Acoustical

engineering

Acoustical engineering (also known as

acoustic engineering) is the branch of
engineering dealing with sound and
vibration. It includes the application of
acoustics, the science of sound and
vibration, in technology. Acoustical
engineers are typically concerned with the
design, analysis and control of sound.
One goal of acoustical engineering can be
the reduction of unwanted noise, which is
referred to as noise control. Unwanted
noise can have significant impacts on
animal and human health and well-being,
reduce attainment by students in schools,
and cause hearing loss.[1] Noise control
principles are implemented into
technology and design in a variety of ways,
including control by redesigning sound
sources, the design of noise barriers,
sound absorbers, suppressors, and buffer
zones, and the use of hearing protection
(earmuffs or earplugs).
The transparent baffles inside this auditorium were
installed to optimise sound projection and
reproduction, key factors in acoustical engineering.

But acoustical engineering is not just

about noise control; it also covers positive
uses of sound, from the use of ultrasound
in medicine to the programming of digital
sound synthesizers, and from designing a
concert hall to enhance the sound of an
orchestra[2] to specifying a railway
station's sound system so announcements
are intelligible.[3]

Acoustic engineer
(professional)
Acoustic engineers usually possess a
bachelor's degree or higher qualification in
acoustics,[4] physics or another
engineering discipline. Practicing as an
acoustic engineer usually requires a
bachelor's degree with significant
scientific and mathematical content.
Acoustic engineers might work in acoustic
consultancy, specializing in particular
fields, such as architectural acoustics,
environmental noise or vibration control.[5]
In other industries, acoustic engineers
might: design automobile sound systems;
investigate human response to sounds,
such as urban soundscapes and domestic
appliances; develop audio signal
processing software for mixing desks, and
design loudspeakers and microphones for
mobile phones.[6][7] Acousticians are also
involved in researching and understanding
sound scientifically. Some positions, such
as faculty require a Doctor of Philosophy.

In most countries, a degree in acoustics

can represent the first step towards
professional certification and the degree
program may be certified by a professional
body. After completing a certified degree
program the engineer must satisfy a range
of requirements before being certified.
Once certified, the engineer is designated
the title of Chartered Engineer (in most
Commonwealth countries).

Subdisciplines
The listed subdisciplines are loosely based
on the PACS (Physics and Astronomy
Classification Scheme) coding used by the
Acoustical Society of America.[8]
Aeroacoustics …

Aeroacoustics is concerned with how

noise is generated by the movement of air,
for instance via turbulence, and how sound
propagates through the fluid air.
Aeroacoustics plays an important role in
understanding how noise is generated by
aircraft and wind turbines, as well as
exploring how wind musical instruments
work.[9]

Audio signal processing …

Audio signal processing is the electronic

manipulation of audio signals using
analog and digital signal processing.

Audio signal processing is done for a

variety of reasons such as:

to enhance a sound, for instance by

applying an audio effect such as
reverberation;
to remove unwanted noises from a
signal, for instance echo cancellation on
Skype;
to compress an audio signal to allow
efficient transmission, e.g. perceptual
coding in MP3 and Opus, and
to understand the content of the signal,
e.g. music information retrieval to allow
 the identification of music tracks via
Shazam (service).[10]

Audio engineers develop and use audio

signal processing algorithms.

Architectural acoustics …

Disney's Concert Hall was meticulously designed for

superior acoustical qualities.
Ceiling of Culture Palace (Tel Aviv) concert hall is

covered with perforated metal panels

Architectural acoustics (also known as

building acoustics) is the science and
engineering of achieving a good sound
within a building.[11] Architectural
acoustics 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.[12] Architectural
acoustic design is usually done by
acoustic consultants.[13]

Bioacoustics …

Bioacoustics usually concerns the

scientific study of sound production and
hearing in animals. It can include: acoustic
communication and associated animal
behaviour and evolution of species; how
sound is produced by animals; the auditory
mechanisms and neurophysiology of
animals; the use of sound to monitor
animal populations, and the effect of man-
made noise on animals.[14]

Electroacoustics …

This branch of acoustic engineering deals

with the design of headphones,
microphones, loudspeakers, sound
systems, sound reproduction and
recording.[15] There has been a rapid
increase in the use of portable electronic
devices which can reproduce sound and
rely on electroacoustic engineering, e.g.
mobile phones, portable media players,
and tablet computers.
This term is also used for a set of
electrokinetic effects that occur in
heterogeneous liquids under influence of
ultrasound.[16] There is International
Standard that describes such
electroacoustic effects in details.[17]

Environmental noise …

At outdoor concerts like Woodstock, acoustic analysis

is critical to creating the best experience for the
audience and the performers.
Environmental acoustics is concerned with
the control of noise and vibrations caused
by traffic, aircraft, industrial equipment,
recreational activities and anything else
that might be considered a nuisance.[1]
Acoustical engineers concerned with
environmental acoustics face the
challenge of measuring or predicting likely
noise levels, determining an acceptable
level for that noise, and determining how
the noise can be controlled. Environmental
acoustics work is usually done by acoustic
consultants or those working in
environmental health.[13] Recent research
work has put a strong emphasis on
soundscapes, the positive use of sound
(e.g. fountains, bird song), and the
preservation of tranquility.[18]

Musical acoustics …

Musical acoustics is concerned with

researching and describing the physics of
music and its perception – how sounds
employed as music work. This includes:
the function and design of musical
instruments including electronic
synthesizers; the human voice (the physics
and neurophysiology of singing); computer
analysis of music and composition; the
clinical use of music in music therapy, and
the perception and cognition of music.[19]
Noise control …

Noise control is a set of strategies to

reduce noise pollution by reducing noise at
its source, by inhibiting sound propagation
using noise barriers or similar, or by the
use of ear protection (earmuffs or
earplugs).[20] Control at the source is the
most cost-effective way of providing noise
control. Noise control engineering applied
to cars and trucks is known as noise,
vibration, and harshness (NVH). Other
techniques to reduce product noise
include vibration isolation, application of
acoustic absorbent and acoustic
enclosures. Acoustical engineering can go
beyond noise control to look at what is the
best sound for a product,[21] for instance,
manipulating the sound of door closures
on automobiles.

Psychoacoustics …

Psychoacoustics tries to explain how

humans respond to what they hear,
whether that is an annoying noise or
beautiful music. In many branches of
acoustic engineering, a human listener is a
final arbitrator as to whether a design is
successful, for instance, whether sound
localisation works in a surround sound
system. "Psychoacoustics seeks to
reconcile acoustical stimuli and all the
scientific, objective, and physical
properties that surround them, with the
physiological and psychological responses
evoked by them."[10]

Speech …

Speech is a major area of study for

acoustical engineering, including the
production, processing and perception of
speech. This can include physics,
physiology, psychology, audio signal
processing and linguistics. Speech
recognition and speech synthesis are two
important aspects of the machine
processing of speech. Ensuring speech is
transmitted intelligibly, efficiently and with
high quality; in rooms, through public
address systems and through telephone
systems are other important areas of
study.[22]

Ultrasonics …

Ultrasound image of a fetus in the womb, viewed at 12

weeks of pregnancy (bidimensional-scan)
Ultrasonics deals with sound waves in
solids, liquids and gases at frequencies
too high to be heard by the average
person. Specialists areas include medical
ultrasonics (including medical
ultrasonography), sonochemistry,
nondestructive testing, material
characterisation and underwater acoustics
(sonar).[23]

Underwater acoustics …

Underwater acoustics is the scientific

study of sound in water. It is concerned
with both natural and man-made sound
and its generation underwater; how it
propagates, and the perception of the
sound by animals. Applications include
sonar to locate submerged objects such
as submarines, underwater
communication by animals, observation of
sea temperatures for climate change
monitoring, and marine biology.[24]

Vibration and dynamics …

Acoustic engineers working on vibration

study the motions and interactions of
mechanical systems with their
environments, including measurement,
analysis and control. This might include:
ground vibrations from railways and
construction; vibration isolation to reduce
noise getting into recording studios;
studying the effects of vibration on
humans (vibration white finger); vibration
control to protect a bridge from
earthquakes, or modelling the propagation
of structure-borne sound through
buildings.[25]

Fundamental science
Although the way in which sound interacts
with its surroundings is often extremely
complex, there are a few ideal sound wave
behaviours that are fundamental to
understanding acoustical design. Complex
sound wave behaviors include absorption,
reverberation, diffraction, and refraction.
Absorption is the loss of energy that
occurs when a sound wave reflects off of
a surface. Just as light waves reflect off of
surfaces, sound waves also reflect off of
surfaces, and every reflection results in a
loss of energy. Absorption refers both to
the sound that transmits through and the
energy that is dissipated by a material.[26]
Reverberation is the persistence of sound
that is caused by repeated boundary
reflections after the source of the sound
stops. This principle is particularly
important in enclosed spaces. In addition
to reflecting off of surfaces, sound waves
also bend around surfaces in the path of
the waves. This bending is known as
diffraction. Refraction is another kind of
sound wave bending. This type of bending,
however, is caused by changes in the
medium through which the wave is
passing and not the presence of obstacles
in the path of a sound wave. Temperature
gradients, for example, cause bending in
sound waves.[27] Acoustical engineers
apply these fundamental concepts, along
with complex mathematical analysis, to
control sound for a variety of applications.

Associations
 Acoustical Society of America Technical
Committee on Engineering Acoustics
Audio Engineering Society
Australian Acoustical Society[28]
Canadian Acoustical Association[29]
Institute of Acoustics, Chinese Academy
of Sciences
Institute of Acoustics (United Kingdom)

See also
Audio Engineering
Category:Acoustical engineers
Category:Audio engineers

References
1. World Health Organisation (2011).
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2. Barron, Michael (2009). Auditorium
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0419245100.
3. Ahnert, Wolfgang (2000). Sound
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0415238700.
4. Education in acoustics. "MSc
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Retrieved 9 February 2018.
5. National Careers Service. "Job profiles:
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13 May 2013.
. University of Salford. "Graduate Jobs
in Acoustics" . Retrieved 13 May 2013.
7. Acoustical Society of America.
"Acoustics and You" . Archived from
the original on 2017-03-08. Retrieved
13 May 2013.
. Acoustical Society of America. "PACS
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 9. da Silva, Andrey Ricardo (2009).
Aeroacoustics of Wind Instruments:
Investigations and Numerical
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10. Pohlmann, Ken (2010). Principles of
Digital Audio, Sixth Edition. McGraw
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ISBN 9780071663472.
11. Morfey, Christopher (2001). Dictionary
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12. Templeton, Duncan (1993). Acoustics
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13. National Careers Service. "Job profiles
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14. "Acoustical Society of America Animal
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November 2017" . ASA.
15. Acoustical Society of America.
"Acoustics and You (A Career in
Acoustics?)" . Archived from the
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1 . Dukhin, A.S. and Goetz, P.J.
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19. Technical Committee on Musical
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20. Bies, David (2009). Engineering Noise
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21. University of Salford. "Making
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22. Speech Communication Technical
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23. Ensminger, Dale (2012). Ultrasonics:
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24. ASA Underwater Acoustics Technical
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25. Structural Acoustics & Vibration
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Barron, R. (2003). Industrial noise control
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Inc. Retrieved from CRCnetBase
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Highway traffic noise barriers at a glance.
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