Six Solutions for Sound Bleed, Part 2

Sound bleed is subjective and can’t be eliminated. So what can we do? We looked at three strategies so far:

A. Allow overlaps.
B. Protect silence.
C. Isolate loudness.

Here are the last three:

D. Separating narratives
The next concern is conflicting narration (different narrators saying different things). Just keep these distant enough. Test it. Distant voices are less distracting than you think.

E. Focusing sound
When sounds must be near enough to conflict, there is technology. Plexiglas domes (avoid), linear arrays, hanging pizza-box arrays (best). Get one and experiment. (More on these soon.)

F. Individualized sound
Last for a reason. Try to avoid putting the speaker on the visitor. Audio guides are a whole industry. Headsets attached to exhibits trigger issues of hygiene, breakage and complaints. If individual audio is mandatory, no US-made product shines. Try German single-ear handsets.

Here’s the thing:
Sound bleed is the most worried-about issue there is. But you can allow more sound overlaps than you think. For the rest, there are many solutions.

Warmly,
Jonathan