This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
022 REPORT


ARCHITECTURAL AUDIO


CONSIDER A VISUALLY STUNNING ARCHITECTURAL BUILDING, WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE? WHATEVER YOUR ANSWER, IT’S UNLIKELY TO BE THE AUDIO SYSTEM. SOUND IS OFTEN OVERLOOKED UNDER THESE CIRCUMSTANCES, WHEN IN FACT A GREAT DEAL OF TIME AND EFFORT HAS BEEN SPENT ON SEAMLESSLY INTEGRATING THE SYSTEM WITH THE INTENTION OF IT GOING UNNOTICED. THE SOUND SHOULD ADD TO THE EXPERIENCE, NOT INTRUDE UPON IT, BUT GETTING THAT BALANCE RIGHT IS A FINE ART.


Graeme Harrison is Vice President of International Sales at Biamp Systems. Julian Treasure is author of the book Sound Business and Chairman of UK- based BrandSound consultancy The Sound Agency, which numbers Harrods, Nokia, Coca-Cola and BP among its customers. Julian’s three TED talks have been viewed collectively more than three million times. This is an excerpt from the book: Sound Affects by Julian Treasure


ROOM ACOUTSICS AND THE SOUND SYSTEM - TIPS AND TRICKS By Graeme Harrison, Vice President, International Sales, Biamp Systems


When it comes to acoustics - boardrooms, classrooms, convention centers, transport hubs - audio gets overlooked and under-valued when compared to lighting, interior design, video or control, and other feature. Yet sound has such a profound impact people’s work and personal lives, in terms of both productivity and enjoyment. In his new book, Sound Affects, Julian Treasure provides a number of tips and tricks with regard to acoustics in different spaces. Here is an excerpt from that book that could prove helpful when considering room acoustics:


Inappropriate acoustics can be fixed, or at least greatly improved, with simple treat- ments: it’s always worth having a checkup from an acoustician, and every design project should involve one at an early stage. The most important aspect of any space is reverberation time (RT). As a rule of thumb where speech intelligibility is important, RT should be under one second, and parallel walls should be avoided or broken up with non-reflective fittings. This is absolutely vital in meeting and conference rooms, where miscommunication is simply unacceptable. A good conference room, especially one with an audio conferencing system, needs proper sound insulation from outside and good, clear acoustics. This usually means plenty of absorbent surfaces, such as carpet, acoustic ceiling tiles and curtains, and may require additional sound absorbers or diffusers. The value of good acoustics in any communication space is enormous. Once we’ve controlled noise and optimised acoustics, we can install a sound system.


www.mondodr.com


• General - Get the acoustics right first: correcting major acoustical problems with technology doesn’t often work. • Conference Rooms - Install ultra-quiet heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC): specify under 40 dB* of noise at one meter. Noisy air conditioning is the most common sound problem in conference rooms. • Auditoria - Avoid mounting loudspeakers next to physical obstructions: this will prob- ably create unpleasant audio effects. • Classrooms - Prioritize intelligibility over everything else. Set uncompromising goals for speech intelligibility (SI) and have it measured after installation to ensure they’ve been met. • Hotels - Aim for maximum reverberation time (RT) of one second in all public areas, and 0.5 sec in spaces smaller than 500 ft² (50 m²). • Convention Centers - Discover from the client all the past and possible future uses of the space, and what the acoustic strengths and weaknesses have been. • Transport Centers - Plan zones to localize sound appropriately; for example, boarding announcements should be audible only at the relevant gate. • Retail - Make sure your suppliers are using different types of loudspeakers for dif- ferent jobs; this may require the creation of technical zones for areas with particular ceiling heights so that gains can be set and even, consistent coverage maintained. • Healthcare - Eliminate all the electromechanical noise you can; then ensure that your audio system is adapted to deliver in spite of any that remains. • Courtrooms - Ask to have beam steered array loudspeakers and top class auto-mix- ers included in your options: they can make a quantum difference to the level of gain you can achieve before feedback sets in. www.thesoundagency.com


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124