3/22/22, 8:15 AM Room Acoustics (part 3)

Room Acoustics (part 3)

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EXAMPLE PROBLEM (REVERBERATION TIMES)

The reverberation time in a 250,000-ft high school auditorium is

calculated
below for full and one-half occupancy conditions. An
auditorium of this type,
which serves many functions, must be
designed with a compromise reverberation
time. For example, a short
reverberation time is desirable for speech activities and a long
reverberation time is needed for instrumental music, chorus, and
organ music. Consequently, a mid-frequency reverberation time of 1.8
s at
500 Hz is selected from the chart below. This reverberation time
will
be appropriate for music activities, where blending is needed, and
will
not be too long for speech activities, especially if a properly
designed sound-reinforcing
system is used.

Here are guidelines on how to select reverberation times at low and

high
frequencies. In this example school auditorium, the reverberation
time
at 125 Hz should be about 1 .3T = 1 .3 X 1 .8 = 2.3 s. If the
preferred
reverberation times from the table below can be achieved,
the bass ratio
there fore will be approximately 1.3. This ratio of low- to
mid-frequency
reverberation times is a very important characteristic of
rooms where
music is to be performed.

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To find the required total absorption a, use the Sabine formula

rearranged
so:

a = 0.05/T

a = 0.05 x 250,000 / 1.8 = 6944 sabins at 500 Hz

125 500 4000

Hz Hz Hz
Preferred reverberation time (s) 2.3 1.8 1.4
Required total absorption from Sabine 5435 6944 8929
formula (sabins)

Using the required absorption totals in the above table as a goal,

calculate
absorption a in sabins for all surfaces by multiplying given
surface
area in ft^2 times the respective sound absorption coefficient
alpha.
The table below shows the step-by-step computation process
at
sound frequencies of 125, 500, and 4000 Hz.

125 Hz 500 Hz 4000 Hz

Material Area alpha sabins alpha sabins alpha sabins
(ft^2)
Fully
Occupied
Ceiling:
Gypsum board 8150 0.15 1223 0.05 408 0.09 734
(in suspension
system)
Side walls:

Plaster on
concrete block
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3/22/22, 8:15 AM Room Acoustics (part 3)

Rear wall:

Thick fibrous
blanket behind
open facing
Aisles:

Carpet on foam
rubber
Wood
Orchestra pit
and apron:

Wood
Proscenium
opening:

(Moderately
furnished
stage)
Air:

(Coefficient per
1000 ft^2)
Audience:

Seated in
upholstered
seats (includes
edge effect)
Total
absorption
(sabins)
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One-Half
Occupied

Total
absorption in
auditorium less
audience
absorption from
“fully occupied”
computation
Seats:

Fabric, well-
upholstered
seats
Audience:

Includes edge
effect
Total
absorption
(sabins)

Finally, use the absorption totals (highlighted above) in the Sabine

formula:
T = 0.05V/a = (0.05 x 250,000)/a = 12,500/a to find the
reverberation times summarized below.

Reverberation
Time (s)
Conditions 125 Hz 500 Hz 4000 H
Fully occupied 2.4 1.7 1.3
One-half occupied 2.5 1.9 1.4

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3/22/22, 8:15 AM Room Acoustics (part 3)

Since the anticipated normal use condition will be between one-half

and full occupancy, the above computations show that the auditorium
satisfactorily
meets reverberation time criteria.

OPTIMUM REVERBERATION TIME

The graph below presents optimum reverberation times at mid-

frequencies
(average of reverberation at 500 and 1000 Hz) for
auditoriums with volumes
of 10,000 to 1,000,000 ft. A deviation of as
much as 10 percent from optimum
reverberation generally will be
satisfactory if other important attributes
of room acoustics have been
successfully achieved. For music perception,
reverberation adds to
the fullness of tone, blended sound, and richness of
bass frequencies.

References

L. L. Beranek, Acoustics, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1954, p. 425.

L. L. Beranek, Music, Acoustics and Architecture, Wiley, New York, 1962,
pp.
488-489.
J. S. Bradley, “Uniform Derivation of Optimum Conditions for Speech in
Rooms,”

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3/22/22, 8:15 AM Room Acoustics (part 3)

Building Research Note No. 239, National Research Council of Canada,

November 1985.
L. Cremer and H.A. Muller, Principles and Applications of Room Acoustics,
vol.
1, Applied Science Publishers, Barking, England, 1978, pp. 610-627.
V. O. Knudsen and C. M. Harris, Acoustical Designing in Architecture,
Wiley,
New York, 1950, pp. 375 and 394.

VARIABLE SOUND ABSORBERS

When the reverberation time must be varied to satisfy the

requirements of
different activities in a room, the sound-absorbing
treatment can be designed
to be adjustable. For most situations,
listeners can detect a change in reverberation
greater than or equal to
0.1 s. Surfaces or furnishings can be designed to
expose either
sound-absorbing materials (see column at left) or sound-reflecting
materials (see column at right). In rooms for music, be careful to avoid
placing absorption near the sources of sound where it can adversely
affect
early sound energy.

Retractable Sound-Absorbing Curtains

Curtains can be adjusted to vary the amount of absorption and , when

stored
in a recess, to expose a sound-reflecting backup surface. For
music perception
needs, curtains should be stored in a high
transmission loss enclosure so
they will contribute almost no
absorption.

Note: A visually opaque, sound-transparent screen (called

transondent) can
be placed in front of curtains to allow changes in
curtain extension without
affecting appearance. This prevents the
adjustment of the curtains for visual,
not acoustical, reasons. Be
careful where music perception is important because
the deep
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airspace behind the sound-transparent screen could absorb too much

low-frequency sound energy by acting as a volume resonator.

Sliding Facings

Two panels of perforated material can be used to vary absorption by

sliding
one panel in front of the other. The holes are lined up for
maximum absorption and are staggered (or offset) for maximum
reflection. The latter alignment
blocks the path to the sound-absorbing
treatment installed behind the panels.

Holes lined up to provide maximum absorption.

Hinged Panels

Sound-absorbing material installed on back of sound-reflecting panel

can
be swung into position to vary conditions from hard to soft.

Rotatable Elements

The details shown below are similar to the rotatable prism elements at
l’Espace
de Projection, IRCAM, Paris, France (V. M. A. Peutz,
acoustical consultant)
which have three sides: reflecting, absorbing,
and diffusing.

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Note: Variable absorption also can be used to adjust the reverberation

during
orchestra rehearsals in music halls so rehearsal conditions
match performing
conditions, when the audience is present.

Next: Room Acoustics (part 4)

Prev: Room Acoustics (part 2)

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Updated: Friday, 2010-01-22 22:13 PST

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