Applied Acoustics 57 (1999) 179191

Technical Note

The acoustical design and measures of mixing studio of Emei lm studio in Sichuan
Chen Yarmun
Department of Architecture, Chongqing Jianzhu University, PO Box 400045, People's Republic of China Received 18 April 1997; received in revised form 22 April 1998; accepted 8 July 1998

Abstract The mixing studio of Emei lm studio is a lm sound studio which includes many functions (i.e. mixing recorded sound, dubbing foreign lms into Chinese, recording stereo music etc.).This paper presents the acoustical design and measuring results of the studio of music, which is compatible with speech, the stereo control room and the soloists room. # 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Mixing studio; Reverberation time; Noise reduction; Background noise level.

1. Introduction The new studio is located in the western part of the Emei lm studio. The studio is close to the record works and the existing studio. The front road is a walk road for bicycles. The outdoor noise is mainly from the air conditioning machine room, which has an insulating envelope structure. The new studios stand side by side from the existing recording works. A corridor is a width of 2.4 m and links the two buildings from the front. It is an acoustical barrier for the buildings. Fig. 1 is a plan of the buildings. The new building is 831 m2 which includes the mixing studio, the control room, the soloists room, the tape recorder room, the photographic sound recorder room, the magnetic sound recorder room, the projection room, a rest room for performers and the oce etc. Fig. 2 is a oor plan of new building. 2. Acoustical design 2.1. The acoustical design of the room 2.1.1. The mixing studio (compatible with the announcer's studio) The reverberation time 0.42 s is used for the mixing studio of the Emei lm studio. This is a powerful absorption studio having better directional characteristics. The
0003-682X/99/$see front matter # 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S000 3-682X(98)0004 1-3

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Fig. 1. The plan view of new building,(1) new studio, (2) built studio, (3) recording works, (4) air conditioning machine room.

Fig. 2. The oor plan of new studio, (1) mixing studio, (2) control room, (3) soloist's room, (4) tape recorder room,(5) the air conditioning machine room for new studio, (6) performers rest room.

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volume of the mixing studio is 1005 M3, The reverberation time is 0.42 s, so that the mean absorption coecient of the room is =0.427. The room absorption is A=295.3 M2. The absorption materials are decorated equally and diused surfaces are shaped fully. As a result, the sound eld is uniform throughout the mixing studio. Table 1 lists the acoustical treatment of the room. The acoustical defects of the echo and utter echo etc. must not be created by reections from the room surface. Fig. 3 is the plan of the mixing studio. Fig. 4 is the diusion cones on-arrangement at the side wall. 2.1.2. The control room The control room is a monitor room of stereo items. The initial time delay gaps of reected sound in the monitor room are longer than the initial time delay gaps of reection sound in the studio. [1] It must be considered fully in the design process. The reverberation time in the control room must be shorter than that of the studio so that the reproduced sound transmitted from the studio to the control room can be heard. [1] The sensation of direction, reverberation and space in the studio can be recorded fully. A method by which longer initial time delay gaps are achieved in the control room is shown in Fig. 5. The rear walls and the rear ceilings farther from the sound sources are used as reection surfaces, so that long delay reection sound is achieved. The walls and ceilings nearer to sound sources are treated with powerful absorption materials so that shorter delay reection sound is achieved. This is the design method of the ``Live EndDead End''. The above-mentioned objectives can be achieved only when the length of the control room is not less than 7.5 m. The room shape and the acoustical treatment must be symmetrical with the center axis for the stereo control room, so that a real feeling of direction can be achieved. The reverberation time objective is 0.38 s for this control room. The volume of the room is 120.8 M3 so that the mean absorption coecient of the room is =0.284. The room absorption is A=43.5 M2. The sound source height is 2 m. The treatment for reection or absorption for the walls and ceilings is shown in Fig. 5. The
Table 1 The acoustical decoration of the mixing studio (compatible with announce studio) Items Ceiling Formation and decoration Six cones of 1700 x 1000, 1700 x 2280, 3800 x 2280 of which the heights are 40, 60, 80 cm respectively, faced with plastic net plate of 20 x 20, lled with 100 mm glass wool of 20 kg/m3 Folded wall faced with plastic net plate of 2020 lled with glass wool and 60 cones of 10501050 faced the steel plate net of 15 x 15 with 40 mm plaster are alternated Folded walls faced with 5 mm perforated plywood lled with 100 mm glass wool Wall faced with plastic net plate and lled with 100 mm glass wool 5 mm plywood lled with 100 mm glass wool Wood oor

Side wall Rear wall Front wall Skirting wall Floor

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Fig. 3. The plan of the mixing studio.

Fig. 4. The diusion cones arrangement on the side wall of the mixing studio.

absorption surface is faced with a plastic net and lled with 100 mm glass wool. The reection surface is faced with a steel net made with 40 mm plaster. The skirting wall is 80 cm high faced 5 mm plywood lled with 100 mm glass wool. The air space is 150 mm deep. The left and right channel monitor speakers must be isolated with resilient pads from the structure, in case the solid borne sound is transmitted to the recorder. The stereo reproduction image will be destroyed because the transmission speed of the solid borne sound is faster than that of the air borne sound. As many normal mods as possible must be obtained within the frequencies below 200 Hz for the monitor room. There are preferred ratios of room dimensions, the goal of which is to distribute the modal frequencies in an optimum manner. The coincident frequencies called ``degeneracies'' must be decreased as fully as possible.

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Fig. 5. The longer initial time delay gaps are achieved in the control room. (a) The section view of sound reection and the arrangement of the absorption surface and the reection surface. (b) The plan view of sound reection and the arrangement of absorption and reection.

2.1.3. Soloist's room Solo music is recorded in the soloist's room. The area of room is 20 M2, 0.3 s reverberation time is designed. The room volume is 49 M3 so that the mean absorption coecient is =0.238. The room absorption is A=18.7 M2. The left and right wall and the front and rear wall must be treated irregularly. The ratios of the room dimensions are not integers, so that both as many normal modal frequencies and as good diusion as possible in the room are achieved. The fold-out walls of the soloist's room are shown in Fig. 6 2.2. Sound insulation and vibration isolation The objective is to avoid disturbing sound travelling between rooms. Such noises include airborne sound and solid borne sound and air ow noise transmitted by the ventilating system.

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The noise transmitted from foyer and staircases is insulated by the sound lock formed by two sound-insulating doors, The major noise source outside the mixing studio is ventilator noise. The room installed ventilators must be separated fully from the mixing studio. Between the studio and the ventilator room are insulated walls, three layers consisting of two air layers. The inside and outside of the mixing studio are insulated by a double wall. The studio and control room or studio and soloist's room are insulated from one another by the observation windows formed with 6, 8 and 12 mm plate glass. Fig. 7 shows the insulation construction of ceiling and roof. The insulation ceilings are formed using steel nets with 40 mm plaster supported resiliently under the roof construction. The construction of the resilient supports is that the 0 12 hanger steel bars are welded on the No.16 channel beams supported on neoprene isolation pads. The oor is a wood oating oor. The construction of the oating oor is shown in Fig. 8. Four conditioning systems (K-1, K-2, K-3, K-4) are used in the studio, K-1 and K-2 systems are used in the mixing studio, K-1 system is used in the control room

Fig. 6. The fold-out walls of the soloist's room.

Fig. 7. The construction of the resilient support ceiling in the mixing studio.

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Fig. 8. The construction of the oating oor.

and the soloist's room and K-4 system is used in the projection room and the lm editing room. Governors are used in the lower noise blowers so that airow noise is reduced. The silencers are inserted within the tube systems. The air conditioning cases in the machine room are put on spring dampers and the water pumps are put on isolation bases. Pipework connected to the air conditioning plant and the water pipe connected to pumps are separated by the exible collars. The exible collars are inserted at places in the wall where air ducts and line pipes pass through. 3. The acoustical measurement The measurement items include the reverberation time, tile airborne sound insulation, the impact sound isolation, the background noise level, the acoustical response and the transient response. The respective descriptions are detailed. 3.1. The reverberation time 3.1.1. The mixing studio The volume of the mixing studio is V=10.68 m(W) x 15.20 m(L) x 6.20 m(H)=1005 m3, The surface area of the room is 691.3 m2, nine measured points in the room are distributed uniformly. The heights of measured points (the Mic heights) are 1.2 and 2.4 m, respectively. Table 2 is the measured results of T60 . It can be seen from the measured results that the reverberation is distributed equally in the mixing studio. A at frequency characteristic of the reverberation time is achieved. 3.1.2. The control room The volume of the control room is V=7.36 m(L) x 5.13(W) x 3.20(H)=120.8 m3. The total surface area of the room is S=153.3 m2. The reverberation time at two

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points in the room is measured, the height of the measured points is 1.2 m.Table 3 shows the measured results. It can be seen that the equalization of the frequency characteristic of the reverberation time changes within 5%. 3.1.3. The soloist's room The volume of the soloist's room is V=46 m3, The total surface area of the room is 78 m2. The height of the measuring points is 1.2 m.Table 4 the measured results. 3.2. The insulation of noise 3.2.1. The measurement of airborne sound insulation The air-borne sound insulation of Nos.3, 4 and 5 sound insulating doors and the observation windows are measured, respectively. Nos.1, 2 and 3 sound insulating doors are double leaf door of 2100 mm(H)X 1500 mm(W), Nos.4 and 5 sound insulating doors are single leaf doors. Tables 57 show the respective measured results of Nos.3, 4 and 5 sound insulating doors in situ. Tables 8 and 9 are measured results of the observation windows in situ. The position of the sound insulating doors and the observance windows are shown in Fig. 9.
Table 2 The mixing studio T60 S The height of measured points(m) 1.2 (m) (MSD)  2.4 (m) (MSM)  Table 3 The control room T60 (S) The measured points 1 2 Average Frequency (Hz) 80 0.35 0.35 0.35 125 0.35 0.35 0.35 250 0.35 0.38 0.36 500 0.37 0.38 0.37 1000 0.37 0.39 0.38 2000 0.38 0.40 0.39 4000 0.37 0.39 0.38 6300 0.36 0.38 0.37 8000 0.35 0.37 0.36 Frequency (Hz) 80 0.40 0.02 0.41 0.018 125 0.40 0.018 0.40 0.02 250 0.41 0.018 0.40 0.008 500 0.42 0.01 0.41 0.008 1000 0.43 0.01 0.41 0.01 2000 0.44 0.015 0.42 0.01 4000 0.44 0.01 0.43 0.01 6300 0.44 0.01 0.43 0.01 8000 0.44 0.009 0.43 0.01

Table 4 The soloist's room T60 (s) The heights of the measured points 1.2 m Frequency (Hz) 80 0.41 125 0.36 500 0.37 1000 0.38 2000 0.36 4000 0.37 6300 0.40 8000 0.40 0.40

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3.2.2. The measurement of impact sound isolation The standard impact machine is placed on the oor of the projection room where the projector will be xed. The impact sound level was measured in the mixing studio, control room and soloist's room and in the receiving room,and was normalized to a reference absorption to yield the normalized impact sound level LN given in Table 10.
Table 5 The sound level reduction of door No.3 in the control room Sound level (dB) Sound source room Receiving room Sound level reduction (dB) Frequency (Hz) 125 95 63 32 250 95 67 28 500 95 64 31 1000 95 62 33 2000 93 57 36 A 99 67 32 C 102 76 26

Table 6 The sound level reduction of door No.4 in the control room Sound level (dB) Sound source room Receiving room Sound level reduction (dB) Frequency (Hz) 63 125 250 500 96 78 18 95 70 25 95 59 36 95 57 38 1000 95 56 39 2000 93 53 40 4000 90 51 39 8000 83 43 40 A C

99 102 61 78 38 23

Table 7 The sound level reduction of door No.5 in the control room Sound level (dB) Sound source room Receiving room Sound level reduction (dB) Frequency (Hz) 63 125 250 500 96 65 31 95 62 33 95 58 37 95 55 36 1000 95 62 33 2000 93 55 38 4000 90 56 34 8000 83 54 28 A C

99 102 65 69 34 33

Table 8 The sound level reduction of the observation window in the control room Sound level (dB) Sound source room Receiving room Sound level reduction(dB) Sound insulation index Ia =54 dB. Frequency (Hz) 63 102 71 31 125 100 62 38 250 99 52 47 500 99 40 59 1000 99 48 51 2000 96 43 53 4000 103 52 51 8000 A C 107 72 35

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3.3. The background noise level in rooms After the air conditioning system is run in the measured noise level in dierent rooms is given in Table 11. Before the air condition equipment is run, the measured noise level in dierent rooms is given in Table 12.

Fig. 9. The distribution of sound insulation doors, observation windows and the measured points of impact sound.

Table 9 The sound level reduction of the observation window in the soloist's room Sound level (dB) Sound source room Receiving room Sound level reduct Sound insulation index Ii =57 dB. Frequency (Hz) 63 105 58 47 125 98 58 40 250 98 44 54 500 94 43 51 1000 91 34 57 2000 92 29 63 4000 89 15 74 8000 81 12 69 A 98 46 52 C 107 76 31

Table 10 The normalized impact sound level of rooms Normalized impact sound level (dB) Mixing studio Control room Soloist's room Frequency(Hz) 125 38 55 54 250 40 59 57 500 31 56 51 1000 24 45 42 2000 13 31 26 4000 13 18 14 8000 13 15 13

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3.4. The measurements of the acoustical property of the control room Echograms were obtained so that the initial delay gaps of the reected sound in the control room could be assessed; the acoustical response of the left or right sound channels at the monitor point are measured so that the directivity symmetry of stereo in the control room could be examined. The echogram at the center in the mixing studio is shown in Fig. 10. It was observed that the initial time delay gap of reected sound in the mixing studio is approximately 17 ms. The echograms of the right and left channels in the control room are shown in Figs. 11 and 12. It was observed that the initial time delay gaps of the reected sound were approximately 25 and 15 ms respectively.
Table 11 The background noise level (dB) (air condition machines are running) Rooms Mixing studio Control room Soloist's room Frequency (HZ) 80 40 41 35 125 35 34 38 250 35 24 21 500 34 15 13 1000 36 9 8 2000 34 10 9 4000 17 10 10 8000 12 11 11 A 38 23

Table 12 The background noise level (dB) (air condition machines stop) Rooms Mixing studio Soloist's room Frequency (Hz) 80 21 24 125 18 20 250 9 10 500 7 9 1000 6 7 2000 8 8 4000 8 8 8000 8 8 A 17 19

Fig. 10. The echogram in the mixing studio. (Frequency 2000 Hz, every one of time marker is 15 ms).

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Fig. 11. The echogram of the right channel in the control room. (Frequency 2000 Hz, every one of time marker is 15 ms.

Fig. 12. The echogram of the left channel in the control room. (Frequency 2000 Hz, every one of time marker is 15 ms).

Fig. 13. The spectrums of the left and right channels on the monitor point of the control room.

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The spectrums of the left and right channels are shown in Fig. 13. It was noted that the left and right show no dierence near the middle and high frequency regions, The directivity of the sound sources are not dampened by the control room. 4. Discussion and conclusions

(a) After a long usage of the built mixing studio of Emei Film Studio, a good acoustical quality is proven. It has one of the best acoustical qualities of studios in China. The acoustical design of this studio was rigorous. It is not easy for a at frequency characteristic to be achieved. The reected sound is diffused fully by about 60 solid cones distributed uniformly on the wall surface. (b) The measured reverberation time T60 in the mixing studio is 0.41 s; T60 of the control room is 0.38 s. The demand of acoustical design is met whereby T60 of the control room is shorter than T60 of the mixing studio. (c) The mean transmission loss door No.1, door 2 or door 3 is about 32 dB. The reduction of the sound lock in the mixing studio is satisfactory. The mean transmission loss of door No.4 or 5 is approximately 34 dB, although the reductions of the insulation doors are sucient. The mean transmission losses of the observance windows are higher than 54 dB. and good insulation is provided. (d) The impact isolation index of the mixing studio is Ii =32. Ii of the control room is 52. Ii of the soloist's room is 49. It is evident that the isolating impact sound insulation of the oating oor in the projection Referoom is excellent (e) After operation of the air conditioning plant, the background noise level was lower than NR15 in the control room and in the soloist's room. In the mixing studio, the background noise level is slightly higher than NR25 in the middle and high frequency regions. When the mixing studio is used, one of the two air conditioning machines will be soon nished o or the running speed of the machines will be decreased. Under these conditions the background noise level will be decreased to NR20 or lower. Reference
[1] Alton. E.F. Acoustic techniques for home and studio. USA: TAB Books Inc., 1984: 2335.