Reverberation

1. echo: to echo repeatedly

2. have continuing effect: to have a farreaching or lasting impact, especially as a
result of being circulated widely
3. bounce back: to be reflected
repeatedly off different surfaces (refers to
heat, light, or sound waves)
4. cause sound to echo: to cause sound
to bounce back from a surface

Reverberation Time
Synonyms: echo, sound,
noise, boom
Meaning: measure of sound:
the time it takes for a sound
in a room to be reduced by 60
decibels.

 Thereverberantsound in an auditorium dies away with time as

the sound energy is absorbedby multiple interactions with the
surfaces of the room.
In a more reflective room, it will take longer for the sound to die
away and the room is said to be 'live'.
In a very absorbent room, the sound will die away quickly and
the room will be described as acoustically 'dead.
the time for reverberation to completely die away will depend
upon how loud the sound was to begin with, and will also
depend upon the acuity of the hearing of the observer.
In order to provide a reproducible parameter, a standard
reverberation time has been defined as the time for the sound
to die away to a level 60decibelsbelow its original level.

The reverberation time can be

modeledto permit an approximate
calculation. .

Why 60 dB?
What is a desirable reverberation time?
Calculation
Rationale for 60dB Reverberation Time
Thereverberation timeis perceived as the time for the
sound to die away after the sound source ceases, but that
of course depends upon theintensityof the sound.
To have a reproducible parameter to characterize an
auditorium which is independent of the intensity of the test
sound, it is necessary to define a standard reverberation
time in terms of the drop in intensity from the original level,
i.e., to define it in terms of relative intensity.

1. The loudest crescendo for most orchestral music is about 100 dB.
2. A typical room background level for a good music-making area is
about 40 dB.
3. The standard reverberation time is seen to be about the time for the
loudest crescendo of the orchestra to die away to the level of the room
background. The 60 dB range is about the range of dynamic levelsfor
orchestral music.
CRESCENDO: MUSIC increase in loudness: a gradual increase in the
volume of a passage of music.

What is a desirable
reverberation time?

 The optimumreverberation timefor an auditorium

or room of course depends upon its intended use.
Around 2 seconds is desirable for a medium-sized,
general purpose auditorium that is to be used for
both speech and music. A classroom should be
much shorter, less than a second. And a recording
studio should minimize reverberation time in most
cases for clarity of recording.
The reverberation time is strongly influenced by
theabsorption coefficientsof the surfaces as
suggested in the illustration, but it also depends
upon the volume of the room as shown in the
Sabine formula. You won't get a long reverberation
time with a small room.

Reverberation Time Calculation

Approximate reverberation times can be calculated
from theSabine formula:

Modeling a room of
Height H =
m =
ft
Length L =
m =
ft
Width W =
m =
ft
with absorption coefficients:

awalls=_______, afloor= ______, aceiling=_____for average of

aavg=_______

gives an effective absorbing area of S e

=_______m2=_______ft2

for a room of volume V =_____________m 3=_____________ft3.

The corresponding reverberation time is

RT60=______________seconds.

Examples of Reverberation Times

One way to respond to the question "What is a good
range of reverberation times for concert halls?" is to
give examples of some of the most famous halls in the
world. For the overall averagereverberation times:

Vienna, Musikvereinsaal : 2.05 seconds

Boston, Symphony Hall: 1.8 seconds
New York, Carnegie Hall: 1.7 seconds

Modeling Reverberation Time

Sabine is credited with modeling thereverberation time
with the simple relationship which is called the Sabine
formula:

where V is the volume of the enclosure and

and a is theabsorption coefficientassociated with a

given area S.

Sound Absorption
Coefficient

When a sound wave in a room strikes a surface, a certain fraction

of it is absorbed, and a certain amount is transmitted into the
surface. Both of these amounts are lost from the room, and the
fractional loss is characterized by an absorption coefficient a which
can take values between 0 and 1, 1 being a perfect absorber.

Absorption coefficient = a
Effective absorbing area = aS
The effective absorbing area is a factor in determining the
reverberation timeof an auditorium. The absorption coefficient of a
surface typically changes with frequency, so the reverberation time
is likewise frequency dependent. A table of absorption coefficients
can be used incalculationsof reverberation time with the Sabine
formula.

Table of Absorption
Coefficients

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Glory!