Planning for good acoustics in a building begins with the selection of the building site and continues through

all stages of designing. The architect will avoid inexcusable errors in design if he sets up a check, list of the necessary and sufficient measures to be taken for obtaining good acoustics. These steps, approximately in chronological order as follows: ( 1) The selection of the site in the quietest surroundings consistent with other requirements. (2) The making of a noi~e survey to determine how much sound insulation must be incorporated in a building to meet specified requirements of quietness. (3} The arrangement of the rooms within the building. {4) The selection of the proper sound-insulation construction. {5) The control of the noise within the building, including solid-borne as well as air-borne noise. (6) The design of the size of each room that will insure the most advantageous flow of properly diffused sound to all auditors, and that will enhance the aesthetic qualities of speech and music. (7) The selection and distribution of the absorptive and reflective materials and constructions that will provide the optimum conditions for the growth, the decay, and the steady-mate distribution of sound in each room. (8) The supervision of the installation of acoustical plaster, plastic absorbents, or other materials whose absorptivity is dependent on the manner of application. (9) The installation of sound-amplification equipment under the supervision of a competent engineer; wherever such equipment is necessary. (10) The.inspection of the finished building including tests to determine whether the requi~ed sound insulation, sound absorption, and the other acoustical propertie!l have been satisfactorily attained. {11) Maintenance instractlor\s, in writing, to be left with the building manager, indicating (a) how the acoustical materials can be cleaned or .. redecorated (b) which-finishings in the building must be retained to maintain good acoustics, (c) how, in large speech and music rooms where high-quality reproduction is desired, the humidity should be maintained in order to avoid excessive absorption of high-pithed

Requirements for -Good Acoustics

( 1 ) All noises, whether of outside or inside origin, should be reduced to levels that will not interfere with the hearing of speech or music. .. (2) The rooms shape and size should be designed to (a) give proper diffusion to the sound (b) reinforce the sound reaching the audience, especially toward the rear seating area, and (c) contribute to the attainment of a favorable ratio of direct to reflected sound for all auditors. Although these desirable conditions are also affected by the distribution of the absorptive materials and by the sound - amplification system by the shape and size of the room, it is often necessary to design special wall and ceiling surfaces to act as reflectors for the reinforcement of sound at the rear of the roorp, and it is sometimes essential to introduce splays or other surface irregularities to provide proper diffusion of sound. . (3) The reverberation time vs frequency curve should approach the optimum characteristics, which are determined by the volume and type of room. The fluctuations In the growth and delay curves should be such as to yield optimum reverberation conditions. (4) Provision should be made for reinforcing the speech and music in a room so that sound level will be adequate in all parts. of the room. In a small room, this requirement can be met by the proper design or reflective surfaces (walls, floors and ceilings); in a large room, in addition to the proper design of the reflective surfaces, a high-quality