Acoustical Design of Small Rooms

Abstract

In the acoustical design of small rooms, such as music practice and rehearsal rooms, small broadcast studios, or monitoring facilities, two aspects of the low-frequency sound field pose special problems: one has to do with the “steady-state” transmission of sound from one place to another in the room and is related to the sparseness of normal modes at low frequencies; the other has to do with the decay of sound (i.e., the transient response of the room) and is related to the inefficiency of most sound-absorbent materials at low frequencies. Both aspects of the problem lead to conditions that are described as “boomy,” but for different reasons. Both problems can be dealt with by providing adequate absorption at low frequencies. Design criteria, quite different for rehearsal rooms, speech studios, and monitoring facilities, are presented; and recommendations are made for meeting these criteria.