Altering Acoustic Environments

Before deciding which flooring, wall or ceiling materials to use for an acoustic
space there are two main things to consider:

• Impact noise – This relates to the control of sound from one space to another.

• Sound absorption -
This relates to the
transmission of
airborne sound within
a room
 Acoustic Characteristics
• Absorption and Reflection - When sound waves hit the surface of an
obstacle, some of its energy is reflected while some are lost through its
transfer to the molecules of the barrier.

• Diffusion - The scattering of waves from a surface. It occurs as a result of

the texture and hardness of the obstacle is comparable to the wavelength
of the sound.
 Coloration

• Colouration - Wavelengths of sound can be thought of as

being like wavelengths of light, with long wavelengths (low
frequencies) corresponding to red, and short wavelengths
(high frequencies) to blue and violet - this is what is meant
by the audio 'spectrum'. The familiar term 'white noise'
means an audio signal with equal sound amplitude at all
frequencies. Pink noise attenuates some higher frequencies,
and red noise consists only of bass register frequencies. By
extension, blue noise sees higher frequencies increasing in
amplitude
 Room Reflections

Reverberation- Occurs when direct signal

reflects off surfaces.

Reverb time – Dependent on

the surface that the sound
waves hit, whether it is
reflective or absorbent will
determine how long the
reverberation would last.
 Corrective Procedures
Sound has the ability to diffract around or through
a physical acoustic barrier (It can bend around an
object and reconstruct its original frequency and
amplitude).

Although absorbent materials can prevent reflections, you can also use the walls
to calculate the speaker placement and predict the best listening position.
 Corrective Procedures
Acoustic treatment – Using absorbers, traps and different choices of building
material to manipulate the acoustic environment

Modal response – Refers to how different structures respond to different

vibrations

Live end – dead end (LEDE) - A studio

design where the ‘Live end’ is made
reflective and the ‘Dead end’ around the
monitors is deadened or manipulated to be
absorbent.

Soundproofing – Using absorbent materials

to eliminate sound ‘leakage’ within a
recording environment.
 Standing Waves
Opposing parallel walls in studios and small rooms can give rise to ‘room
modes’ or standing waves. These occur when sound is reflected back along its
own path causing phase differences to interfere with a rooms amplitude and
response.
 Room Analysis

• Consider how sound will reverberate, reflect or Diffuse

within the space, are their any obstacles?
Shoebox

• Can you see any absorbent material currently being

used? (Ie Soundproofing)
Pan
• What about impact noise? Can you hear or see any
potential things that could effect the sound quality?

Diamond • Are there separate rooms/ spaces that control the

sound? Is there any built in sound equipment already in
place?

Horse shoe