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Acoustics
The science that studies the waves that are conducted through matter due to the motion of the matter. Usually air is the material that most people think of when it comes to acoustic waves. But acoustic waves exist in all matter. Architectural acoustics, is the study of acoustics when the air is contained in a room. Church acoustics is a sub division of architectural acoustics..
Sound (waves)
!ressure fluctuations in the air that are heard when an acoustic wave passes by. They are usually caused by ob"ects in the air that #uickly change position or a stream of air that #uickly changes position. $ound escapes away from the sound source as an expanding spherical wave that travels at the speed of %%&' feet per second, traveling about % %()th of a foot each one thousandths of a second *millisecond+..
Sound Level
The measure of the strength of sound. Units are decibels *dB+ and usually measured with a dB meter. The threshold of #uiet sound is ,ero dB and the onset of painful sound is %'' dB. Conversations are at -' dB, whispers at &' dB and shouting is .' dB. /hen the sound strength of something doubles, it increases by & dB, or halved, it drops by & dB.
Loudness
The apparent strength of the sound to the listener. A change in % dB is "ust barely noticed as a change in loudness. $omething twice as loud is actually %' dB stronger, *%' times stronger+. $omething half as loud is %' dB weaker, *%(%'th as strong+.
Re"lections
$ound waves that strike a surface and bounce off are reflected sounds. They bounce off the wall, changing directions but keeping the same angle off the wall as they had when they approached the wall.
Ea l# Re"lections
0eflections that are heard within %(1' of a second of the direct sound are called early reflections. 2arly reflections cannot be distinguished from direct signals, they merge with the direct sound to form one composite sound. This combining effect can cause the sound of the direct signal to change in tonal characteristics and apparent direction.
%lutte Ec$o
This type of echo is most easily heard as one claps their hands out in front of them, while standing in a hallway. The sound 3,ings3 and it4s tone depends on how many times a second the reflection passes by the listener4s head. 5n a hall )4 wide, the clap will expand out, hit the wall and return %6& times a second and the ,ing will sound like a %6& 7, bu,,y tone. 8ot a real sound, "ust a pseudo tone.
Di""usion
0eflections off of a non flat surface that causes the sound wave to become more #uickly disorgani,ed than if off a flat surface is a diffusive surface. :iffusion decreases the time it takes for echoes to become converted to reverberation. The beautiful gothic churches of the old world have very diffusive or sound scattering surfaces. That is part of the sonic beauty of those spaces.
Deca#
The dying out of sound. Usually referring to the steady decline in the loudness of the reverberation.
A&so *tion
The loss of sound energy that occurs when the sound wave strikes a fibrous surface. The fibers provide acoustic friction for the sound wave. The wave does not slow down due to the friction, it keeps it4s same speed but it does lose energy and get #uieter.
NRC Ratin!
*8oise 0eduction Coefficient+ A rating for absorption. 5t gives the < efficiency for a surface to absorb sound. 5f a surface is &'< absorptive, then only .'< of the incident sound is reflected back into the room.
Noise %loo
The strength of the background noise, measured in dB. 5t is difficult to understand what is being said in a room with a high noise floor.
A ticulation
The clarity of a sound, particularly a message conveyed by sound, such that it can be easily and completely understood. A slurred sound may be well heard but the message it carries may still not be well understood, it is inarticulate. Also, a clear and distinct sound may be drowned out by a nearby louder noise, rendering the message not understandable, inarticulate. 2choes also cause articulation problems. Articulation is most often measured in some form of a desired signal to unwanted noise ratio.
Intelli!i&ilit#
A measure of the clarity of sound based on the comprehension of the message being conveyed by sound. A 3cat, bat, tat, rat... type of recognition test. The conversational version of Articulation.
+ i!$t-Livel#
The condition of sound in which there is an abundance of treble range reflections giving the feeling of 3brightness3 or 3liveliness3 to the sound. $ound in a tile bathroom or kitchen is bright. Too much can seem harsh and irritating.
Da ,-Dead
The condition of sound in a room when there is a lack of reflections and a lack of reverberance. Too much can seem lack luster and uneasy feeling.
+oo.# The condition of sound in a room when the lower fre#uencies, particularly the male voice range is excessively reverberant. /s#c$oacoustics The study and science of how the human comprehends and makes sense out of the sounds they hear. The difference between an early reflection and a late *echo+ reflection, is an example of psychoacoustics. The blending of the early reflections with the direct sound is another. Audiolo!# The science and practice of amplifying or otherwise improving how well a person hears sound.
Sound S*ect u.
The sound level measured at different fre#uencies. =ost tones are composed of more than one fre#uency, a combination of fre#uencies, as in a musical chord. The sound spectrum would measure the strength of each fre#uency and display that graph as a plot of $ound >evel vs. 9re#uency, also known as a sound spectrum. The 3color3 of sound is used as emphasis in the spectrum.
Sonic Colo
The shift in emphasis of a complex sound within it4s spectral range. A neutral color is the preferred natural sound but sometimes sound can have a warm color, an emphasis on lower fre#uencies or a cold color, an emphasis on higher fre#uencies or a nasal color, an emphasis on midrange fre#uencies.
Ult asonics
$ound whose fre#uency range is above that of human hearing, above 1',''' 7,.
In" asonics
$ound whose fre#uency range is below that of human hearing, below 1' 7,.
Octave
$ound that exists within a limited fre#uency range, between a lower set fre#uency and a set upper fre#uency. The difference between the lower and upper fre#uency is specified to be e#ual to the lower fre#uency. The octave se#uence for the note 3C3 starts at &% 7, and continues thru ;& 7,, %1- 7,, 1-' 7,, -'' 7,, %k 7,, 1k 7,, 6k 7,, )k 7, and ends at %;k 7,. *k ? thousand+.
4oicin!
The process of defining the desirable condition of sound in an acoustic space. 5t integrates the direct, early and late reflections with the reverberation, including a sense of timing and direction for each into an appropriate and desirable acoustic condition for the listener. 5t combines both the art and science of sound. 5t re#uires an understanding of the purpose to be served by each acoustic space. As an art form, it recogni,es the aesthetic side of sound, the impression that most people prefer to have of each particular type of sound that exists in some particular place. As a science, it is based on psychoacoustics.
Acoustician
An acoustical engineer who is trained and experienced in voicing rooms.
Acoustical En!inee
@ne formally educated, experienced in the science and practice of acoustics.
Sound En!inee
$omeone trained in setting up microphones and speakers.
Acoustic Consultant
$omeone, not formally trained, experienced in providing acoustical services.
Acoustic Desi!ne
$omeone, not formally trained, who prepares blueprints for acoustic pro"ects.
Sound Desi!ne
@ne who envisions and directs the way sound plays out of a stage..
5f %,''' people are in the audience, their combined ears collect only '.%. percent of the direct sound emitted by the loud speaker. The rest of the sound, the other AA.)& percent of the sound, is called 3indirect sound3. /hat happens to all this indirect sound is what auditorium acoustics is all about. 5f the indirect sound is neglected or mishandled, the auditorium will sound bad, and if it is well handled, the auditorium will sound good. To recap, auditorium design or renovation can be understood to involve three consecutive areas of expertise. The architect designs a building that is attractive, comfortable and allows people to see what is going on. The sound contractor supplies a sound system to the auditorium that makes a direct sound loud enough so people can hear what is going on. 7owever, nearly all of the sound generated by the sound e#uipment misses its intended target, the ears of the people. !icking up and handling the stray sound is the responsibility of the acoustical engineer. 7ow it is collected and processed makes all the difference between a good and a bad sounding auditorium.
dB. 0everberation in an auditorium that is used for speech, lectures and talks should have one third second onset time delay, be at least %' dB A #uieter than the direct signal and have a reverb time die out within %.1- seconds. 5f reverberation builds up too #uickly it competes with the clear perception of the se#uence of sounds that make up speech. A short reverberation onset time will fill the essential #uiet moment that exists between and delineates se#uential sonic events. The introduction of each new sound is blurred by the upwelling presence of the old sound. $peaking more slowly can help this situation, but forced slow speaking is a stopgap measure at best. Acoustically slurred speech is very difficult to understand. The time delay for the onset of reverberation should be about one third of a second. Background noise is best if kept at least 1'dB below the sound levels of speech. !eople speak at a rate of about three separate sounds per second. $ome languages speak more slowly and others more #uicklyF auditorium acoustics have to be designed for the kind of speech that takes place in them. The loudness of the reverberation is important, at least %' dB A below the level of direct speech will create reasonably clear speech. *9igure 6+. A reverb level of %' dB A below the direct signal is very desirable. The loudness of the reverb changes the feeling of the auditorium. A warm, co,y, personal chatau#ua style auditorium will have a large difference between direct and reverb levels, as much as %) dB A. A cold, impersonal, more political rally sounding auditorium will have a lower difference, possible as little as - dB A. 9inally the length of time the reverberation remains audible is to be ad"usted. Denerally large rooms for speech are allowed reverb times of %.- seconds. $maller auditoriums and more intimate sounding rooms should have reverb times as low as '.A seconds. The personal, conversational chatau#ua style auditorium, growing popular in the world of broadcast TC church worship, will have reverb times as low as '.. seconds. These three reverb factors are generally the same for auditoriums used for speech, plays and modern music. =ore traditional music tends to sound better with longer reverb onset delay times, louder reverb levels and longer reverb decay times. $ome auditoriums are built to support a varied venue, from speech and plays to operas and symphonies. They have ad"ustable acousticsG reflecting and absorbing panels that are moved, exposed or hidden to independently ad"ust the three factors of reverberation.