BUILDING UTILITIES 3

ACOUSTICS
WEEK 1

INTRODUCTION
WHAT IS

ACOUSTICS?

Is defined as the science that deals with the production,

control, transmission, reception, and effects of sound
(as defined by Merriam-Webster)

Is the science sound.

SOUNDS
INTERESTING!!

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EARLY RESEARCH IN ACOUSTICS

PHYTAGORAS ARISTOTLE
HARMONIC OVERTONE FOUND OUT A VERY
SERIES ON STRINGS

GOOD EXPRESSION

OF THE NATURE OF
INTERFERENCE,

ACOUSTICS

WROTE A TREATIES ABOUT

ACOUSTIC PROPERTIES OF

THEATERS INCLUDING THE

ECHOES & REVERBERATION

VITRUVIUS

WAVE MOTION

THE BEGINNING OF

DISCUSSION OF

ARCHITECTURAL

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BOOK V OF
DE ARCHITECTURA

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BOOK V OF DE ARCHITECTURA
VOICE IS A FLOWING BREATH OF AIR, PERCEPTIBLE OT THE HEARING BY
CONTACT.
It moves in an endless number of circular rounds, like the innumerably
increasing circular waves which appear when a stone is thrown into smooth
water, and which keep on spreading indefinitely from the centre unless
interrupted by narrow limits, or by some obstruction which prevents such
waves from reaching their end in due formation.

When they are interrupted by obstructions, the first

waves, flowing back, break up the formation of those
which follow.

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BOOK V OF DE ARCHITECTURA
IN THE SAME MANNER, THE VOICE EXECUTES ITS MOVEMENTS
IN CONCENTRIC CIRCLES.
The voice not only proceeds horizontally, but also ascends
vertically by regular stages. The first wave, when there is no
obstruction to interrupt it, does not break up the second or the
following waves, but they all reach the ears of the lowest and
highest spectators without an echo.

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BOOK V OF DE ARCHITECTURA
Hence the ancient architects, following in the footsteps of
nature, perfected the ascending rows of seats in theatres from
their investigations of the ascending voice, and, by means of the
canonical theory of the mathematicians and that of the
musicians, endeavoured to make every voice uttered on the
stage come with greater clearness and sweetness to the ears of
the audience.

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BOOK V OF DE ARCHITECTURA
Ascending seats in ancient theaters as designed to prevent this
deterioration of sound and also recommended bronze vessels of
appropriate sizes be placed in theaters to resonate with the fourth,
fifth and so on, up to the double octave, in order to resonate with
the more desirable, harmonious notes.

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THE ODEON THEATER : A ROMAN THEATER IN DOWNTOWN AMMAN, JORDAN

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During the eighteenth century the importance of room
acoustics was further heightened with the invention of a
number of musical instruments such as the harpsichord
and fortepiano, and the growing popularity, in elite
circles at least, of chamber music.

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It was already well-understood that the size of a room
and the reflectivity of the walls, floor and ceiling affected
the intelligibility of speech and music, and that two
different effects were at work.

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One, was the diminishing loudness or intensity of the
sound, both with distance and according to the amount
of sound absorbed by the rooms surfaces and contents.

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The second, was the increasing confusion of sounds
caused by reflections from the rooms surfaces.

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THREE DIFFERENT TYPES OF SURFACE THAT COULD BE
USED, CAN BE COMBINED:

STONE OR PLASTER: CAN ENHANCE THE REFLECTION

WOVEN FABRICS;

TAPESTRIES OR CURTAINS:

CAN ABSORB SOUND

TIMBER PANELING: WAS THE INTERMEDIATE OF THE TWO

history
OTHER DESIGN FACTORS:
The distance between speaker or instrument, and the
directness of the sound path.
The other consideration was the distance between
the stage and the listener.
It was generally agreed that an actor speaking in a normal voice could
be understood clearly up to a distance of about 18 metres, and with
difficulty up to about 25 metres.

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TIMELINE
EARLY 18TH CENTURY Design rules for theatre acoustics were
not very and there were many acoustic disasters.
SECOND HALF OF 18TH CENTURY saw a boom in theatre
building in the major cities, and designers generally learned from
the acoustic disasters of the early century.
LATE 18TH CENTURY it was common practice to use the ceiling
or soffit.

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TIMELINE
EARLY 19TH CENTURY Design rules for good acoustics
were widely used not only in theatres and auditoriums
but also in chambers in which politicians and legislators
congregated,

INTRODUCTION
WHAT IS do we mean by

architectural acoustics?
The properties or qualities of a room or building that
determine how sound is transmitted in it.
Can be about achieving good speech intelligibility in a
theatre, restaurant or railway station, enhancing the
quality of music in a concert hall or recording studio, or
suppressing noise to make offices and homes more
productive and pleasant places to work and live in

SOUNDS
INTERESTING!!

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Wallace Clement Sabine (June 13, 1868
January 10, 1919)
THE FATHER OF ARCHITECTURAL
ACOUSTICS
was an American physicist who founded the field
of architectural acoustics.
Sabine was acoustical architect of Boston's
Symphony Hall, widely considered one of the
two or three best concert halls in the world for
its acoustics.

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BOSTONS SYMPHONY HALL
became one of the
first auditoria
designed in
accordance with
scientifically derived
acoustical principles.
Admired for its lively
acoustics from the
time of its opening,
the hall is often cited
as one of the best
sounding classical
concert venues in
the world.

END OF THE
PRESENTATION

INTRODUCTION
What is a

Sound?

something we hear as a result of vibration of air, and

is created by compressed and expanded air pressure
fluctuations.

Sound theory

Sound theory
Sounds are everywhere!
There are:

Airborne sounds: The medium is Air

Structure-borne sounds: The medium is Concrete,

steel, wood, glass and combinations of all these