The Art of Acoustics

During our down time we took a crack at addressing some issues with the new facility. Among these issues were the sound. Acoustics is the science of sound as it reacts to air, water and solid materials. There's s a whole branch of the science called architectural acoustics that studies how sound plays out in buildings like theaters. So we talked to some folks who know something about architectural acoustics and had them help us address the sound issue in the new space. 

The basics are like this: sound travels in a wave and it bounces off of solid surfaces - surfaces like polished granite, cinder block walls, and so on. This is how you get echoes. Lots of things absorb sound, but in this case, people, their clothes, their wool coats, and so on. So a play rehearsing in an empty house is going to sound much different than a play performing in front of a full house. Anyway, as a result, we've had some new acoustical tile and foam installed in the ceiling to address the sound bounce off the flooring and seating and walls. It's already made a difference so we're hoping that this will be our fix. Isn't building a new home fun? :) 

If you want to learn more about acoustics, How Stuff Works has an interesting series, as does the NTD Center.