Reverberation

Module-III
Defects due to reflected
sound
 Echo
 Reverberation
 Echo

 Echoes are produced when surfaces reflect

sound to the listener after the direct sound
from the source has been heard.
 For example, horn sections on stage may
create a distracting echo off the back wall of
an auditorium. Although both absorbers and
diffusers can help correct this type of echo,
diffusers are generally preferred because
more sound energy will be conserved.
 An echo is produced when the reflected sound
wave reaches the ear just when the original sound
from the same source has been already heard.
Thus there is repetition of the sound.
 The sensation of sound persists for 1/10th
of a second after the source has ceased
 In order that an echo may be distinguished as
separate, it must reach the ear 1/10th of a second
after the direct sound
 Minimum distance of obstacle from the sound
source-17m
 Eg for echoes:- reflections from cliffs, rumbling and
rolling of thunders etc.
 Echo occurs when the reverberation time is long
enough to cause a distinct repetition of the direct
sound.
 This condition is an advanced form of reverberation
where the sound is heard clearly and repeatedly
after sometime until it fades.
Flutter Echo
 Flutterechoes occur when a sound
source is situated between parallel,
sound-reflecting surfaces. The effect is a
prolonged buzzing sound.
 For example, a rim shot off a snare drum
in an untreated room will produce a
distinct flutter echo.
Reverberation

 This is the persistence of sound in an

enclosed space as a result of continuous
reflection or scattering of sound after the
source has stopped.
 It is one the most prominent behaviours of
sound in an enclosure.
 It occurs when sound waves hits a surface
and are reflected toward another surface
which also reflects it.
 Some of the sound is absorbed with this
continuous reflection which gradually reduces
the energy of the sound to zero.
 The phenomenon can affect the audibility of
sound in an enclosure, especially if the
reverberation time, which is the time taken for
the sound pressure level to diminish to 60 dB
below its initial value is considerably long.
 Growth and decay of sound in
a room. Reverberation time
 When a steady sound is generated in a room the
sound pressure will gradually build up and it will
take some time, in most rooms about 1 second,
until it reaches its steady state value
 If the sound field is diffused in the room, i.e.,the
sound energy is uniformly spread over all the room,
and sound waves are traveling in all directions,
then, the steady state sound pressure level will be
directly proportional to the acoustic power output
of the source and inversely proportional to the total
absorption of the room
 Similarly, when the source of the sound
has stopped, a noticeable time will elapse
before the sound will die away (decay) to
inaudibility.
 This prolongation of sound as a result of
successive reflections in an enclosed
space after the source of sound is "turned
off", is called r e v e r b e r a t i o n
 Reverberation has a distinct affect on the
hearing conditions of Auditoria because its
presence will modify the perception of
transient sounds (i.e., those having sudden
starting or stopping characteristics).
 It is an important goal in the reverberation
control of Auditoria that transient sounds of
speech and music be most favorably
preserved to secure the highest intelligibility of
speech and the full enjoyment of music.
 Speech transients (consonant sounds and
syllables) follow one another at the rapid
rate of about 10 to 12 per second.
 The rate of succession of musical sounds
widely varies depending on the type of
music but can be as high as 20 notes a
second.
 Itis, therefore, obvious that excessive
reverberation will create an acoustical
condition under which transients preceding the
ones upon which momentary attention is
focused remain perceptible, masking and
overlapping subsequent speech or musical
sounds
 Reverberation is familiar phenomenon in
cathedrals and new halls/rooms without
furniture, where, even after sound source
stops the reverberation is heard even
upto 10 seconds
Reverberation time
 The importance of reverberation control in the
acoustical design of Auditoria has necessitated
the introduction of a relevant standard of
measure: the reverberation time {abbreviated:
R.T. in subsequent discussions).
 This is the time for the sound pressure level in a
room to decrease 60 dB after the source of the
sound is stopped
 Reverberation time refers to the amount of time
required for the sound field in a space to decay
60dB, or to one millionth of the original power.
 In simple terms this refers to the amount of time it
takes for sound energy to bounce around a
room before being absorbed by the materials
and air
 Highlyreflective surfaces lengthen the
reverberation time
 Absorbing surfaces shorten the
reverberation time
 Factors affecting
reverberation time
(a) Reverberation time depends upon reflectivity of
sound from various surfaces available inside the hall. If
the reflection is good, reverberation time of the hall will
be longer as sound take more time to die out.
(b) Reverberation time depends upon volume of the
hall.
i.e. T  V
(c) Reverberation time depends upon coefficient of
absorption of various surfaces present in the hall. For
shorter reverberation, absorption should be more.
(d) As absorption coefficient is found to be increased
with increase in frequency, reverberation time decreases
with frequency.
 The reverberation time of a room depends on
the volume of the room and the absorptive
characteristics of the surfaces in the room.
 Excessive reverberation gives the perception
of "boominess", or makes the room sound
"live."
 Although this is favorable for musical
performances, it reduces the intelligibility of
speech by causing phrases and syllables to
overlap and thus confuse the listener.
 A lack of reverberation time results in the
room sounding "flat" or "dead."
Sabine’s formula
 Prof. W.C.Sabine of Harvard University
was the first who established quantitative
relationship between R.T., the volume of
the room and the total amount of
absorption applied along the enclosures
of the room
t=Reverberation time in seconds
V= Volume of the room in m3
a a
1 , 2 ,
a
3... =Absorption coefficient of
individual units (i.e. Walls, floors, ceilings etc.)
S1,S2,S3 ...=Area of individual absorbing surfaces
A= Total absorbing power- expresses in m2 sabines
 The time of reverberation play a significant role
in achieving desired acoustical condition
 If the time of reverberation is too long, it results in
overlapping of speech and loss of intelligibility
 If it is too short, it produces the effect of
deadness and loss of brilliance of sound
Limitations of Sabine’s Formula
1. One limitation of Sabine's equation is that it assumes a
perfectly diffused sound field, which small rooms invariably
don't have
2. it also ignores any sound absorption due to the air within the
room. That's another good reason why any result arrived at
on this basis should be treated as a guide rather than as a
rigorous analysis.
3. It neglects all of the geometric information about the room
(its shape, the position of absorbing materials, the use of
reflectors, etc.). Thus, whilst they can closely indicate the
reverberation time, they cannot be used to predict any
acoustic anomalies within a room, such as discernible
echoes, acoustic shadows, etc.
4. Sabine’s formula does not give correct result for absorption
coefficient more than 0.25
5. Sabine’s formula gives contradictory result in case of a dead
room. In case of complete absorption, α = 1 and therefore,
reverberation time T should be zero. But according to
Sabine’s formula we have T=0.161 V seconds
 The time of reverberation to be allowed varies
with the purpose for which the enclosure is to
be used
 RT for auditorium for sound film theatre or for
public address system- should be short
 RT for concert halls & churches- longer
 RT for enclosures used for both speech and
music- a value midway between the two
 The selection of the correct time of
reverberation is called optimum time of
reverberation
 Presence of audience in a room reduces the
time of reverberation. This is on account of the
absorption provided by the audience (due to
the clothing worn by the persons)
 Theatre will have greater time of reverberation-
when empty, than when it is full with audience
 To make allowance for this aspect in
deciding the time of reverberation, the
strength of audience contributing towards
the absorption of sound is taken as ¼, 2/3
or full depending upon the type of hall.
 Sabine’s equation is practical only in the
case of live room and when sound is
diffused as in room, where the absorption
coefficient is less than 0.25
 Unit of total absorption of all acoustical
materials / Sound Absorption power (effective
absorbing area in m²) is m²-Sabins
 If seats are occupied-only absorption of
occupants to be considered and not of chair
 If curtains are used-only absorption of curtain to
be included and not of doors(if curtains are
used for doors) and windows
Eyring-Norris Equation
 Eyring-Norris and others derived equations
which overcame this difficulty and can be
used in more absorptive rooms.
 For average absorption coefficients of 0.25 or
less, the other equations are basically
equivalent to the Sabine equation.
 In particular, Eyring and Norris proposed an
alternate equation for absorptive rooms:
RT60= 0.161V
-S ln(1- α)
where V = room volume, m3
 S = total surface area of room, m2
 ln = natural logarithm (to base “e”)
 α average = average absorption
coefficient (ΣSiαi / ΣSi)
Acoustical Defects in Enclosed
Spaces
 Perfect acoustical conditions in a big
room, hall or auditorium etc are achieved
when there is clarity or sound in every part
of the occupied space.
 For this the sound should rise to suitable
intensity everywhere with no echoes or
near echoes or distortion of the original
sound; with correct reverberation time.
Acoustical Defects in enclosed
spaces
1. Reverberation
2. Formation of echoes
3. Sound Foci or Sound concentrations or hot spots
4. Dead spot or Sound shadows
5. Insufficient loudness
6. Exterior noise
7. Coupled spaces
8. Distortion
9. Long - delayed reflections
10. Flutter echo
11. Room resonance
12. Whispering galleries / creep of sound/ Rotunda effect
1. Excessive /Inadequate
Reverberation
 Reverberation is the persistence of sound in
the enclosed space, after the source of
sound has stopped.
 Reverberant sound is the reflected sound, as
a result of improper absorption.
 Excessive reverberation is one of the most
common defect, with the result that sound
once created prolongs for a long duration
resulting in confusion with sound created next.
 Some reverberation is essential for
improving quality of sound.
 Optimum clarity depends upon correct
reverberation time which can be
controlled by suitably installing the
absorbent materials.
2. Formation of echoes
 Echoes are formed due to reflection of
sound when the reflecting surfaces are
situated at a distance greater than 17m
and when the shape of the
hall/auditorium/room is curved with
smooth character.
 This defect can be removed by selecting
proper shape of the hall and by providing
rough and porous interior surfaces to
disperse energy of echoes.
3. Sound Foci
 Reflecting concave surfaces cause
concentration of reflected sound waves
at certain spots, creating a sound of large
intensity. These spots are called sound
foci.
 This defects can be removed by
a. Geometrical designed shapes of the
interior faces including ceilings.
b. Providing highly absorbent materials on
focussing areas.
4. Dead spot
 This defect is an outcome of the formation of
sound foci.
 Because of high concentration of the reflected
sound at sound foci, there is a deficiency of
reflected sound at some other points. These
points are known as dead spots, where sound
intensity is so long that it is insufficient for
theory.
 This defect can be removed by installation of
suitable diffuser so that there is even
distribution of sound in the hall.
5. Insufficient loudness
 This defect is caused due to lack of sound
reflecting flat surfaces near the sound source
and excessive sound absorption treatment in the
hall.
 This defect can be removed by providing hard
reflecting surface near the source, and by
adjusting the absorption of the hall so that to get
optimum time of reverberation.
 When length of the hall is more, it may be
desirable to install loud speakers at proper
places.
6. External noise
 Externalnoise from the vehicles, traffic engines,
factories, cooling plants etc may enter the hall
either through the openings (such as doors,
windows, ventilators etc) or through even walls
and other structural elements having improper
sound insulation.
 This defect can be removed by proper
planning of the hall with respect of its
surroundings and by proper sound insulation of
exterior walls.
7.Long - delayed reflections
 These are basically echoes with a shorter
delay; they produce a blurring or masking
of the direct sound
8.Flutter echo
 Consisting of a rapid succession of
noticeable echoes, a flutter echo can be
observed if a short burst of sound, such as
a clap or shot, is produced between
parallel, sound reflective surfaces, while
the other pairs of opposite surfaces in the
room are non-parallel, or relatively
absorbent, or diffusive
 Elimination of parallelism between
opposite reflecting surfaces is one way to
avoid flutter echoes.
 No flutter echo will be noticeable if the
sound source is not located between the
critical parallel surfaces
 Echoes, long-delayed reflections and
flutter echoes generally can be
prevented by the application of sound
absorbing materials along the defect-
producing reflective surfaces.
 If the installation of acoustical finishes
along these critical areas is not feasible,
they should be rendered diffusive, or
tilted, to produce beneficial reflections
9.Coupled spaces
 If
an Auditorium is connected to an adjacent
reverberant space (such as a foyer, stair-hall,
corridor, stage tower, baptistry, etc.) by means
of open doorways, the two rooms will form
coupled spaces
 As long as the air spaces of the coupled rooms
are interconnected, an inflow of reverberant
sound into the main Auditorium from the
adjacent space will be noticeable, although
reverberation might have been properly
controlled in the main room.
 Thisphenomenon will particularly disturb the
audience seated close to the open doorways, no
matter how much consideration was given to the
reverberation control of the main Auditorium
 The undesirable effect created by coupled
spaces can be overcome either by adequate
acoustical separation between the coupled
spaces or by providing approximately the same
decay rate in both spaces.
10.Distortion
 This phenomenon is an undesired change
in the quality of musical sounds due to the
uneven or excessive sound absorption at
different frequencies of boundary
surfaces.
 This will be avoided if the applied
acoustical finishes have balanced
absorption characteristics over the entire
audio-frequency range.
11.Room Resonance
 Sometimes called "coloration", this will
occur when sounds within a narrow
frequency band tend to sound louder
than other frequencies.
 This phenomenon is created by parallel
reflective surfaces if the wavelength of
the sound is equal to the distance
between the surfaces or to a submultiple
of it
 Theavoidance of this acoustical defect is
particularly important in the design of
Broadcasting and Recording Studios.
12.Whispering galleries/
Creep/Rotunda effect
 High frequencies of sound have the
tendency to "creep" along large concave
surfaces, such as hemispherical domes
(St. Paul's Cathedral in London, Royal
Theater in Copenhagen, etc.).
 A very soft sound like a whisper created
close to such a dome will be surprisingly
audible at the opposite side of the
structure.
A whispering gallery might be a
sensational and harmless phenomenon in
an Auditorium but never a contributing
factor to its acoustics