INTRODUCTION AND

THEORY OF SOUND
Introduction and theory of sound
Acoustics - definitions, terms related to acoustics.
Theory of sound: generation, propagation, transmission, reception of sound,
sound waves, frequency, intensity, wavelength, sound pressure, measurement
of sound , scales- decibel scale

• characteristics of speech
• •Music and hearing
• •Distribution of energy in speech
• •Music frequencies
• •Intelligibility of speech, high fidelity reproduction of music
• •Human ear characteristics, making of sound
• •Binomial hearing
• •Behavior of sound in enclosed spaces .
DEFINITIONS
• Acoustics is defined as the
science that deals with the
production, control,
transmission, reception and
effects of sound.
• the physical principles of this
science are utilized in
architecture to attain distinct
hearing conditions in enclosed
space
The study of acoustics helps to
• to appreciate and analyse the
problem involved in the
propagation of sound in the
enclosures.
• To suggest ways and means of
producing optimum conditions
of hearing
• to obtain both subjective and
objective assessments of the
results achieved
DEFINITIONS
What is resonance?
resounding or reechoing
increasing the intensity of sounds by
sympathetic vibration

eg- when you put two turning forks of

equal frequencies side by side, but not
touching. strike one tuning fork so that
you can hear its tone, and then suddenly
silence it. you can still hear a faint tone
this is because the second tuning fork
has started vibrating sympathetically.
DEFINITIONS
What is Reverberation?
It is the persistence of sound in a particulat
space after the original sound is removed
A reverbration or reverb is created when a
sound is produced in an enclosed space
causing a large number of echoes to build
up and then slowly decay as the sound is
absorbed by the walls and air
this is most noticable when the source
stops but the reflection continues,
decreasing in amplitude, untill they can no
longer be heard
DEFINITIONS
What is Reverberation time?
Standard reverberation time has been defined as the time for the
sound to die away to a level 60 decibels below its original levels. the
reverberation time can be modeled to permit an approximate
calculation

Reverberation = RT60 = time to drop 60 dB below original level

DEFINITIONS
• The reverberation sound in an auditorium dies away with time as the
sound energy is absorbed by multiple interactions with the surface of
the room in a more reflective room, it will take long for the sound to
die away and the room is said to be ‘live’

• In a very absorbent room, the sound will die away quickly and the
room will be described as acoustically ‘dead’. But the time for
reverberation to completely die away will depend upon how load the
sound was to be begin with, and will also depend upon the acuity of
the hearing of the observer
What is echo?
• In audio signal processing and
acoustics, an echo (plural
echoes) is a reflection of sound
arriving at the listener some
time after the diect sound.

• Typical examples are the echo

produced by the bottom of a
well, by a building, or by the wall
of an enclosed room. A true
echo is a single reflection of the
sound source.
SOUND
• A sound is a vibration in an elastic medium,
which may be a solid, liquid, or gas, which
can be registered by the ear
• It can be a pleasant or unpleasant, loud or
soft, high or low. sound is made by
vibrations, something moving back and
forth. streach a rubber band tightly
between your fingers, and pluck it. you can
see it quiver and hear the sound it makes
CHARACTERISTICS OF SOUND WAVES
• Sound are generally audible to the human ear if their frequency
(number of vibrations per second) lies between 20 and 20,000
vibration per second, but the range varies considerably with the
individual
• The range of audible sound is also differentiated into 3 main
categories. subsonic or low frequency sound is defined in the range
20Hz to above 500 Hz.
• Mid range frequencies inhabit the realm of 500Hz to 60KHz(6000Hz)
• With high frequency sound defined in the remaining 6KHz to 20KHz.
• Those with frequencies above the audible range are called ultrasonic
• A sound wave is usually represented graphically by a wavy, horizontal
line; the upper part of the wave (the crest) indicates a condensation
and the lowerpart (the trough) indicates a rarefaction
GENERATION OF SOUND WAVES
Sound waves are generated by any
vibrating body. For example, when
a violin string vibrates upon being
bowed or plucked, its movement
in one direction pushes the
molecules of the air before it,
crowding them together

When it moves back again past its original position and on to the other
side, it leaves behind it a nearly empty space, i.e a space with relatively
few molecules in it. In the meantime, however, the molecules which were
at first crowded together have transmitted some of their energy of motion
to other molecules still farther on and are returning to fill again the space
originally occupied and now left by the retreating voilin string
In other words, the vibratory motion set up by the violin string causes
alternately i a given space a crowding together of the molecules of air (a
condensation) and a thinning out of the molecules (a rarefaction).
Taken together a condensation and a rarefaction make up a sound wave;
such a wave is called longitudinal, or compressional, because the vibratory
motion is forward and backward alon the direction that the wave is
following.

because such wave travels by disturbing the particles of a material

medium, sound waves cannot travel through a vacuum
 THE PROPAGATION OF SOUND
1. Sound is propagated in air much like
blowing up a large ballon, which
expands equally in all directions. for
sound to be generated and heard it
must have a sources, a medium
through which pass and a recevier.

2. Propagation means”movement
through” sound will propagate through
air and water
All media have three properties which affects the behaviour of sound
propagation

• A relationship between density and preassure . This relationship, affected

by temprature, determines the speed of sound within the medium

• The motion of the medium itself, e.g., wind independent of the motion of
sound through the medium, if the medium is moving , the sound is further
transported.

• The visciosity of the medium. this determines the rate at which sound is
attenuated. For many media, such as air or water, attenuation due to
viscosity is negligible.
TRANSMISSION OF SOUND
There are three requirements for sound to
“occur” in a environment

• A vibrating source to initate sound.

• A medium to trasmit sound vibrations

throughout the environment and.

• A reciecer to hear or record sound vibrations.

Sound is initiated in an environment by a
vibrating source.
• Water is a more efficient transmitter of sound compared to
air as sound travels faster and further in water.

• The movement of the gas or liquid medium is identical to surface

waves found on any large body of water.

• The wavelengths of speech are of the size of ordinary objects,

unlike light, whose wavelengths are extremely small.Because of this,
sound does not ordinarily cast " acoustic shadow” but, because its
wavelengths are so large, can be transmitted around ordinary
objects
• For example, if a light is shining on a person, and a book is placed directly
between them, the person will no longer be able to see the light (a shadow
is cast by the book on the eyes of the observer).

• However, if one person is speaking to another, then placing a book between

them will hardly affect the sounds heard at all; the sound waves are able to
go around the book to the observer's ears.

• On the other hand, placing a high wall between a highway and houses can
greatly decrease the sounds of the traffic noises if the dimensions of the
wall (height and length) are large compared with the wavelength of the
traffic sounds.