Very Newby to sound engineering design and room acoustic.

Hi can anyone help with this please.


Hi,

I decided to do my A levels as a mature student and go to university to study sound engineering and design. I am now in my second year at the school of sound recording (SSR) Manchester.



This is what I could do with an experts advice on:-

I have been told that in the last three academic years only 15% of students have passed this module, which obviously worried me. Having attended the first two lectures I now understand why this is. I am writing to ask for some guidance and do hope you guys have the time and the inclination to help me please.

The assignment I have been given is to be completed in two stages and is intended to test our understanding of the factors that influence the interior design of any space intended for listening to music or recording sound.

Section 1 is worth 20% as we are asked to choose a recording studio control room or live room, and conduct an experiment to determine the frequency response of the room.

Section 2 Studio Design Report (80%)

"Produce a report on your experiments from section 1 and recommend within the report acoustic treatment for the problematic frequencies that you have identified. I need to know what experiments to conduct before writing my hypothesis.

During my initial research I have obviously come across huge amounts of stuff on the internet.

This is a scientific report. I have been researching reports by the BBC etc etc to actually find out what a scientific report should and should not contain but need some examples of installations/treatment and previous to this methodology and recommendations perhaps for acoustic jobs that some of you guys have completed????.http://www.whatsbestforum.com/images/icons/icon6.png I am to choose any environment to conduct my experiment and then suggest treatment as if money was no object. I am presuming I will need an experiment for standing waves and RT60 anything else that will impress my tutor would be great also, but an explanation of how to go about an RT60 experiment and/or standing waves experiment would be fantastic.

Is it better for me to choose a small environment with a view to hypothetically treating it for the use of a control room. My thinking there is less reverb and therefore less treatment required. I would however like to do a larger space but do not know if this may be a bit too much of an ask for a newby like me


I have been given the following guidance for this report and experiment.



The purpose of this exercise is to build up a picture of what is happening within the room in terms of frequency distribution using experiments formulas such as RT60 (the only one I can get my head around at the minute)

It may be appropriate to research how such experiments should be conducted beforehand, as well as researching other "ideal' musical performance or listening spaces and the techniques employed in the sound insulation and acoustic treatment
In conducting your experiments it is important to hypothesis what you expect to find in the room and then prove your assertions. You should quote and explain appropriate formulae to support your assertions. If the results of your experiments differ from those you might have expected, explain why.

Professionals within the industry by means of recommendations accompanying a customer’s quotation should in the format of a scientific report not unlike those produce this paper.

In your reports recommendations, quote specific manufacturers or materials you may wish to use in your acoustic treatment and justify your decisions for their usage.

Learning outcomes

Have analyzed the behavior of sound in physical spaces and understand the means available for sound insulation and acoustic treatment control.


I do hope you have the time to be able to perhaps send me your recommendations and what would be of excellent use would be any reports/quotations and recommendations for acoustic jobs you have done in the past and perhaps intend to do.

This all seems like a massive task for a layman so anything at all you can do to help would be massively appreciated. Obviously you and your products ext will be fully reference using the Harvard referencing system.

May I take this opportunity to thank you kindly in advance for anything you can do to help me?



Kind regards

Just doing that now. Thanks for getting back to me. I suppose what I'm trying to get sorted is what experiment I need to do. I have got replies from various so called professionals who have done stuff like told me to go and work for dad if I can't work this assignment out. Stuff like try google and you know just some not very nice comments.

I don't get it... I feel even worse for asking now. Obviously not about you I appreciate you getting back to me amirm. All i'm trying to do is work out an experiment to complete. This can be on any of the rooms at my uni big or small.

thankyou so much for your kind words amirm I will do all you suggested I cannot tell you how much just a few lines you have written have helped me and given me the a bit more confidence to get further into this project.
Thanks again and all the very best in all you do and to all your loved ones.

draft hypothesis

Can I have comments and suggestions on the following please. I will be most appreciative.

I have dysleix and other learning disabiltities so please do not be affraid to tell me if it makes no sense eithier as regards grammer but more more importantly on an academic level. In other words am I talking absolute rubbish (it certainly feels like it) please please do make suggestions. I need to include things about room modes and standing waves but don't really have any predictions for hypothesesis as I dont really know what these things are. Please do contribute I need all the help I can get. Many thanks in advance

Hypothesis incomplete 1st draft 20/2/2011


Following investigation via professional correspondence and research, it was established that any environment intended for listening should be tested and treated appropriately although bias is found in that some professionals lean towards the theory that a properly designed sound system can perform well in a great variety of rooms and require very little treatment if any at all. While other industry professionals lean towards the need for acoustic treatment or else a massively expensive rig is rendered a useless inappropriate expense without this. Barring in mind the fact that this particular research papers brief is obviously centered almost solely on the testing and treatment of a listening environment recommendations; research and hypothesis were based around an acoustic treatment bias.

It was also found that the size, material and contents of a room’s makeup significantly influence the final treatment recommendations.

It was deduced that for the maximum educational benefit received from both the writing of this report and the experiment there in, would be achieved not only by the mathematical theory and formulation of effective treatment, but the actual choice of the room would significantly influence the learning out comes as well as the conclusions following the experiment itself. For example the RV60 measurements and treatment of a large room would be far more important than perhaps the treatment of a control room and conversely the bass issues in a smaller listening environment would be more problematic than that of a large rehearsal space.

As the treatment of a smaller environment usually requires much less attention and treatment than that of an imperfect larger resonating room it was decided to hypothetically treat the live rehearsal space (charley Jones) at the SSR.

Following this decision and considering all of the above, it was predicted that the absorption coefficients of common building materials and finishes would need to be established and considered at various frequencies such as 125 Hz, 250 Hz, 500Hz, 1kHz, 2 kHz and 4 kHz as well as RT60 relating to intelligibility. It was therefore also predicted that the use of Diffractors to reduce pronounced reflection by breaking up the sound wave before reflecting it back, would be a necessary recommendation. This is because their use does not reduce reverberant energy therefore not destroying the natural reverberation of the room, which is beneficial and useful for the recording of classical performances but does reduce echo spikes that may otherwise exceed -60db of direct, thus lowering RT60 and improving intelligibility. It was also noted that this recommendation does not necessarily improve the listening environment for music.

Thanks ethan I have not stopped reading your website apart from sleep since I found you. I am determined. This is the most difficult assignment I have ever had to tackle. Period. Thanks again for all you guys input. Much love to all.

Hi again guys any suggestions for a a title for this experiment. All my seem pants. Its supposed to be a really scientific title. The title for a scientific report. Any suggestions would be gladly appreciated. Thanks in advance.http://www.whatsbestforum.com/images/smilies/cool.gif