Sound and noise have an incredible ability to change a person\u2019s mood, affect their judgment, or bring on anxiety, depression, isolation, or exhaustion. Done right, sound can also help a person feel happier and more productive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unfortunately, you rarely hear of positive sonic experiences. Few people ever say, \u201cThis is a great-sounding room\u201d or \u201cWow, that space really improved my mood!\u201d Granted, sonic nuances can be subtle to the untrained ear, but sound can reinforce or supplement positive feelings of relaxation or satisfaction. I attribute this to a certain sonic Zen-like state that I refer to as \u201csonic solitude.\u201d For many people, peace and solitude involve silence or at the very least controlled and ordered sonic experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, can anyone deny the beauty of the Kimbell Art Museum\u2019s<\/a> entry sequence defined sonically on approach by the sound of running water, the subtle crunch of crushed gravel beneath one\u2019s feet, then the transition to the refined and tight sound of feet walking on travertine before entering the building? Louis Kahn was not an acoustician. He did, however, master defining spatial sequences by experience. As architects and creators of place, we should strive to do the same by engaging sensory experiences beyond the visual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s break those sonic influencers down into three fundamental components.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First is reverberation, which is defined as the accumulation of sound waves after a sound source stops. If controlled, reverberation can enhance the aural perception and spatial definition of musical instruments, voices, or even environmental sounds that define an architectural space and thus the user experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the other end of the spectrum, if uncontrolled, reverberation can completely overwhelm listeners and make basic conversation difficult at best. The aural assault created by reverberation noise is something nearly everyone has experienced at one time or another. Reverberation problems haunt patrons of restaurants, churches, nightclubs, and even school learning environments on a massive scale. To say there is room for improvement would be an understatement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here is a voice with no reverberation<\/a>, courtesy of mcsquared.com. Then listen to these two examples\u2014a voice with just 1.3 seconds of reverberation<\/a> and a voice with 5.0 seconds of reverberation<\/a>\u2014to discover how it doesn\u2019t take much uncontrolled reverberation to dramatically affect speech intelligibility. Add a little music to an overly reverberant space, and you\u2019ve created a sonically jumbled mess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Isolation is the process of stopping the transfer of sound from one environment to another. Effective isolation prevents sound in one space from infringing sonically into another space (transmission).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The transfer of voices between adjacent cubicles in an office environment is one of the most common isolation\/transmission problems. It\u2019s difficult to concentrate when you hear every word your neighbor says. Occupants sometimes try to mask the sound of nearby neighbors with white noise or a sound machine. While this can work for a sleeping baby who just needs to drown out disruptive noises, it typically provides very little benefit in an office environment where people need to communicate with each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Likewise, footfall noise caused by individuals walking on hard surfaces intrudes into adjacent spaces; think high heels on a wood or concrete floor in a condominium. Sound transmission can be a difficult anomaly to pinpoint and stop once it has occurred. Best practice is to prevent it from occurring in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The final component is resonance, which is the buildup of sound at specific frequencies. Though less common than the other two components, uncontrolled sonic resonance can be very destructive not only emotionally but also physically. Most people are familiar with the resonance demonstration of a very high singing voice breaking a wineglass. In an architectural capacity, noisy pipes are a common example of sonic resonance. A more destructive example of resonance is when lower frequencies build up in a space to create standing waves with a low resonating hum. It\u2019s almost as if the space becomes a musical instrument\u2014an annoying one. This video provides an excellent visualization of the concept of sonic resonance.<\/p>\n\n\n\nReverberation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Isolation & Transmission<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nResonance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n