Reverberation Another criterion for studio design is the need for a desirable room ambience and intelligibility, combined with the need for good acoustic separation between instruments and other instru- ment mic pickups. Each of these Factors is governed by the careful control and tuning of the reverberation constants within the studio over the frequency spectrum. Reverberation (reverb) is the persistence of a signal (in the form of reflected waves within an acoustic space) that continues after the original sound has ceased. The effect of these closely spaced and random multiple echoes gives us perceptible cues as to the size, density and nature of a space. Reverb also adds to the perceived warmth and depth of recorded sound and plays an extremely important role in the enhancement of our perception of music. ‘The reverberated signal itself (Figure 3.34) can be broken down into three components: + The direct signal + Early reflection + Reverberation Figure 3.34. The three components of reverberation. + ¥ te ome * + * i vty ° rey tO aye aoe on aaa aaa The direct signal is made up of the original sound that travels from the source to the listener. Early reflections consist of the first few reflections that are projected the listener off of major boundaries within an acoustic space. These reflections generally give the listener subconscious cues as tothe size of the room. The last set of signal reflections make up the actual reverberation characteristic. These signals are composed of random reflections that travel from boundary to boundary in a room and are so closely spaced that the brain can’ discern the individual reflec- tions. When combined, they are perceived as a single decaying signal. ‘Technically, reverb is considered to be the time thar’s required for a sound to die away to a mil- nth of its original intensity (resulting in a decrease over time of 60 4B), as shown by the fol- Jowing formula: RT 60 = V x 0.049/ASwhere RT is the reverberation time in seconds Vis the volume of the enclosure in cubic feet Ais the average absorption coefiicien: of the enclosure Sis the toral surface area in square feet As you can see from this equation, reverberation time is directly proportional to two major Fac- tors: the volume of the room and the absorption coefficients of the studio surfaces. large envi- ronment with a relatively low absorption coefficient (such as a concert hall) will have a relatively long RT gy decay time, whereas a small studio (which might incorporate « heavy amount of absozption) will havea very short RT gg. ‘The style of music and the room application will often determine the optimum RT gq for an acoustical environment. Figure 3.35 shows a basic guide co reverb times for different applicr- tions and musical styles. Reverberation times can range from 0.25 sec in a smaller absorptive recording studio environment to 1.6 sec or more in a larger music or scoring studio. In cevtain designs, the RT gp of a room can be altered to fit the desired application by using movable pan- cls or louvers (Figure 3.36) or by placing carpets in a room. Other designs may have sections of the studio environment that exhibic different reverb constants. One side of the studio (or sepa- rate iso-toom) might be relatively nonreflective or “dead,” while another section or room could bbe much more acoustically “tive.” The more reflective live section is ofien used to bring certain instruments to life, such as strings, which rely heavily on room reflections and reverb. The recording of any number of instruments (including drums and percussion) can also greatly bea- efi from an acoustically “live” enviconment Figure 3.35. Reverberation times for various pes of production sudies a: 512 He. ‘oben 1 ebitet Figure 3.36. Fxaple of several panel designs that can be = ‘moved 30 as to vary the acoustics sie \S ofa oom. enna sn SY mee Ikolation between different instruments and microphone channels is extremely important in the studio environment. If leakage isnt controlled, the rooms effectiveness becomes severely limited ‘over a range of applications. The studio designs of the 1960sand 1970s brought about the rise of the “Sound sucker” era in studio design, whereby the absorption coefficient of many rooms was rnised almost to an anechoic (no reverb) condition, With the advent of the music styles of the 1980s and a return to the respectability of live studio acoustics, modern studio and control room. designs have begun to increase in “liveness” and size (with a corresponding increase in the stu- dio's RT gp). This has reintroduced the buying public to the thick, live-sounding music produe- tion of easier decades ... when studios were lager, more live, acoustic structures.