Modern Acoustics Research Articles

ХІМІЧНЕ РІЗНОСТУПЕНЕВЕ ТРАВЛЕННЯ ПОВЕРХНІ ТОНКИХ ПЛІВОК СРІБЛА

Thin-film metal coatings are an important element of optoelectronic devices. In particular, such metal coatings are a defining component of the sensitive layer of various sensors in which the specified surface morphology of the metal coating determines the necessary optoelectronic properties, as is observed, for example, in the case of substrates for SERS (Enhanced Surface Raman Scattering) or SPR (Surface Plasmon Resonance). The highest technological interest for optoelectronic applications is caused by thin silver films due to their well-known remarkable properties, in particular, due to the high value of the extinction coefficient in such a film, as well as due to the presence of an intense narrow absorption band of surface plasmon resonance. In the presented publication original approaches to surface treatment of thin silver films with etching solutions containing compounds characterized by specific oxidative-reductive and complexative property as to silver have been considered. Comparative analysis of the obtained results concerning changes in mass and topography of silver electrodes allowed grounding the mixture choice for microstructural profiling (etching solution M) and nanopolishing (etching solution N) of thin silver film. The physicochemical mechanisms which cause the observed processes have been considered. The etching nature is shown to depend on the oxidation level of redox element involved to the etching solution. Also, it depends on the presence of water-soluble complexation ligands in the solution. The conception that etching composition contained component with intermediate oxidation level in redox element exposes a "softer" effect on the etching topography in thin silver film has been proposed. The considered condition determines the possibility for chemical nanopolishing of thin silver film. The study in surface structural changes has been an integral part of nanoscale research, therefore, the obtained results have a practical value in the nanostructure formation which is the main part in modern acoustics and optoelectronics.

Science in the Church: The Sacred Spaces of Sonorous Experiment and the Formation of Modern Acoustics

Science in the Church: The Sacred Spaces of Sonorous Experiment and the Formation of Modern Acoustics

Perspective: Acoustic Metamaterials in Future Engineering

Acoustic metamaterials (AMMs) are a type of artificial materials that make use of appropriate structural designs and exhibit exotic properties not found in natural materials, such as negative effective material parameters (e.g., bulk modulus, mass density, and refractive index). These interesting properties offer novel means for sound manipulation and thus have drawn a great deal of attention. Over the past two decades, tremendous progress has been made in the fundamental research of AMMs, which has not only promoted the development of modern acoustics but also shown the potential of AMMs for engineering applications. Here, we review recent developments in AMMs with a focus on their future engineering, especially in the most promising fields of sound absorption/isolation, acoustic imaging, cloaking, and so on, furthermore, we outline the opportunities and challenges they are encountering.

Acoustic hologram optimisation using automatic differentiation

Acoustic holograms are the keystone of modern acoustics. They encode three-dimensional acoustic fields in two dimensions, and their quality determines the performance of acoustic systems. Optimisation methods that control only the phase of an acoustic wave are considered inferior to methods that control both the amplitude and phase of the wave. In this paper, we present Diff-PAT, an acoustic hologram optimisation platform with automatic differentiation. We show that in the most fundamental case of optimizing the output amplitude to match the target amplitude; our method with only phase modulation achieves better performance than conventional algorithm with both amplitude and phase modulation. The performance of Diff-PAT was evaluated by randomly generating 1000 sets of up to 32 control points for single-sided arrays and single-axis arrays. This optimisation platform for acoustic hologram can be used in a wide range of applications of PATs without introducing any changes to existing systems that control the PATs. In addition, we applied Diff-PAT to a phase plate and achieved an increase of > 8 dB in the peak noise-to-signal ratio of the acoustic hologram.

Automatic differentiation approach for acoustic holograms: Performance and potential applications

Acoustic holography underpins the number of modern acoustics applications. The usage of multi-focal acoustic holograms with phased array transducers (PATs) in ultrasonic tactile displays and acoustic levitation are increasing, and achieving a high-quality hologram are of significant interest. Inspired by the latest optical hologram optimizer, we developed a novel acoustic hologram optimizer for PATs called Diff-PAT [T. Fushimi, K. Yamamoto, and Y. Ochiai, “Acoustic hologram optimisation using automatic differentiation”]. Diff-PAT is based on a gradient-descent algorithm and automatic differentiation. The performance of Diff-PAT was numerically evaluated using three array configurations and it achieved superior accuracy over the conventional optimizers. For example, when two focal points are generated with 196 ultrasonic (40 kHz) transducers; the state of art optimizer (with phase and amplitude modulation) based on Eigensolver has an average error of 4.07 % where Diff-PAT (with only phase modulation) achieve average error of 0.0174%. These results show that amplitude and phase modulation may not be necessary for PATs to be successful. Furthermore, we demonstrate the versatility of Diff-PAT by applying it to binary acoustic holograms, simultaneous modulation of acoustic amplitude and phase at the target plane, and phase plates. [Work supported by Pixie Dust Technologies, Inc., Diff-PAT is patent pending (JP2020-167367A).]

Studying the echo in the early modern period: between the academy and the natural world

ABSTRACT This article investigates the process by which the echo became one of the most prominent objects of study in early modern acoustics. Presenting a variety of scholarly work in seventeenth-century Europe, I argue that echo research in the period did not distance itself from the echo’s place in mythology and natural history. On the contrary, the echo’s existing function as an object of myth and curiosity helped it to attract attention in early modern scholarship. New methods of provoking, measuring, and calculating echo effects emerged, accompanied by descriptions of the echoes’ local environments and representations of echo effects in books, journals, and questionnaires. As a much-discussed topic in the newly established scientific academies, echo research contributed to the formation of acoustics as a scientific discipline. Yet the echo remained an elusive object throughout the seventeenth century, driving questions on the nature of sound in a wide range of fields, and bringing together early modern fascinations with curiosity, mythology, and measurement.

Aural Speed-Reading: Some Historical Bookmarks

Together they are writing a book entitled “Tuning Time: Histories of Sound and Speed.” The authors would like to thank the Epistemes of Modern Acoustics group at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Jason Camlot, Iben Have, Burç Kostem, and Shafeka Hashash.We write the history of aural speed-reading and time-stretching technology in two tracks, taking a cue from Annemarie Mol's The Body Multiple: Ontology in Medical Practice, with its “upper text” and “subtext” that invite readers “to invent a way of reading that works for them from scratch” (ix). In the spirit of the story that opens track 1, on the left, we decided to jimmy the format of the PMLA page. To differing degrees, each track provides context, describes events, raises questions, and applies analytic frames. Track 1 is our narration of a series of events recalled by Harvey Lauer to Mara Mills; the insights derive from his professional expertise and personal reading experiences. Track 2, on the right, does not benefit from the kind of omniscient sight known as hindsight; it reads alongside. Think of these tracks as an animated and mostly asynchronous conversation among people who care about instruments of sound and reading in distinct but similarly fanatical ways. For a cluster of historical recordings associated with this essay, tune in to the Sound and Science: Digital Histories database: acoustics.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/sets/clusters/aural-speed-reading.

Using of Developable Surfaces As Acoustics Screens

In problems of modern acoustics it is necessary to construct reflections from surfaces of the 2- nd order and more complex ones. Due to the proposed systematization of reflecting surfaces on the principle of surfaces of normal to their generatrix, reflective surfaces are divided into five groups. The first group includes reflectors with beams of parallel direct normals to generatrises of developable surfaces. As reflectors, the developable surfaces are convenient to use, they are easy to create, are scattered and their transformation makes it possible to universalize the spectacle halls by changing the position of the reflecting screens and their shape, which affects the formation of zones of reception of sound energy, its concentration or dispersion, and also due to the transformation it is possible to change the time of reverberation in the spectacle halls.Developable surfaces are tangent to the intersection of the two surfaces of the second order or the double method is the method of running two surfaces of the second order or second order curves, or two curves of the second order. On the basis of these methods, the article deals with general methods of constructing developable surfaces of the 4-8th order of 3 and 4 classes and researches the properties of the congruence of the reflected rays, and, on the example of time cases, variants of the implementation of applied problems are offered. These cases are considered as most adaptable to the mechanical solution of the problem of constructing reflectors: developable surfaces obtained by rolling plane on two curves of the second order, which lie in parallel planes, perpendicular or at an angle. Due to the well-known equation of single-valued correspondence for the creation of torso surfaces, there is an analytical description of the surfaces of reflected rays. The congruence of normals of the developable surfaces is divided into a plane of parallel lines. The two-parameter set of reflected rays is divided into flat beams of straight lines, which can be constructed in two ways: relative to the surface of normal or tangent to the generatrix of developable surface.

Research on the history of modern acoustics

Dans cet entretien, Viktoria Tkaczyk, directrice de l'equipe Epistemes of Modern Acoustics au Max Planck Institut a Berlin traite des travaux en cours, des perspectives de recherche et du tournant sonore dans l'histoire des sciences. Elle presente son groupe de travail et leurs objets de recherche, une serie de travaux sur la place du son et de la musique dans les sciences depuis la Revolution Scientifique. Elle rend compte de la facon dont emerge une conception et une autre histoire des sciences en donnant a certains acteurs une place qu’ils/elles n’avaient pas et en montrant comment le son a ete utilise, par exemple par Mach, comme un outil de connaissance pour explorer des terrains non soniques, edifier des laboratoires, produire des objets, etc. Elle resume un panorama de travaux, peu connus en France qui croisent histoire des sciences, Sound Studies et savoirs de la musique. Musique et son sont abordes sous l’angle de l’histoire des sciences, des mesures et des standardisations ; en meme temps, l’histoire des sciences est en quelque sorte « resonorisee »

Research in the history of modern acoustics

In this article, Viktoria Tkaczyk, who leads the research team Epistemes of Modern Acoustics at the Max Plank Institute in Berlin, discusses the ongoing works, the research perspectives and the “sound” turn within history of sciences. She introduces her working team members and their research objects, which encompass a range of several works dealing with the situation of sound and music within the sciences since the Scientific Revolution. As she highlights the importance of some actors who tend to be omitted, she points out how another conception and history of sciences arose. She also shows how sound can be used, like Mach did for example, as a tool of knowledge in order to investigate fieldworks that might not be related to sound at first sight, or to build up laboratories, to produce new objects and so on. She draws a condensed survey of works, very little known in France yet, that combine History of Sciences, Sound Studies and Music Knowledge. Music and sound are addressed from the perspective of the history sciences, including measures and standardization; and simultaneously, the history of sciences is sort of considered through a “re-sonification”.

Using of Developable Surfaces as Acoustics Screens

A significant place of modern acoustics problems is occupied by the necessity of surfaces reflections construction of the 2nd order and more complex ones. Due to the proposed systematization of reflecting surfaces on the principle of surfaces of normal to their generatrix, reflective surfaces are divided into five groups. The first group includes reflectors with beams of parallel direct normals to generatrices of developable surfaces. As reflectors, the developable surfaces are convenient to use, they are easy to create, are scattered and their transformation makes it possible to universalize the spectacle halls by changing the position of the reflecting screens and their shape, which affects the formation of zones of sound energy reception, its concentration or dispersion, and also due to the transformation it is possible to change the time of reverberation in the spectacle halls.Developable surfaces are tangent to the intersection of the two surfaces of the second order or the double method, which is the method of running two surfaces of the second order or second order curves, or two curves of the second order. On the basis of these methods, the article deals with general methods of constructing developable surfaces of the 4-8th order of 3 and 4 classes and researches the properties of the congruence of the reflected rays, and, on the example of time cases, variants of the implementation of applied problems are offered. These cases are considered as most adaptable to the mechanical solution of the problem of constructing reflectors: developable surfaces obtained by rolling plane on two curves of the second order, which lie in parallel planes, perpendicular or at an angle. Due to the well-known equation of single-valued correspondence for the creation of torso surfaces, there is an analytical description of the surfaces of reflected rays. The congruence of normals of the developable surfaces is divided into a plane of parallel lines. The two-parameter set of reflected rays is divided into flat beams of straight lines, which can be constructed in two ways: relative to the surface of normal or tangent to the generatrix of the developable surface.

A Review of Tunable Acoustic Metamaterials

Acoustic metamaterial science is an emerging field at the frontier of modern acoustics. It provides a prominent platform for acoustic wave control in subwavelength-sized metadevices or metasystems. However, most of the metamaterials can only work in a narrow frequency band once fabricated, which limits the practical application of acoustic metamaterials. This paper highlights some recent progress in tunable acoustic metamaterials based on various modulation techniques. Acoustic metamaterials have been designed to control the attenuation of acoustic waves, invisibility cloaking, and acoustic wavefront engineering, such as focusing via manipulating the acoustic impedance of metamaterials. The reviewed techniques are promising in extending the novel acoustics response into wider frequency bands, in that tunable acoustic metamaterials may be exploited for unusual applications compared to conventional acoustic devices.

Study on the factors of pharyngeal impairment after recurrent laryngeal nerve injury without thyroid surgery

Thyroidectomy is an effective treatment for thyroid diseases, especially thyroid malignancies. The postoperative phonological disturbances in patients with recurrent laryngeal nerve injury caused by vocal cord paralysis have been recognized. However, in clinical work, many patients in the absence of recurrent laryngeal nerve injury in the case of postoperative speech changes. With the development of modern electronic acoustics detection technology, the quality of postoperative recurrent laryngeal nerve injury patients with quantitative research, to explore and found that recurrent laryngeal nerve injury after thyroid surgery is not the voice of the factors. Key words: Recurrent laryngeal nerve; Nerve injury; Vocal cord paralysis; Voice disorder

Use of the student edition of ACTRAN in acoustics education

The power of computation has changed the way problems are solved in acoustics, and students should be trained to have an adequate background in modern techniques and software packages to simulate noise and vibration. Universities often cannot provide industrial-grade packages for their students due to the cost limitations. But recently a student version of a modern acoustics computation package was released, Student Edition of ACTRAN. This tool lets students solve a wide variety of problems using finite elements and infinite elements. This talk will describe the software and how it was used in a graduate level course in computational acoustics. Two examples that will be shown include finding the modes of an irregularly shaped room and computing the acoustic radiation from a gearbox. But it is clear that this software can be used in many different ways, for both undergraduate and graduate acoustics education. Instructors can demonstrate acoustical phenomena for students not adept at using the software themselves, easily visualizing the physics involved in acoustics with the Student Edition of ACTRAN. The software is free for downloading from http://www.mscsoftware.com/page/actran-student-edition.

Advanced methods of signal processing in acoustics

Signal processing is applied in virtually all areas of modern acoustics to extract, classify, and/or quantify relevant information from acoustic measurements. Methods range from classical approaches based on Fourier and time-frequency analysis, to array signal processing, feature extraction, computational auditory scene analysis, and Bayesian inference, which incorporates physical models of the acoustic system under investigation together with advanced sampling techniques. This talk highlights new approaches to signal processing recently applied in a broad variety of acoustical problems.

Preface to the special topic on modern acoustics

The 9th International Symposium on Modern Acoustics was held in Nanjing, China, on May 19-22, 2012.In 1985, Prof. WEI RongJue, the pioneer and founder of the Institute of Acoustics of Nanjing University, Member of Chinese Academy of Sciences, organized the First International Workshop on Modern Acoustics. By the end of last century, the Institute of Acoustics had organized eight international workshops with different topics on Modern Acoustics. The workshops provided open forums for worldwide participants to exchange the achievements and experiences in the research of acoustics,which promoted the acoustic research work of China.

Acoustic band fracture variation of low frequency transmission zone in one-dimensional solid-fluid periodic structures under omnidirectional incidence

摘要 利用传递矩阵法, 从理论上建立了全向入射条件下一维固-流周期结构中的声传播模型, 在此基础上计算、分析并比较了无限周期结构的声能带结构和有限周期结构中的声传输特性. 研究结果表明, 当声波以一定的入射角入射时, 固-流周期结构的低频通带区域存在一个声裂隙, 该声裂隙所对应的入射角大小与构成周期结构的固体层和流体层的密度或结构尺寸无关, 而仅取决于构成该周期性结构材料的波速. 关键词: 传递矩阵 / 全向入射 / 固-流周期结构 / 声裂隙 Abstract In order to study the characteristics of acoustic/elastic wave propagation in one-dimensional (1D) solid-fluid periodic structure incited by omnidirectional incidence, a theoretical model of wave propagation in 1D solid-fluid periodic structure is established using a transfer matrix method. Based on this model, the band structures of the infinite case and the transmission properties of the finite one are further calculated and analyzed. The results show that an acoustic band fracture appears in the low frequency transmission zone for a certain incident angle. The corresponding incident angle of the fracture is non-relevant to the mass densities or the thicknesses of the solid and fluid layers constituting the periodic structure, and determined only by the wave velocity of the constituent material. Keywords: transfer matrix / omnidirectional incidence / solid-fluid periodic structure / acoustic band fracture 作者及机构信息 刘聪, 徐晓东, 刘晓峻 1. 南京大学, 近代声学教育部重点实验室, 南京 210093 基金项目: 国家自然科学基金(批准号: 11074126, 11274171, 11074124)和高等学校博士学科点专项科研基金(批准号: 20120091110001)资助的课题. Authors and contacts Liu Cong, Xu Xiao-Dong, Liu Xiao-Jun 1. Key Laboratory of Modern Acoustics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China Funds: Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11074126, 11274171, 11074124) and the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China (Grant No. 20120091110001). 参考文献 [1] Kushwaha M S, Halevi P, Dobrzynski L, Djafari-Rouhani B 1993 Phys. Rev. Lett. 71 2022 [2] Martinezsala R, Sancho J, Sanchez J V, Gomez V, Llinares J, Meseguer F 1995 Nature 378 241 [3] Wang G, Wen J H, Han X Y, Zhao H G 2003 Acta Phys. Sin. 52 1943 (in Chinese) [王刚, 温激鸿, 韩小云, 赵宏刚 2003 物理学报 52 1943] [4] Wen J H, Wang G, Yu D L, Zhao H G, Liu Y Z 2005 J. Appl. Phys. 97 114907 [5] Gao G Q, Ma S L, Jin F, Kim T B, Lu T J 2010 Acta Phys. Sin. 59 393 (in Chinese) [高国钦, 马守林, 金峰, 金东范, 卢天健 2010 物理学报 59 393] [6] Zhao D G, Liu Z Y, Qiu C Y, He Z J, Cai F Y, Ke M Z 2007 Phys. Rev. B 76 144301 [7] Jia H, Ke M Z, He Z J, Peng S S, Liu G Q, Mei X F, Liu Z Y 2009 J. Appl. Phys. 106 044512 [8] Wei Q, Cheng Y, Liu X J 2011 Acta Phys. Sin. 60 124301 (in Chinese) [魏琦, 程营, 刘晓峻 2011 物理学报 60 124301] [9] El Hassouani Y, El Boudouti E H, Djafari-Rouhani B, Aynaou H, Dobrzynski L 2006 Phys. Rev. B 74 144306 [10] El Hassouani Y, El Boudouti E H, Djafari-Rouhani B, Rais R 2007 J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 92 012113 [11] Kafesaki M, Economou E N 1999 Phys. Rev. B 60 11993 [12] Sigalas M M, Garcia N 2000 J. Appl. Phys. 87 3122 [13] Notomi M 2000 Phys. Rev. B 62 10696 施引文献

Acoustics research in Nanjing University–In memory of Professor Rong‐jue Wei.

Acoustics research in Nanjing University was initiated by Prof. Rong‐jue Wei in 1954, and developed as an Institute of Acoustics of Nanjing University in 1978, and then also a National Laboratory of Modern Acoustics in 1990. Under the leadership of Prof. Wei, the research of acoustics developed widely from audio acoustics to physical acoustics and ultrasonics, including electro‐acoustics, architectural acoustics, speech signal processing, molecular acoustics, atmospheric acoustics, acousto‐electronics, low temperature acoustics, nonlinear acoustics, photoacoustics, biological acoustics, environmental acoustics, and noise control. Most of the research fields and works were initial and creative in the country, and some of them have been continued and developed greatly. Up to now, the researches of the institute include five fields as follows: (1) Intensive acoustics: ultrasonic cavitation, somoluminescience, soliton and chaos; (2) Photoacoustics and laser ultrasonics: photoacoustic spectroscopy and imaging,...

Linear and nonlinear waves

The study of waves can be traced back to antiquity where philosophers, such as Pythagoras (c.560-480 BC), studied the relation of pitch and length of string in musical instruments. However, it was not until the work of Giovani Benedetti (1530-90), Isaac Beeckman (1588-1637) and Galileo (1564-1642) that the relationship between pitch and frequency was discovered. This started the science of acoustics, a term coined by Joseph Sauveur (1653-1716) who showed that strings can vibrate simultaneously at a fundamental frequency and at integral multiples that he called harmonics. Isaac Newton (1642-1727) was the first to calculate the speed of sound in his Principia. However, he assumed isothermal conditions so his value was too low compared with measured values. This discrepancy was resolved by Laplace (1749-1827) when he included adiabatic heating and cooling effects. The first analytical solution for a vibrating string was given by Brook Taylor (1685-1731). After this, advances were made by Daniel Bernoulli (1700-82), Leonard Euler (1707-83) and Jean d’Alembert (1717-83) who found the first solution to the linear wave equation, see section (3.2). Whilst others had shown that a wave can be represented as a sum of simple harmonic oscillations, it was Joseph Fourier (1768-1830) who conjectured that arbitrary functions can be represented by the superposition of an infinite sum of sines and cosines now known as the Fourier series. However, whilst his conjecture was controversial and not widely accepted at the time, Dirichlet subsequently provided a proof, in 1828, that all functions satisfying Dirichlet’s conditions (i.e. non-pathological piecewise continuous) could be represented by a convergent Fourier series. Finally, the subject of classical acoustics was laid down and presented as a coherent whole by John William Strutt (Lord Rayleigh, 1832-1901) in his treatise Theory of Sound. The science of modern acoustics has now moved into such diverse areas as sonar, auditoria, electronic amplifiers, etc.

Sound Studies: Framing Noise

'a shower of meteors of sound'1In a 1937 lecture, John Cage issued his now commonplace statement: 'Wherever we are, what we hear is mostly noise. When we ignore it, it disturbs us. When we listen to it, we find it fascinating' (1961: 3). Just four years earlier, Cage was studying with Henry Cowell at The New School, where German composer Hanns Eisler was also teaching. In 1928 Eisler had written: 'When you are composing and you open the window, remember that the noise of the street is not mere noise, but is made by man' (1978: 30). In a later interview Cage returned to the theme:I had the lights turned out and the windows open. I advised everybody to put on their overcoats and listen for half an hour to the sounds that came in through the window, and then to add to them - in the spirit of the sounds that are already there, rather than in their individual spirits. That is actually how I compose. I try to act in accord with the absence of my music.(1982: 176)The purpose of this exercise is not to locate the origin of a now wellcirculated idea; it is simply to hear the words of two composers describing what it means to study music within an 'entire field of sound', outside conventional distinctions between music and non-music, noise and sonority. It is not surprising that sound studies would begin in elemental studies of its rational language: music. Yet what might be surprising is that this circulation of ideas took place not in a conservatory, but at The New School, an institution founded by dissident, radical scholars, refugees from the increasingly authoritarian culture of Columbia University. At around the same time, young radical American composers called for the rejection of European musical idealism and, in the voice of Aaron Copland, instead embraced a modern music that would be 'principally the expression in terms of enriched musical language of a new spirit of objectivity, attuned to our times' (Copland 1941: 18). The New School listened.In 1927, Copland was appointed to the faculty and organised the famous Copland-Sessions series of lectures and concerts. The series brought recognition to a new American music - to Copland and Roger Sessions, and to other composers, including Roy Harris, Virgil Thompson, and Walter Piston. Copland's appointment to the faculty was followed by those of musicologist Charles Seeger and composers Henry Cowell, Hanns Eisler, and Ernst Toch. Copland's jazz influences, Eisler's worker's songs and twelve-tone music and Cowell's non-Western musical influences privileged innovation and multi-disciplinarity that displaced European musical idealism. This experimental approach not only realised in praxis the radical ideals of The New School's founders, but it also modeled the interdisciplinarity that would influence curricular planning. This was not a 'music school'. It was a school where musical performance and listening collaborated with dance, film, visual art and architecture.In 1928, when The New School's townhouse headquarters on West 23rd Street in Manhattan were slated for demolition, its president Alvin Johnson sought to create a new structure that captured the institution's progressive approach to education. He commissioned modernist architect and theatrical set designer Joseph Urban to design The New School's new home at 66 West 12th Street. On the ground floor of that building, the first International Style structure in New York, was the eggshaped Tishman Auditorium - an acoustical achievement in its own right, but also a rehearsal for Urban's Radio City Music Hall. The rounded ceiling presented acoustical challenges, which designers overcame by hanging concentric plaster rings from the ceiling, a strategy later employed at Radio City (Landmarks Preservation Commission: 1997). While Tishman marked a milestone in modern acoustics, The New School's scholars were engaging in groundbreaking research on modern sounds and sound technologies. The New School Film Music Project, funded by the Rockefeller Foundation and conducted by Eisler and Theodor Adorno, sharply criticised the synthesis of music and image in Hollywood film. …