1

UNI
T-1

I
NTRODUCTI
ONTOTHESTUDYOFACOUSTI
CS

SOUND

· Anydi
stur
bancet
hatt
rav
elst
hroughanel
ast
icmedi
um suchasai
r,gr
ound,
orwat
er
tobehear
dbythehumanear
.
· Whenabodyv ibr
ates,
ormov esbackandfort
h(seevibr
ati
on),t
heoscill
ati
oncausesa
peri
odicdist
urbanceofthesurr
oundi
ngairorothermedium t
hatradi
atesoutwar
din
str
aightl
inesinthefor
m ofapressurewave.Theeff
ectthesewavesproduceuponthe
earispercei
vedassound.
· Fr
om thepoi
ntofvi
ewofphysics,
soundisconsi
der
edtobethewavesofv
ibr
ator
y
moti
onthemsel
ves,whet
herornottheyar
eheardbythehumanear

CHARACTERI
STI
CSOFSOUNDWAVES

· Soundsaregeneral
lyaudi
blet
othehumanearift
hei
rfrequency(numberofv
ibr
ati
ons
persecond)l
iesbetween20and20,
000vi
brat
ionspersecond,butther
angevar
ies
consi
derabl
ywiththeindi
vi
dual
.
· Soundwaveswit
hf r
equenci
eslesst
hanthoseofaudi
blewavesarecal
l
edsubsonic;
thosewi
thfr
equenci
esabovetheaudibl
erangear
ecall
edult
rasoni
c(ult
rasoni
cs)
.
· Asoundwav eisusuall
yr epr
esentedgraphi
call
ybyawavy,hori
zontall
ine;theupper
par
tofthewav e(thecrest)i
ndicat
esacondensati
onandthelowerpar t(t
het r
ough)
i
ndicat
esar ar
efacti
on.Thisgraph,however
,ismerel
yarepresent
ationandi snotan
act
ualpict
ureofawav e.
 · Thel
engt
hofasoundwav
e,ort
hewav
elengt
h,i
smeasur
edast
hedi
stancef
rom onepoi
ntof
gr
eat
estcondensat
iont
othenex
tfol
l
owi
ngi
torf
rom anypoi
ntononewav
etot
hecor
respondi
ng
poi
ntont
henexti
nat
rai
nofwav
es.Thewav
elengt
hdependsupont
hev
eloci
tyofsoundi
nagi
ven
medi
um atagi
vent
emper
atur
eandupont
hef
requencyofv
ibr
ati
on.Thewav
elengt
hofasound
canbedet
ermi
nedbydi
vi
dingt
henumer
ical
val
uef
ort
hev
eloci
tyofsoundi
nthegi
venmedi
um at
t
hegi
vent
emper
atur
ebyt
hef
requencyofv
ibr
ati
on.

· Soundwav
escanber
efl
ect
ed,
ref
ract
ed(
orbent
),andabsor
bedasl
i
ghtwav
escanbe.
Ther
efl
ect
ionofsoundwav
escanr
esul
tinanecho―ani
mpor
tantf
act
ori
ntheacoust
ics
oft
heat
ersandaudi
tor
iums.
· Asoundwav
ecanber
einf
orcedwi
thwav
esf
rom abodyhav
ingt
hesamef
requencyof
v
ibr
ati
on,
butt
hecombi
nat
ionofwav
esofdi
ff
erentf
requenci
esofv
ibr
ati
onmay
pr
oduce“
beat
s”orpul
sat
ionsormayr
esul
tinot
herf
ormsofi
nter
fer
ence

CHARACTERI
STI
CSOFSPEECHANDHEARI
NG

Vocal
andi
nst
rument
alsoundscompr
isesev
eral
frequenci
eswhi
choccursi
mul
taneousl
y.I
tist
he
combi
nat
ionoft
hesef
requenci
eswhi
chl
ensapar
ti
cul
archar
act
eri
sti
ctot
hesoundhear
d.I
nfact
,any
audi
blesoundhast
hreei
mpor
tantchar
act
eri
sti
csf
requencyorpi
tch,
loudnessandt
onal
qual
i
ty.Anyv
oice
ofi
nst
rumentpr
oducesv
ari
ousf
requenci
es.Lowestf
requencyi
scal
l
edf
undament
alf
requency
,

whi
l
eal
lthehi
gheronesar
ecal
l
edov
ert
onesorhar
moni
cs.Ov
ert
ones,
whi
char
eexactmul
ti
ples
oft
hef
undament
al,
arecal
l
edhar
moni
cs.I
tismai
nlyt
hedi
str
ibut
ionandi
ntensi
tyoft
hese
ov
ert
ones,
whi
chl
endqual
i
tyt
othesoundandenabl
eust
orecogni
zeori
dent
if
yonesoundf
rom
anot
her
.Theel
i
minat
ionoft
heseov
ert
ones,
fori
nst
ance,
woul
dcauset
het
onesofmusi
cal
i
nst
rument
sofonef
ami
l
ytor
easonabl
eoneanot
her
.Thesci
ent
istr
efer
stot
hepr
esenceofov
er
t
onesast
onal
qual
i
ty,
whi
l
ethemusi
ciancal
l
sitt
imbr
e,br
il
li
anceort
onecol
our
.

I
nspeecht
heov
ert
onesar
enecessar
yforpr
operi
ntel
l
igi
bil
i
ty,
whi
l
ethef
undament
alf
requenci
es
ar
enot
.Thel
att
er,
howev
er,
arei
mpor
tantf
orpr
eser
vingt
henat
ural
nessoft
hev
oice.Tel
ephoneand
whi
sper
edconv
ersat
ionsar
etwoexampl
eswher
emai
nlyov
ert
onesorhi
gherf
requenci
esar
e
pr
esent
.Inbot
hthecases,
thef
undament
alorl
owerf
requenci
esar
econsi
der
abl
yat
tenuat
ed.

I
tmaybeobser vedthatt
hepi
tchorfr
equencyofasoundisindependentoft
heintensit
yofl
oudness
ofasound.Pit
ch,bytheway,
iscl
oselyr
elat
edtofr
equenci
es,butisnotexactl
ythesame.Whil
epitch
i
sapsy chol
ogical
phenomenondeter
minedbythefr
equencyofasound- wave,f
requencyi
saphysical
quant
ityandcanbeeasi
lymeasured.I
tmayalsobest
atedt
hatasoundiscal
l
eda‘ pur
et one’
whenitconsist
sofasi
nglef
requency,
butwhentwoormorefr
equenci
esarepresenti
tiscall
eda
complextone.

Loudnessi saphy si
ologicaleff
ectofsensationpr oducedt houghttheearanddependsont he
i
ntensityofsoundort heamountofener gypresenti nthesoundwav eswhileent
eringit
.Inopen-
ai
rcondi ti
onsloudnessf all
sawayv er
yrapidlyast hedistancef r
om thesomeofsoundi ncreases.
Loudnessori ntensi
tyofsoundatanypoi nti
si nversel
ypr oport
ionaltothesquar
eoft hedi stance
fr
om t hesource.Thislawdoesnot ,howev er
, applytoclosedorsemi -cl
osedenclosuresli
ke
studi
esandaudi t
ori
awher eopen-
airconditi
onsdonotex ist.I
nsuchcasesl oudnessdecr eases
l
essr apidl
yduet other efl
ecti
onsofsoundwhi ch…t hedirectsoundandcompensat eforits
decrease.

Thenweseet hatadiscussionoffr
equencyrange,energycont
entandpowerrangeofspeechand
musicfr
equenciesaswel lasthechar
acter
isti
csoft heearwouldbeuseful
,i
nfact,
areimportant
forthepropercomprehensionoftheproblemsi nvolv
edinthesati
sfact
oryacoust
icaldesi
gnof
vari
ousrooms.

Weknow, ai
r-bornesoundi sav ar
iat
ioninnormal atmosphericpressure.Theex tentaidsand…of
thi
ssoundpr essureismeasur edinter
msofauni tcal
ledthemi crobar,whicheffort
st hatiofone
dynepersq. cm.Thesoundpr essurecanalsobeexpr essedasasoundandaudi t
oria.Weexpect
toareferencesoundpr essurewhichisgeneral
ly0.0002mi crobar(or0.0002dy nespersq.cm. )
Thisunit
,howev er
,isnotoftenment i
onedingivingrel
atesofv ari
ousmeasur ementsbuti s
usual
lyimpliedwhent hemor ecommont er
m‘ decibel
’
,discussedbelow, isused.

Fr
equencyRanges.

I
nsof arast heIndianmusicali
nstrumentsar econcerned,compl eteandt hor ough
i
nv esti
gat i
onshav enotyetbeenmade, althought hi
squestionhasbeent akenupbyt he
Resear chDepar tmentofAllI
ndiaRadioand, perhaps,bysomeot herorgani zati
onsalso.Result
s
ofapr eliminarystudyofsomeoft heinstruments, madebyt heformer ,
hav ebeeni ncludedin
Appendi xIwhi chgivesadescri
pti
onoft he‘Musi calI
nstr
ument sofI ndi
a’ togetherwith
photogr aphsofsomeoft hepopul
arinstrument sinthemannert heyar eplay ed.Iti
sapparent
thatthef requencyrangescover
edbyt hesei nst
rument sarealsoqui t
ewi de.

Frequencyrangeofhumanv oi
cetoget
herwit
ht heapproxi
mateint
ensi
tyrangeof
fundamentals,v
owels,consonant
sandov er
tones,et
c.Itwoul
dbeobservedthatthe
fundamentalofamal evoiceisar
ound128cps, whil
ethatofafemalev
oiceisaround256
cps.
Thesecont r
ibut
et hemaximum t othesoundpr essur ewhichmaygoupt o100dy nesper
sq.cm.Theov er
tonesgoupt oabout7000cpsi nt hecaseoftheformerandt oabout9000
cpsi nthecaseoft hel
att
er.Itwouldbenoticedt hatnexttothefundament al
s,vowel
sand
voicedconsonantswi t
htheirfr
equencyrangebet ween500t o3000cps, cont
ribut
ethe
maxi mum tothesoundpr essure(upt
o10dy nespersq. cm.)whil
eunvoicedconsonants,wi
th
theirfr
equencyrangeof2500t o8000cps, contributemuchl ess(upt
o0. 5dynespersq.cm.
).

Thecont ributionfrom overtonesl iesint her angeof0. 01to5dy nespersq. cm.Thef r

equency
rangesofspeechandmusi calsoundst hatcanbehear dbyt hehumanear .Itmaybeobser ved
that, i
nther eproducti
onofspeechandor chest ralmusi cwithper f
ectfidel
ity,wer equi
rea
frequencyr angeof100t o8000cpsi nthef ormercaseandar angeof40t o14, 000cpsi nthe
l
at ercase. Ther angeoff requenci esinnoi sesi squi tewideanddependsnat ural
lyupont hety pe
ofnoi se.Hand- cl
apping,footst eps, tr
afficornei ghbour’sradioar esomeoft henoisesand
i
ncl udebot hmusi calandnon- musi calsounds.Ther angeoff requencyi nthecaseofkeyj i
ngling,
footstepsandhand- clapping,forexampl e,li
esbet ween100t o15, 000cps.Ver yrecently(1959) ,
W. M.Wel chManuf acturi
ngCompany ,I
lli
nois, U.S.A.hav epubl ishedani nt
er esti
ngandusef ul
char tof‘Fr equencyRangesofMusi candSoundRepr oducingSy stems’ whichhasbeencompi led
j
oi ntl
ybyR. W.YoungandH. F.Olson.Thi schar tappear stobet hel at
estaut hori
tati
vecompi l
ation
ont hesubj ect.Theirr
espect ivefoot notesunderMusi cal I
nstrument sandSoundRepr oducing
Sy stemsgi venont hechar tarer eproducedbel owf ortheconv enienceoft her eader.
Musi
cal
Inst
rument
s SoundRepr
oduci
ngSy
stem
Thedarkbarsint
heupperpartoft
hechar
t Therei
sconsi
derabl
ev ar
iat
ioni
nfrequencyrangesof
marktheplayi
ngrangesofcommon repr
oduci
ngsyst
emsi nanyoneclass,dependi
ng
musical upon
i
nst
rumentsincl
udi
ngthevoi
ce.The theappl
icat
ion,
thesize,
andthedesign.I
nthelower
mechani
sm ofthei
nst
rumentusual
l
yset
s
t
he partoft
hechart,dar
kbarsr
epresentthemini
mum
l
owerli
mitoft
heplay
ingrange,wher
easthef
requencyrangeandtheshadedbarsextendthr
ough
maximum frequencyr
anges.f
orexample,the
ski
l
loftheper
for
meroftendeter
minest
he telephone
upperl
i
mit
.Thel
i
ghtbar
sindi
cat
e of1925hadarangeof300to2,000cps,
whi l
ethe
moderntel
ephonehasarangeof200to4,000cps,
.
appr
oxi
mat
elyhowf
arupwar
dinf
requency For
r
epr
esent
edbydar
kbar
s.Fort
ransposi
ng r
adi
orecei
ver
s,magnet
ict
aper
ecor
der
sand
i
nst
rument
sther
angesshownar
ethoseof phonogr
ams,
thei
ndi
cat
edmi
nimum r
angei
s
t
heactualsoundsandnotasthenotesar
e char
acter
ist
icofthesmal
lpor
tabl
einst
rumentwhi
lea
maximum rangeof30to20,
000cpsmaybecov er
ed
wri
tt
en.Forexample,
E3writ
tenfort
heB by
sopr
anocl
ari
netcor
respondstoD3onthe hi
ghfi
del
ityi
nstr
ument
s.soundmotionpi
ctur
e
pr
oducer
sextendfr
om por
tabl
einst
rument
supto
char
.Thepi
anoisnormall
ytunedi
nequal hi
gh
t
emper
amentandbyi
nter
nat
ional qual
i
tyequi
pmentf
ordel
uxet
heat
rei
nst
all
ati
ons.The
agr
eement
,A4=440cps.Si
ncet
he
rangeoftel
evisi
onisl
imi
tedbyther
eceiver
’s
i
nter
val
s elect
roni
c
andloudspeakersy
stem andt
heambientnoisel
evel
ar
erepr
esent
edbyt
hef
requencyr
ati
o122 i
n
mi
ddl
eC=261.
6cps.Thef
requencyofCo, t
hest
udi
o.Rei
nfor
cingsy
stemsi
ncl
udei
nter
-
16.
35cpsi
saboutt
hel
owestf
requencyof communi
cat
ing,
publ
i
caddr
essandot
herampl
i
fyi
ng
soundt
hatpr
oducesasensat
iont
rul
ytonalsy
stems.
i
nchar
act
er.
DI
STRI
BUTI
ONOFENERGYI
NSPEECHANDMUSI
CFREQUENCI
ES

Curv
etakenfrom t
hedat aofCr
andall
andMackenzi s.Theor
dinat
erepresent
sener
gyof
aver
agespeechcorrespondi
ngtothefrequenci
esshownbytheabscissa.
Themaxi mum occur r
ingat200cy cl
esdoesnoti ndicat ethatmaxi mum intensi t
yormaxi mum
amplitudeisobt ai
nedatt hatfrequency.Thedat arepr esent edwereobt ainedi nsuchawayt hat
theener gyshowni ncludesnotonl ytheampl i
tudeori ntensityatanyf r
equencybutal soincludes
howof t
enener gyofthatf r
equencyoccur si nspeechandhowl ongitissustainedwheni toes
occur.Thehi ghmaxi mum i scausedpr i
mar i
lyby, t
hef undament altonesoft hev oiceThef unda
ment al,
a,weknow, occursinal loft
hev owel soundswhi char eheldlongert hanot herspeech
sounds.I ti
s, t
herefore,evi
dentthatthet imef actorr atherthant heintensit
yf actorcontr
ibutesa
greatdeal t
ot hishi
ghmax imum.I ft
hiscur vei scorrect edf orsensiti
vit
yoft heear( thecur veis
obtai
nedwhi chgivesr el
ati
vevaluesoft heav eragesoundl ev eli
nspeech, asper cei
vedbyt heear,
atdiffer
entfrequencies.Themaxi mum, itisnot i
ced, occur sbetween500and1000cps.i sa
simil
arcur v
ef ormusi c.
Inthi
sconnectioncurvespreparedbyDunnandWhi l
eareratherinfor
mativ
eandi nter
esti
ng
foranav er
agespeaker,t
heper cent
ageofthespeechpowerlyingbelowagi v
enf r
equency.I
t
wouldbeobser vedthatt
hereishardlyanypowerint
hefrequenciesabove1000cpswher e
mostoft heconsonantsli
ethet ot
alspeechpowerpercy
cleoff r
equencyinav er
age
conversati
onisplott
edasaf uncti
onoffrequency
.Thi
sgivesani deaofthefrequency
dist
ri
butionofaveragespeechpower .

Again,i
tmaybeobser vedthatallpar
tsofthefrequencyspectrum donotcont
ribut
et ospeech
i
ntell
igi
bili
ty.DunnandWhi tehavedivi
dedt hespectrum i
ntotenbands,whi
chcontribut
eequally
totheintel
li
gibil
it
yofspeech.Thisshowst hatthefrequenci
esbelow250cy cl
esandabov e7000
cycl
esdonotcont ri
butemucht otheintel
l
igibi
l
ityofspeech,whil
eitiswel
l-
knownt hattheydo
contri
butetot henatur
alnessofthevoice.
PowerEmi ttedbyMusi calI
nstr
ument s:Poweremittedbyv ariousmusicalinst
rumentsand
orchest
ralcombi nationsforsoft(pi
anissi
mo)andhar d(forti
ssimo)playi
ngshav ebeen
determi
nedbyv ari
ousaut hori
ti
es.Theinstant
aneouspeakpoweremi tted(1)byanor chest
raof
75playersisasmuch.14t o70wat ts;(
ii
)bythebassdr um is25wat t
s, (
ii
i)bythecymbalsis10
watts;(
iv)bythepi anois0.4wat t;(
v)bytheflut
eclari
net,piccolo,
orFrenchhor ni
s066- watt
,(v
i)
bythesof t
lyplayedv iol
ini
s4mi cr
owat t
s,
(
vii
)othecor
net0.31watt
;and(vi
i
i)bythet
romboneis6watts.I
twoul
dbeobser
vedt
hatt
he
r
angeofthevar
iat
ionofpoweremissi
onisabout18mil
l
ion.

AveragePowerOut putofHumanSpeech.I nordinaryconversati

onthi
sisabout.10mi crowatt
s
(100ergspersec. )Powerout putvar
ieswit
haper son’smoodandhi shabitofspeakinglowor
l
oudandt hecircumst ancesunderwhi chheisspeaking.Hewoul dnatural
l
ybespeaki ngmuch
l
ouderwhenaddr essingalargeaudienceandthepoweremi tt
edmaybeasmuchas1000t o
2000mi crowat
ts( i.
e.about100t o200timesthatoft hepoweroutputofconversat
ion).Atthe
-9
otherextr
emehewoul demitonlyabout10 wat tsinwhisperedconserv
ation.

I
NTELLI
GIBI
LITYOFSPEECH

Theintel
li
gibi
li
tyofspeechr ef
erstotheaccuracywithwhichanor mal li
stenercanunder standa
spokenwor dorphrase.Giventhefactthatsomeoft heinfor
mat i
oncommuni catedthrough
speechiscontainedwithincontex
tual,
visualandgestur
alcues,itissti
llpossi
bletounder stand
meaningev enifonl
yaf ract
ionofthediscret
espeechuni t
sarehear dcor r
ectl
y.Howev er,i
n
l
argeauditori
aandplaceswher ereproducedspeechi sused,theli
stenerhaslimitedaccesst o
thesecuesandmustr elymor eheavil
yupont hesoundactuall
ypr oducedbyt hemout h.
Resear chintot hisareabeganwi t
ht hedev el
opmentoftelephoneandt el
ecommuni cation
systemsi ntheear lypar
tofthiscentury.Aproductofthisresearchwasaquant it
ati
v emeasur
e
forintell
igibi
li
tybasedonar ticul
ati
ont esti
ng.Thi
sprocedur e(asdescr i
bedbyLochnerandBur ger
)
normal lyconsist sofanannouncerr eadingoutli
stsofsyll
ables,wordsorsent encest ooneor
mor elistenerswi thint
hetestenclosure.Thepercentageoft hesecorrectl
yrecordedbyt he
l
istenersi scall
edt hear
ti
culati
onscor eandisthentakenasan' i
n-si
tu'measureoft hespeech
i
ntelli
gibili
tyoft hatencl
osure.

Asst at
edbef ore,
nor malconnectedspeechcanbeunder stoodeveni
fsomeofthesyl
labl
es
areunintel
li
gibl
e.Thi si
sduet othefactthattheli
stenercandeducethemeaningf
rom the
contextofthesent ence.However,evenunderperfectconditi
ons,
themaximum wordscore
normallyattai
nableisabout95%duet ounav oi
dableerr
ors.Awordscoreof80%enablesthe
audi
encet ounder standeverysentencewithoutdueeffort.I
naroom wher
ethewordscoreis
cl
osert o70%, t
hel i
stenerhastoconcentratetounderstandwhatissai
dwhil
stbel
ow60%t he
i
ntel
ligi
bili
tyisquit
epoor .

GENERATI
ONOFSOUNDWAVES

· Soundwav esaregener
atedbyanyv i
brat
ingbody.Forex
ampl
e,whenav i
oli
nstr
ing
vi
bratesuponbeingbowedorpl ucked,i
tsmov ementinonedi
rect
ionpushesthe
molecul
esoftheair
befor
eit,
crowding
them t
ogetheri
nit
s
path.
Wheni tmov esbackagai n
pastitsoriginalposit
ionand
ont otheot herside,i
tleaves
behinditanear l
yempt y
space, i
.e.
,aspacewi th
rel
at i
vel
yfewmol eculesinit.
Inthemeant ime,howev er
,the
mol ecul
eswhi chwereatf i
rst
crowdedt oget herhave
t
ransmit
tedsomeofthei
renergyofmoti
ont
oothermol
ecul
esst
il
lfar
theronandarer
etur
ning
t
of i
l
lagaint
hespaceori
ginal
l
yoccupi
edandnowlef
temptybyt
heretr
eati
ngviol
i
nstr
ing.
· Inot
herwords, t
hev i
brat
orymot
ionsetupbythevi
oli
nstr
ingcausesal
ter
natelyi
na
givenspaceacrowdingtogetheroft
hemolecul
esofair(
acondensat
ion)andathi
nningoutof
themolecules(
ararefacti
on).
· Takent ogetheracondensat i
onandar arefact
ionmakeupasoundwav e;
suchawav eis
cal
ledlongi
tudinal,orcompressional
,becausethev i
brator
ymot i
onisforwardandbackward
al
ongt hedi
rectiont hatt
hewav eisfol
lowing.Becausesuchawav et
ravelsbydist
urbi
ngthe
par
ticl
esofamat erialmedi
um, soundwav escannott r
avelthr
oughav acuum.

THEPROPAGATI
ONOFSOUND

· Soundi spropagatedinair,muchl i
keblowi ngupal argebal
loon,whichexpandsequall
y
i
nalldi
recti
ons.Forsoundt obegener atedandhear ditmusthav easour ce,amedium
thr
oughwhichtopassandar eceiver.Propagat i
onmeans" mov ementthrough"somethi
ngin
thi
scontext
.Youcanst udythepr opagationofsoundt hroughair,f
orexampl e,t
hemost
commonki ndofsoundt hereisforpeople.Soundpr opagatesthroughwat eraswell
,asyou
caneasi
lyprovebyt aki
ngadi pinthepool .
· Allmediahav ethreepropert
ieswhi chaffectthebehav i
orofsoundpr opagati
on:
Arel
ationshi
pbet
weendensit
yandpr
essur
e.Thi
srel
ati
onship,
af
fectedbytemper
atur
e,det
ermi
nest
hespeedofsoundwithint
he
medium.
Themoti
onofthemedi
um i
tsel
f,e.
g.,
wind.Independentoft
hemot ionof
soundt
hrought
hemedi
um,ifthemedium ismov i
ng,thesoundisfurt
her
t
ransport
ed.
Theviscosi
tyofthemedi
um.Thisdet
erminest
herat
eatwhichsoundi
s
at
tenuated.Formanymedia,
suchasairorwat
er,
att
enuat
iondueto
vi
scosit
yisnegli
gibl
e.

· Soundi sa
sequenceofwav esof
pressurewhich
propagatesthr
ough
compr essi
blemediasuch
as

ai
rorwat
er.(
Soundcanpr
opagat
ethr
oughsol
i
dsas
 well
,butt
hereareaddit
ionalmodesofpropagati
on)
.Duri
ngt
hei
rpr
opagat
ion,
wav
es
canberefl
ected,
ref
racted,orat
tent
uat
edbyt hemedium
· Forpur posesofthi
sdiscussionwewill
assumethatwearet
alki
ngaboutnormal
speechcommuni cat
ions.Thesourceist
hespeaker’
svoi
ce,
themedium t
hroughwhi
chi
tis
tr
ansmitt
edisairandthereceiv
eristhel
ist
enersear
.
· Assoundisgenerat
edbythespeaker
’sspeech,thespeakersv
oiceact
sli
kea
di
aphragm whi
chcausesthemolecul
esintheairtopulsat
ebackandfort
hwhil
e
movi
ngi nal
ldi
recti
ons,
ataspeedof1130f tpersecond(770mph).
· Asingl
esegmentofasoundwavemaybechar
act
eri
zedaspr
essur
e
compressi
onsandr
aref
acti
ons.

TRANSMI
SSI
ONOFSOUND

· Ther
ear
et hr
eerequirementsforsoundt o"occur"inanenvir
onment
:
(1)Av i
brati
ngsourcetoi ni
ti
atesound,
(2)Amedi um totr
ansmi tsoundv i
brat
ionst hr
oughoutt
heenvi
ronmentand
(3)Areceivertohearorrecordsoundv ibrat
ions.

· Vibratingsour cesaremanyandv ar
iedintheWor ld--v ocalcords,amembr aneofani mal
hideorsy nt
het i
cmat eri
al,astr
etchedst r
ingthati spl uckedorbowed, objectssuchas
wood, st
one, clay,
met alandglassthatarest ruck, rattli
ngofbeadsi nasmal lencl osure,
clappingofhands, si
ngingofbirds,gruntsandgr oansofani mals,buzzingofl ipsina
smal lresonatingtube,spli
tti
ngofanai rstream, smal l pi
ecesofr eedat tachedt oat ube
andseti nmot ionbytheact i
onofhumanbr eath, andmany , manyot hernat uralvibrati
ng
sour ces,Soundmayal sobepr oducedar ti
fi
ciallybyel ectr
onicsy nthesis.Tocr eate
vi
br ati
ont heremustbeacer tai
namountofsur facet ensionint hev i
brati
ngbody .Sol i
d
objectsorr eedspossessi nherenttension.Stringsormembr anesmustf i
rstbest retched
tosust ainvibrati
on.

· Amedium ofsoundtransmissionmustbepr esentt

otransmi
tv i
brat
ionsofasound
sour
cetoareceiv
er.Twoef fi
cientmediumsofsoundt r
ansmissionaregases(suchas
ai
r)andli
qui
ds(suchaswat er).Soundisnotcapabl
eofbeingtransmitt
edinav acuum.
Wateri
samor eeffi
cientt
ransmi t
terofsoundcomparedtoairassoundt r
avel
sf ast
er
andfur
theri
nwater.
· Av i
bratingsour cetransmi t
sitsvi
brati
onsthroughamedi um bycausingt hemedium to
mov e,orvibrate,atex act
lythesamespeedofv ibrati
onast hesourceitself
.The
mov ementoft hegasorl iquidmedium isi
denticaltosurfacewav esfoundonanyl arge
bodyofwat er.Surfacewav esonwat ermov eupanddown, andtheytransmitenergyfr
om
onepoi nttoanot her;from asource(t
idalacti
on, wind,apassingship,anearthquake)t
o
recei
ver( t
heshor eline).

· Soundtr
ansmi ssi
ont hr
oughtheairi
saccompl i
shedbyasimil
arphysi
calprocess.The
soundsourceinit
iat
eswav esintheai
r,andtheairmovesupanddown( l
i
kesur face
waterwaves)atthesamer ateofspeedast hesoundsour
ce.Thi
smotionoft he
medium i
ssensedbyar ecei
ver,
suchast hehumanearorarecordi
ngmicrophone

· Onecompl et
eup- and-downmov ementoft hesoundsour cei
scal l
edacy cl
eandt herate
ofspeedoft hev i
brat
ionsofapar t
icularsoundsourcei smeasur edint henumberof
compl et
ecy cl
est hatthesourcemov espersecond( cyclespersecondor" cps")
.Inrecent
yearstheexpr essionofcpshasbeenassi gnedtoapr opername, Hertz(Hz) ,
aft
er
Heinri
chHer tz(1857-1894).Hertzgener at
edanddet ectedelectromagnet icwavesacr oss
thelengthofhi slaborat
oryonawav elengthofapproximat el
yonemet re.Todetectthe
elect
romagnet icwav esHer t
zempl oyedasi mplef
orm ofosci ll
ator,whichhet ermeda
resonator.Cpsi snowexpr essedasHz( i.
e.1000Hz, r
atherthan1000cps) .

· ASoundr eceiversensesv i
brati
ngmot ionf rom asour cewhi chi str
ansmi tt
edt hrougha
medium.Thehumanhear i
ngor gan,theear ,isasoundr ecei ver,asisar ecording
microphone.Thehumanhear ingnet workconsi stsoftheout erearchamber ,
theearcanal ,
theeardrum (thet ympani cmembr ane),andt heinnerear( cochlea)intheshapeofaspi r
al.
Theinnerearcont ainsinnumer ableminut ehair(cil
ia)outgrowt hsofgr aduatedsizesthat
respondt odiff
erentspeedsofsoundv i
brationst r
ansmi t
tedbyt hetympani cmembr ane.
Thenet workofmi nutecili
arecept orsi
sdi rectl
yconnect edt othener voussy stem, which
sendst heinformat i
onsensedbyt hecil
iadi r
ectlytothebr ai
n, whereitispr ocessedand
reactedtobydi fferentpartsoft hebody .

· I
nor derforsoundt
otravel
betweenthesour
ceandthereceiv
erther
emustbesome
material
betweenthem t
hatcanvibr
atei
nthedi
rect
ionoftravel
(cal
l
edt
hepropagat
ion
di
recti
on).
 o Themot ionofthesound-produci ngbodycausesdensit
yv ar
iati
onsinthemedium
whichmov ealonginthedi r
ectionofpropagati
on.Thetransmissionofsoundsin
theform oft
hesedensi t
yv ar
iationsister
medawav esi
ncet hesevari
ati
onsare
carr
iedforwardwithoutsigni
ficantchange,al
thougheventuall
yfri
cti
onintheai
r
i
tselfcauses
thewav etodissi
pate.
o Si
ncethemot i
onofthemedi um atanypointisasmallv
ibr
ati
onbackandf ort
h
i
nthedirect
ioninwhichthewavei sproceedi
ng,soundi
stermedal ongi
tudinal
wave.(
Thewat erwav
e,li
ketheviol
inst
r i
ng,i
sanexampleofatransv
ersewav e.)
o Themostusualmedium ofsoundt r
ansmi ssi
onisair
,butanysubstancethatcan
becompressedcanactasamedi um forsoundpropagat
ion.Afundamental
char
act
eri
sticofawav ei
st hati
tcarr
iesenergyandmoment um awayfr
om a
sour
cewithouttr
ansport
ingmatterfr
om t hesour
ce.

· Thewav elengt hsofspeechar eoft hesi zeofor dinaryobj ects,unli

kelight, whose
wav elengt hsar eext r
emel ysmal lcompar edt oi temst hatar epar tofever ydaylif
e.
Becauseoft hi
s, sounddoesnotor dinar i
lycast" acousticshadows"but ,becausei ts
wav elengt hsar esol arge,canbet r
ansmi tt
edar oundor dinar yobjects.Forexampl e,i
fa
l
ighti sshi ningonaper son,andabooki spl aceddi rectl
ybet weent hem, theper sonwillno
l
ongerbeabl et oseet hel ight(ashadowi scastbyt hebookont heey esoft heobser v
er).
Howev er,ifoneper soni sspeakingt oanot her,thenpl acingabookbet weent hem will
hardlyaf fectt hesoundshear datal l;
thesoundwav esar eabl etogoar oundt hebookt o
theobser ver '
sear s.Ont heotherhand, placingahi ghwal l betweenahi ghwayandhouses
cangr eat lydecr easet hesoundsoft het rafficnoi sesifthedi mensi onsoft hewal l(
height
andl engt h)ar elar gecompar edwi t
ht hewav elengthoft het raffi
csounds.Thus, sound
wav es( asf orallwav es)t endt o"goar ound"( e.g.,i
gnoret hepr esenceof )obst acleswhich
aresmal lcompar edwi tht hewav el
engt hoft hewav e;andar erefl
ectedbyobst acles
whichar el argecompar edwi ththewav elengt h.

· Ingeneral
,thespeedofsoundinli
quidsisgreat
erthani
ngases,andgreatersti
l
linsol
i
ds.
Inseawat er,f
orexample,thespeedisabout4, 750ft
/sec(1,
447m/ sec);inagas,the
speedincr
easesast hepr
essurei
ncreases,andasthedensi
tydecr
eases.
RECEPTI
ONOFSOUND/ANATOMYOFEAR

· Physiol
ogical
acousticsisthestudyoft
hetransmissi
onofsoundandhowiti
shear
d
bythehumanear .Soundt ravel
sinwaves,
vibrat
ionst
hatcausecompr
essi
onand
rar
efacti
onofmol eculesintheair
.
· Soundrecepti
on,r
esponseofanor
ganism’
saur
almechani
sm,
theear
,toaspeci
fi
c
for
m ofenergychange,
orsoundwaves.
· Soundwav escanbetransmitt
edt hroughgases,li
quids,orsol
ids,buttheheari
ng
functi
onofeachspeci
esi spart
icularl
y(thoughnotexclusiv
ely)sensi
ti
v etost
imul
i
from onemedium.Soundenergyi stransmitt
edthroughair(orotherparti
cl
es)asa
trav
elingpr
essur
ewav e.
· Thehumanearhast
hreemai
nsect
ions,
whi
chconsi
stoft
heout
erear
,themi
ddl
eear
,
andthei
nnerear
.
 · Soundwav
esent
ery
ourout
erearandt
rav
elt
hroughy
ourearcanal
tot
hemi
ddl
eear
.
· Theearcanalchannel
sthewavest
oyoureardr
um,athi
n,sensi
ti
vemembr anestr
etched
ti
ght
lyovertheentr
ancetoyourmi
ddl
eear.Thewavescauseyourear
drum tovi
brat
e.
· I
tpassest
hesevibr
ati
onsont
othehammer,oneofthreeti
nybonesi
nyourear
.The
hammervi
brat
ingcausest
heanv
il
,thesmal
lbonetouchingt
hehammer,t
ov i
brat
e.
· Theanv
ilpassest
hesevi
brati
onstothesti
rr
up,
anothersmall
bonewhi
cht
ouchest
he
anvi
l
.Fr
om thesti
rr
up,t
hev i
brat
ionspassi
ntot
heinnerear
.
· Thesti
rr
uptouchesali
quidfi
ll
edsackandt
hev
ibr
ati
onst
rav
eli
ntot
hecochl
ea,
whichi
sshapedlikeashel
l.
· I
nsi
dethecochlea,t
herearehundr
edsofspeci
alcel
l
sat
tachedt
oner
vef
iber
s,
whi
chcantransmiti
nformati
ontothebr
ain.
· Thebrai
nprocessest
heinf
ormat
ionf
rom t
heearandl
etsusdi
sti
ngui
shbet
ween
di
ff
erentt
ypesofsounds.

BI
NOMI
ALHEARI
NG

Inopenai raswel lasinencl osures,thehearingisdi r

ectandbi naural(i
.e.wi t
hbot ht heear s).This
helpst olocalizesoundandobt ai
nacor r
ectideaoft hesoundper spective.Binaural hearingcoul d
beeasi l
ycompar edtobi nocularvi
sion.Justasanobser v
erget sani mpr essionofdi recti
onand
distanceordept hwi t
ht woey es,similarl
yhistwoear senabl ehimt oappr eci
at ethedi r
ectionof
soundandt oacer tai
next ent,thedistanceofsoundaswel l.I
tisquiteeasyt oimagi nehowt he
twoear senabl ehimt oseet hedi r
ectionofsoundwhi chispr i
marilyduet othedi ff
er encei nt he
i
nt ensityofthet wosoundsr eachingt hetwoear s.Itist
hedept hortheper spectiveofsound;
par ti
cularlyi
nencl osuresareaudi tori
a,whichneedssomeexpl anation.Thi sisobt ainedmai nly
duet or elati
vechangei nt heloudnessofdi rectandr efl
ectedsound.I tmaybeobser vedt hatt he
reflectedsoundv ari
esmuchweakenedi nintensit
yast her ecedef r
om t hespeaker .Consequent l
y
ther atioofdirecttother efl
ectedsoundv ari
esconsi derably.I
tisforthisr easont hataswego
fartherf r
om thespeakert hedirectsoundi sweakenedwhi lethereflectedorr everber antsound
becomesmor eandmor enot i
ceable.Itisthi
sf act
orwhi chper mit
sbi naur alhear i
ngt oappr eciate
distanceordept h.

Itisnotdiff
icultt
oappr eci
atehowmonaural hear
ingcauseslossofdi r
ecti
on.I
tiscommon
experi
encetoobser vethatthetwoearsenablethepersonconsciouslytosuppr
esssounds
comingf r
om onedi rect
ionandtoconcentr
ateondesiredsoundf rom agivendi
recti
on.Si
ngleear
i
sunabl etodot hi
sandconsequentlythenoisesandthereverber
at i
onpresenti
nt heroom or
apparentl
yincreased.
Inabroadcast
ingst
udi
o,t
hemi
crophone/
radi
o/l
oudspeakerchai
nisequi
val
entt
omonaur
al
hear
ing.Thi
scause

· Lossofl
ocal
i
zat
ionofsoundordi
rect
ional
discr
imi
nat
ion.
· Lossofsoundper specti
ve,butt heabil
i
tytodi
sti
nguishbet
weennear
byandt
he
di
stancesoundisnoti mpaired,inst
eaditmaybeenhanced.
· Moresusceptibi
li
tytobackgr oundnoisefr
om al
ldir
ecti
onand
· Apparenti
ncreaseinrev er
ber at
ion.

Thebroadcast
ingstudi
oshould,t
herefore,bedesignedf orminimum noi
selevel
,theideal
bei
ng
10/15dbabov ethethr
esholdofaudibil
i
ty.Howev er,underactualcondi
ti
onsiti
snotpossibl
eto
secur
esuchal ownoiselev
el.Sothefigureof30-35deci beli
st akenasaccept
able.

BEHAVI
OUROFSOUNDI
NENCCLOSEDPLACES

Soundi
sgenerat
edinaroom,iti
sabsor
bedandr
efl
ect
edi
nvar
iouspr
opor
ti
oni
naccor
dance
wit
hthenumberofconst
ruct
ed.

1.Soundisabsorbed
i
ntheai ral
soappreci
abl
e
t
oreflectedsound.

2.Soundinref
lect
edat
t
hewallsur
face.

3.Soundi
sabsor bed
f
rom thewallsurfaceor
i
tssurf
acefi
nished.

4. Soundi
sconduct
edbyt
hewal
ltoot
herpar
toft
hesur
face.

5.Soundi
semi
tt
edbyt
her
esonanceoft
hewal
li
nbot
hdi
rect
ions.

6.Soundi
sint
er-
ref
lect
edbet
weenboundi
ngsur
faceset
ti
ngatr
ever
ber
ati
on.

7.Resonanceoft
heencl
osedv
olumeofai
rbydi
rectcr
ossr
efl
ect
ion.
WAVELENGTHOFSOUNDWAVE

Thewavel
engthofsoundist
hedist
ance
bet
weenanalogouspoi
ntsoftwosuccessi
ve
waves.

λ=c/fwher
e

λ=wavelengt
h(m)
c=speedofsound(
m/s)
f=f
requency

FREQUENCYOFSOUNDWAVE

Onecompl eteup-and-downm ov ementofthesoundsourceiscal

ledacycle.Thenumberof
completecy cl
esthatthesourcemov espersecond(cy
clespersecondor"cps")i
scal
ledfr
e
quency.I
nr ecentyearstheexpressi
onofcpshasbeenassignedtoapropername, Hert
z(Hz)
,
aft
erHeinri
chHer tz(1857-1894).

PI
TCHOFSOUNDWAVE

Thesensat i
onofaf r
equencyi scommonl yr ef
erredtoast hepit
chofasound.Ahi ghpi tchsound
correspondstoahighf r
equencysoundwav eandal owpi t
chsoundcor r
espondstoal ow
fr
equencysoundwav e.Amazingly,manypeopl e, especi
all
ythosewhohav ebeenmusi call
y
tr
ained,arecapabl
eofdet ecti
ngadi ff
erenceinfrequencybet weent woseparatesoundst hati
s
aslitt
leas2Hz.Pit
chi sindependentofintensit
yofl oudnessofsound.Pitchisapsy chol ogi
cal
phenomenondet er
mi nedbyf requencyofasoundwav ewhereasfrequencyisaphy sical quant
it
y
andcanbemeasur ed.

SOUNDI
NTENSI
TY

Thesoundintensit
yinaspeci f
ieddir
ect
ionist
heamountofsoundener
gyfl
owingt
hrougha
uni
tareanormal t
ot hatdi
recti
on.Thesoundintensi
tyi
snor
mall
ymeasuredi
nwattpersquar
e
2
metr
e( W/m) .I
ntensit
yreferstotheamplit
udeofasound.
SOUNDPRESSURE

Soundpressureoracoust i
cpressur ei
sthelocalpressuredev i
ati
onfrom t
heambi ent(
average,
orequi
li
bri
um)at mospher icpr
essur ecausedbyasoundwav e.Soundpressurecanbe
measuredusingami crophonei nairandahy dr
ophonei nwat er.TheSIuni
tforsoundpressure
pisthePascal.Soundpr essur
el evel(
SPL)orsoundl eveli
sal ogari
thmicmeasureofthe
eff
ecti
vesoundpr essureofasoundr el
ati
vetoar efer
encev alue.I
tismeasuredindeci
bels(dB)
aboveastandardreferencelevel.

MEASUREMENTOFSOUND(
SCALES/
DECI
BEL)

Thedeci
bel(dB)isusedt omeasuresoundlevel
,butitisal
sowidelyusedinelect
ronics,
si
gnal
sandcommunication.ThedBisalogarit
hmicunitusedtodescri
bearati
o.Ther ati
o
maybepower,
soundpressure,v
olt
ageori
ntensi
tyorsev
eralot
hert
hings.

Lev
elDb Ti
mesl
oudert
han
Ty
pical
ever
ydayexampl
e
10dB
10dB Rust
li
ngorf
all
i
ngl
eav
es. 1
20dB Wat
cht
icki
ng. 10
30dB Bi
rdsf
lyi
ngby
. 100
40dB Qui
etconv
ersat
ion. 1,
000
50dB Louderconv
ersat
ion. 10,
000
60dB Qui
ett
raf
fi
cnoi
se. 100,
000
70dB+ Loudert
raf
fi
c 1,
000,
000
80dB+ Loudhi
ghwaynoi
seatcl
oser
ange 10,
000,
000
85dB Hear
ingdamageaf
terappr
oxi
mat
ely8hour
s.
100dB Jackhammer(
pneumat
icdr
il
l)atcl
oser
ange 1,
000,
000,
000
100dB Hear
ingdamageaf
terabout15mi
nut
es.
110dB+ Jetengi
neatabout100m 10,
000,
000,
000
Thresholdofpai
n.Hear
ingdamageaf
terv
erybr
ief
120dB exposure.
THRESHOLDOFAUDI
BILI
TY

Thethreshol
dofaudibi
li
tyatanyspeci
fi
edfrequencyi
sthemini
mum v al
ueofsoundpressur
eof
apuretoneofthatf
requencywhichisj
ustaudibl
eThetermisusedforcomplexwavessuchas
speechandmusic.Itismeasuresindynespersqcm.(ReferDi
agr
am inpg6)

THRESHOLDOFFEELI
NG

Soundpr essur
ethatcancausedi
scomfortandpai
n.I
tissi
tuatedaround120dBabov ethe
threshol
dofheari
ng.Iti
smeasuresindynespersqcm andalsoinwattspersqcm (
Refer
Diagram inpg6).

PHON

Auni
tofapparentl
oudness,
equali
nnumbertot
heint
ensit
yindeci
bel
sofa1,
000-
her
tz
t
oneper
ceivedtobeasloudasthesoundbei
ngmeasured.

EFFECTOFREVEBRATI
ONONHEARI
NG

Thehangov eref
fectofonesy ll
abl
eont henex tdi
stortsthespeechbybl endi
ngt
heendoft he
fi
rstwitht
hebeginningofthesecondsoast omaskt hesecondsyll
ablecomplet
ely
.The
rever
berati
oncharacter
isti
csmaygiveanef fectoffrequencydist
orti
onbecauseofreverber
ati
on
ti
mebei ngdif
fer
entforv ar
iousfr
equencies.Theeffectofbothwilldependuponposit
ionofthe
observer

HI
GHFI
DELI
TYREPRODUCTI
ONOFMUSI
C

Thisi sav er
ycont rov
er si
al subjectandmanydi fferentviewpointshavebeenex pressedont he
techni cianwoul dsayt hatev eryt ypeofdist or
ti
ondoesmat terandthathi stechni
quemor eand
mor ei mpr ovementt i
llhei sabl etoputbef orethelisteneranex actrepli
caoft hatis‘heard’by
themi crophone.Anav eragel i
st ener,howev er,
doesnotwor ryaboutthedi st
orti
onasl ongast he
progr ammer emainsinteresting.Amusi cian,ont eotherhand, wouldr esenttheabsenceof
certainf requenciesaswel last hepr esenceofcombi nat
iontonesgener atedduet odi stor
tionin
thesy stem.Themostpessi mi sticviewpointist hatthe…. .art
if
ici
ali
tydeniest hepossi bi
li
tyof
thef aithfulreproduct
ion
whil
e,ev
eninthepresenceofdi
stort
ion,
aprogrammemaybepl
easi
ngandemot
ion-
evoki
ngl
i
ke
atwodimensi
onalpict
ureofathreedimensi
onalobj
ect
.

I
ngener al
,theli
stenerofabroadcast
,recordi
ngorapubl i
caddresssystem doesnotgr umble
aboutthereproducingsyst
em.Hehas, rather
,learntt
otol
erat
eitsshort
comi ngs.Experi
mentsin
America,curi
ouslyenough,haveshownt hatasy st
em hav
ingarestr
ict
edfrequencyr esponsei
s
pref
erredtothat
ofonehavi
ngaf ul
lrangeresponse.Thesecannot
,however,
heconsi
der
edasconcl
usi
ve
unl
esstherepr
oducingsystem i
sabsolutel
yfreef
rom di
stor
ti
on.

Loudspeakerisprobablythegreaterhi
ndranceinthewidebandresponse.I
nst at
ictestsi
tmay
haveaf l
atcharact
erist
icbutinactualworkingcondi
ti
onsitwouldproveunsati
sfact
or y
.Thismay
beexplai
nedbysay ingthatanyv i
brati
ngsur f
acewouldconti
nuetovibr
ateevenwhent he
sti
mulushasceased.Thi sfactorwouldobv i
ousl
ybeasour ceofdist
ort
ioninthereproduced
sound.

Toleranceofthepubli
cear,hasbeenthemainr easonwhyl i
tt
leprogresshasbeenmadei n
regardtothefai
thf
ulnessofbroadcastr
eproduction.Evenacostlyrecei
ver,isnotabletoconvey
allt
hebenef i
tsofi
mpr ovementsmadeinstudio,ques.Perhapsinthisrespectourmusi ci
ans
alsohav enotpr
ovedgoodj udgeofthequal
it
yofr epr
oducti
on.Theygivepr ecedencetothe
composi ti
onandtechniqueofperf
ormanceovert hequali
tyofindiv
idualinstr
ument s.

Hawki nshasr emarkedt hat90per centofthelistenersare‘i

nci
dental
’onesandOnl y10percent
are‘cident al
’ones(thisterm hasbeencoi nedmeani ngtheoppositeofi
nci dental).Byincidental
l
istener s,hemeanst hosewhoar eengagedinsomeot heracti
vi
tywhil
et heylistent othe
programmeandar e, ther
efore,notfocusi
ngt heirattent
iononitsquali
ty.Forsuchal istenerthe
bandwi dthoft hepresentsystemsi sconsideredadequat eandi t
spermi ssibl
edi stort
ionquite
negligible.

‘
Highfi
del
ity
’it
selfneedsanexpl
anati
onideall
y,hi
ghide1i
tyr
epr
oducti
onistintwhi
chcannotbe
tol
dfr
om theori
ginal.Butt
heworki
ngdefini
ti
ondependsuponthegeneralpr
ogressoft
heartA
goodsyst
em intheyear1947wasconsideredtohavethefol
l
owingcr
iter
ia:

(
a)Zer
ogai
nfr
om mi
crophonet
oloudspeaker
.i.
e.t
heor
igi
nal
soundi
srepr
oducedatt
hesame
l
evel
;
(b)thetransientandst eadystatefrequencyr esponsei swit
hin5dbofeachot herandnei t
her
depar t
smor et han10dboft he1000cpsv alueint her angeof80t o8000cps; (c)theov er
all
reverberati
ont i
mei snott ovarybyaf actorl argerthan3ov erthi
srange;(d)thebacksr ound
noiseist obe50dbbel owt hemaxi mum pr ogrammel evel(
e)thenoises,
inthepr esenceof
programme, istobe30dbbel owt heprogr ammel evel onl
oudpassages;( f
)theinter
modul ati
ondi stor
tionatthemaxi mum l evel inther angeof60- 100cpsmayr eacheven30
percentpr ovi
dedt hefift
hharmoni cdistort
ioni nt her angeof400t o2000cpsdoesnotexceed
0.3percent ;(g)atotheroutputlevelsoflowert han10dbbel owthemaximum, thedistort
ionis
tobel esthan10per centandfift
hhar moni cdi storti
oni stobebelow`percent .

RESONANCE

Adriv
ingf
orceintunewitht
henaturalf
requency(someti
mesknownastheresonantf
requency
)
ofanosci
l
latorcanbui
ldupl
argeram pl
itudesthantheosci
l
lat
orcoul
dal
one.Thisbui
l
dupi s
knownasresonanceorsympathet
icvi
bration.

Eg)putt
wot uni
ngforksofequalfrequenci
essi
debyside,butnottouchi
ng.Str
ikeonetuni
ng
for
ksothatyoucanhearitstone,
andthensuddenlysi
lenceit.Youcanstil
lhearafai
nttone.
Thi
sisbecausethesecondtuni
ngforkhasstar
tedv
ibr
atingsympatheti
cal
ly.
REVERBERATI
ON

I
tistheper sistenceofsoundi na
parti
cularspaceaf t
ertheor iginal sound
i
sr emov ed.Ar ev er
berati
on, orr everb,i
s
createdwhenasoundi sproducedi nan
enclosedspacecausi ngal ar genumber
ofechoest obui l
dupandt hensl owly
decayast hesoundi sabsor bedbyt he
wallsandai r.Thi si
smostnot i
ceable
whent hessoundsour cest opsbutt he
refl
ectionscont inue,decreasi ngi n
ampl i
tude,unt i
ltheycannol ongerbe
heard.
ECHO

I
naudiosi
gnal
processi
ngandacousti
cs,anecho(pl
ural
echoes)i
sar
efl
ect
ionofsound,
ar
ri
vi
ngatthel
ist
enersometi
meaf t
erthedir
ectsound.

Typicalexamplesaretheechoproducedbythebott
om ofawel
l,
byabuildi
ng,
orbyt
hewal
lsof
anenclosedroom.At r
ueechoisasi ngl
eref
lect
ionoft
hesoundsour
ce.Theti
medel
ayi
sthe
ext
radistancediv
idedbythespeedofsound.

REVERBERATI
ONTI
ME

St
andardreverberati
ontimehasbeendef i
nedastheti
mefort
hesoundt
odieawayt
oa
l
evel60decibelsbelowitsori
ginal
lev
el.Therev
erber
ati
ont
imecanbemodel
edtoper
mit
anapproxi
mat ecalculat
ion.

Therev
erber
antsoundinanaudi
tori
um di
esawaywithti
measthesoundener
gyi
sabsor
bedby
mult
ipl
eint
eract
ionswi
ththesur
facesoftheroom.I
namoreref
lect
iver
oom,i
twi
llt
akel
onger
fort
hesoundtodieawayandtheroom i
ssaidtobe'
li
ve'
.

Inav eryabsorbentr
oom,t
hesoundwill
dieawayquickl
yandt heroom wi
l
lbedescri
bedas
acoustical
l
y'dead'
.Butt
heti
meforrev
erberati
ontocomplet
elydieawaywil
ldependuponhow
l
oudt hesoundwast obegi
nwit
h,andwillal
sodependupontheacuityoft
heheari
ngofthe
observer.

SABI
NE

Inthelat
e19thcent
ury,Wall
aceCl ementSabi nestar
ted
experi
mentsatHarvar
dUniversit
yt oinvesti
gatet
he
i
mpactofabsorpti
onont hereverberati
ont i
me.Wal l
ace
ClementSabi
newasapi oneerinar chi
tectur
alacousti
cs.

Acenturyagohestart
edexperi
ment
sintheFogglect
ure
room atHarv
ard,
toinvest
igat
ethei
mpactofabsorpt
ion
ontherever
berat
ionti
me.
Itwasonthe29thofOctober1898thathediscover
edthety
peofrel
ati
onbetweenthese
quanti
ti
esusi
ngaportablewindchestandorganpipesasasoundsource,
astopwatchandhi
s
ears,
hemeasuredtheti
mef rom i
nter
rupt
ionofthesourcet
oinaudi
bil
i
ty(r
oughl
y60dB) .

· Hef
oundthatt
herev
erber
ati
onti
meispropor
ti
onaltot
hedimensionsof
r
oom andi
nver
sel
ypropor
ti
onal
totheamountofabsor
pti
onpresent.
· Theopt
imum r
ever
berati
onti
meforaspacei
nwhichmusi
cispl
ayeddependson
thet
ypeofmusi
cthatistobepl
ayedi
nthespace
· Roomsusedf orspeecht ypical
l
yneedashor t
erreverberati
onti
mesot hatspeechcan
beunder st
oodmor eclearl
y.Ift
herefl
ectedsoundf rom onesy l
labl
eisstill
heardwhen
thenextsy ll
ableisspoken, i
tmaybedi ff
iculttounderstandwhatwassai d."Cat"
,"Cab",
and" Cap"mayal lsoundv er
ysimil
ar.I
font heotherhandt her
ev er
berati
ont i
mei stoo
short,tonalbalanceandl oudnessmaysuf fer.Reverberati
oneff
ectsar eoftenusedi n
studiostoadddept htosounds.Rev er
berationchangest heperceivedharmoni c
structureofanot e,butdoesnotalterthepitch.
· Basicfactorsthataf f
ectar oom'sreverber
ati
ontimeincl
udethesizeandshapeof
theenclosureaswel lasthemat eri
alsusedintheconstr
uct
ionoftheroom.Ever
y
objectplacedwi t
hintheencl osurecanalsoaff
ectthi
srever
berat
ionti
me, i
ncl
udi
ng
peopleandt heirbelongings.

SABI
NE’
SFORMULA

Sabi
nederivedanexpressi
onf
orthedur
ati
onToft
heresi
dualsoundtodecaybel
owt
he
audi
blei
ntensit
y,st
art
ingfr
om a1,
000,
000ti
meshi
gheri
nit
ial
intensi
ty:

T=0.
161V/
A

Wher
eVi
sther
oom v
olumei
ncubi
cmet
ers,

AndAi
sthet
otal
absor
pti
oni
nsquar
emet
ers.

Sabine'srever
berat
ionformulahasbeenappli
edsuccessf ul
lyformanyy earstodeter
mine
materialabsorpt
ioncoeffi
ci
entsbymeansofr everber
ationrooms.Keepi nginmindsome
conditi
onswi t
hregardtothesoundfiel
ddiff
usionandt hevalueofA, Sabine'
sfor
mulaisst
il
l
widelyacceptedasav eryuseful
est
imationmet hodforthereverber
ationtimeinrooms.
SABI
NE’
SUNI
TOFABSORPTI
ON

Theuni tofsoundabsorpti
onissquaremeter,r
eferr
ingtotheareaofopenwindow.Thi
sunit
stemsf rom t
hef actt
hatsoundenergytr
avel
li
ngt owardanopenwi ndowinaroom wi
ll
notbe
reflect
edatall,
butcompletel
ydisappear
sintheopenai rout
side.Theeff
ectwoul
dbethesame
i
ft heopenwi ndowwouldber epl
acedwith100%absor bingmat er
ialoft
hesamedimensi
ons.

Therefore,
1squaremeterof100%absorbingmat er
ial
hasabsorpti
onof1squar emeterof
openwi ndow.I
nhonorofW.C.Sabine,
theunitofabsorpt
ioni
salsonamedsabi normetri
c
sabin.However
,theseuni
tsareusednotveryoft
en.Onesabinistheabsorpt
ionofonesquare
footofopenwindow,andonemet ri
csabi
nistheabsorpti
onofonesquar emeterofopen
window