Aiming Loudspeakers (2 x 2 tweeters and 1 woofer per group)

The inner front loudspeakers should be pointed towards the last seat at the left or right respectively in the third row of seats as illustrated in the above drawing. To do this, one person stands at that seat and another person aims the loudspeaker in that direction, without tilting it downwards. The outer front loudspeakers are pointed past the sound projectionist towards about the 3rd seat at the left or at the right respectively of the middle of the last row of seats (see drawing), without tilting it downwards. For a 4-track playback, the same applies to aiming the rear loudspeakers, but in the opposite viewing direction.

This is the only way to guarantee that the sound sources reach everyone in the audience (also those seated at the sides).

The loudspeakers should always be hung as high as possible or placed on high stands (at least 4,5 metres high), and not tilted downwards. The sound sources should never be aimed directly at the audience, but rather the sound should also reach the audience indirectly through the reflections on the walls. That is the only way to project a full sound which, however, never hurts the ears of the listeners.

The woofers (1 bass loudspeaker per group) may be positioned on the floor beneath their 2 tweeters and it must be possible to regulate their volumes separately.

The sound projectionist always needs a second person who, during the rehearsal, sits down on as many seats as possible in different places in the hall (especially those nearest to the loudspeaker positions) to assess if the sound is balanced everywhere and never too loud (possibly seats will have to be blocked).

For aiming the loudspeakers in an octophonic set-up, the loudspeakers in the upper square – if they really can be hung very high (ca. 12–14 metres) – are tilted slightly downwards, and their levels are set ca. 5 dB louder than the lower tracks 1–4 (with a group fader for tracks 5–8). Only by doing this can the vertical movements of the sounds be clearly heard. This applies therefore to the works OKTOPHONIE and MITTWOCHS-ABSCHIED. Otherwise, the upper square of loudspeakers is aimed in the same way as the lower square, as described above (see drawing).

Unlike the 4-track set-up for the playback of works such as GESANG DER JÜNGLINGE, HYMNEN or KONTAKTE, in an octophonic loudspeaker set-up, the lower square of loudspeakers is set up low, on the floor, with the two tweeters placed on the woofer. This is the only way that the audience can really hear the sounds "shooting upwards" from the floor to the ceiling