowledge how to set things up for a project like this:

There is no possibility to mix on site - the final room where the installation takes place will be 8m x 12m large, but I'll mix in a room that only has 4m x 7m, every wall will be used as a screen and there will be objects "flying" around over all walls of the room... 
The question: What is the best way to place speakers during the mix and at the installation? Is there a possibility to place them in the corners of the room or is the way to go to align them in a circle?
Or the other way round: How can I assure, that the localisation of the sounds I'll do in the mix will fit the final installation? (I still have the possibility to say where the speakers should be placed...)

It would be so great if someone can help me out, as I'm totally lost right now.

THANKS!!!

Octophonic installation?

Reply #1 –
I'd try the corners and the center of each wall. 

Your monitoring/mixing setup should closely match the production/performance setup.    But it doesn't have to be exactly the same.  The acoustics will be different and the listening positions might be different, but our ability to locate the source of a sound isn't usually as good as we think it is anyway...  A larger room will probably make the whole thing "better" because the longer distances will create a bigger volume-difference and a bigger time-delay between near and distant sounds.

It would be a good idea to calbrate the volume of each speaker with an SPL meter so that equal signals are equally loud from each speaker in your mixing/moitoring position.  Then, do the same thing in the production/performance setup.

I assume that the listeners will be scattered around the room.    Keep that in mind when you are panning the sound between speakers.    That probably implies lots of "hard panning" with sounds coming from only one speaker as much as that fits into the overall "production".    (i.e. A sound centered between a pair of speakers will only sound centered, if the listener is equal-distant from the speakers.)   


Also...
- The more reflective the room, the harder it is to locate the source of a sound.

- It sometimes takes a few seconds to locate the direction a sound (although the visual will help a lot).  If there's lots of "flyiing around" movement, the source/location may not be as important as the sense of movement.

- Make sure your "pan laws" are set-up for constant power...  That will keep the sound level constant when the sound is being sent to more than one speaker.