ACOUSTICS

The word "acoustic" is derived from the 

Greek word ἀκουστικός (akoustikos),
meaning "of or for hearing, ready to hear"
 Course Structure
• Fundamental and Behaviour of Sound
•Noise Controls
•Design And construction For Sound
•Illumination
•Light Designing
 Lecture 1: Fundamentals of Acoustics
PART 1 –INTRODUCTION AND BASIC TERMINOLOGIES
•Acoustics need and scope,
•Historical Background-Acoustics examples from past.
•Pioneers and their works,
•Basic theory: generation, propagation, transmission, reception
of sound, human ear and hearing, loudness perception.
•Basic terminology: frequency, pitch, tone, timbre, sound
pressure, sound intensity, loudness, threshold of audibility &
pain, wavelength and velocity of sound
 ACOUSTICS
•ACOUSTICS the branch of physics concerned with the
properties of sound.
•Architectural acoustics (also known as room acoustics and
building acoustics) is the science and engineering of achieving a
good sound within a building and is a branch of
acoustical engineering.
• It is the Scientific Study of how to achieve a good sound in
within and outside the building.
 Need of studying acoustics

1. Speech intelligibility: For clarity of speech

2. Speech Privacy
3. Music Quality
4. Noise control
5. Vibration Reductions
 History of Architecture Acoustics
Early Greek:
•Earlier meeting places were open area in natural form.
•The principles of acoustics were started in Roman and Greek era
one of the example is The Great Theatre of Epidaurus.
•The auditorium is divided vertically into two unequal parts, the
lower hollow or theatre and the upper theatre or amphitheatre.
The two sub-sections are separated by a horizontal corridor for
the movement of spectators (width 1.82 m.). The lower part of
the auditorium wedge is divided into 34 sections, while the upper
part is divided into 24 sections. 
v
Early Roman:
Early Roman:
Early Roman:
Late Roman:
Late Roman:
Early Christian:
Late Christian :
Renaissance 14th to 17th century:
Baroque 17th and 18th century:
Classical 18th and 19th Century
New Beginning of Architecture Acoustics:

Pioneers and their works :

•The first application of
modern scientific methods to
architectural acoustics was
carried out by WALLACE
SABINE in the FOGG
MUSEUM lecture room who
then applied his new found
knowledge to the design
of Symphony Hall, Boston.
 Concepts of Acoustics

WAVE ACOUSTICS

RAY OR GEOMETERIC
ACOUSTICS ACOUSTICS(LINE
DIAGRAMS)

STATISITICAL ACOUSTICS
Deals with Quality of sound
within space handling various
types of frequencies and sound
pressure levels
 STUDY OF ACOUSTICS

OUTDOOR OR OPEN AIR ACOUSTICS

INDOOR /ROOM ACOUSTICS

ENVIRONMENT ACOUSTICS

BUILDING ACOUSTICS

NOISE CONTROL
CITY PLANNING
ACOUSTICS AND LANDSCAPE

DESIGNING FUNDAMENTAL
ACOUSTICAL MATERIAL
NOISE REDUCTIONS
INDOOR ACOUSTICAL QUALITY
SOUND TRANSMISSION
MECHANICAL VIBRATION CONTROLS
BASIC ELEMENTS OF ARCHITECTURAL
ACOUSTICS( BUILDING ACOUSTICS)

ROOM ACOUSTICS: SOUND REINFORCING SYSTEMS

Volume Compatibility with room acoustics
Interior surface shapes Loud speaker selection and
Surface material selection and placement placement
Audience seating and furnishings System controls and components

SOUND ISOLATION MECHANICAL SYSTEM NOISE

Site considerations CONTROL
Location of activities within building Vibration isolation
Wall, floor and ceiling constructions and Duct treatment
barriers Equipment selection
Background sound levels ( natural and Background noise consideration
artificial)
Coordination with room acoustics
 TYPES OF WAVE MOTIONS
• Longitudinal waves: particle
displacement in parallel to the
direction of wave
propagations.
1. Spring motions back and forth
2. Sound waves
• Transverse waves: particle
displacement in perpendicular
to the direction of wave
propagation.
1. Water like motions
2. Electromagnetic waves
 Concepts of Acoustics(WAVE ACOUSTICS)

The study of acoustics revolves around the generation,

propagation and reception of mechanical waves and
vibrations.

SOURCE PATH RECEIVER

A source (human, mechanical equipment etc.
A transmission path (ground, building materials or air)
A receiver (human, animal or equipment)
 Concepts of Acoustics
Wave Propagation:
Acoustics looks first at the
• pressure levels and
• frequencies in the sound wave
Note:
• Frequency of Audible ranges : Example- to hear a sound of 1000 Hz a
min. Pressure change on the ear drum is 3 X 10-5 N/m2 and same became
unbearable when pressure change is 30 N/m2
• loudness of sound depend on SPL(sound Pressure level) and Frequency of
Source

This interaction can be described as(Room Acoustics)

• Reflection
• Diffraction, 
• Dispersions
 Concepts of Acoustics

Wave Propagation: Pressure Levels

In fluids such as air and water, sound waves propagate as
disturbances in the ambient pressure level. While this
disturbance is usually small, it is still noticeable to the human
ear.
The smallest sound that a person can hear, known as the threshold of hearing.
The loudness of these disturbances is related to the sound pressure level (SPL)
which is measured on a logarithmic scale in decibels.
 Concepts of Acoustics
Measuring units of sound:

1. Frequency (measured in Hz)

2. Intensity (measured in dB)

3. Speed (measured in feet or meters/second)

4. Wavelength (measured in feet or meters)

 Concepts of Acoustics
Wave Propagation: Frequency of sound
Physicists and acoustic engineers tend to discuss sound
pressure levels in terms of frequencies, partly because this is
how our ears interpret sound. What we experience as "higher
pitched" or "lower pitched" sounds are pressure vibrations
having a higher or lower number of cycles per second.
 Concepts of Acoustics
Wave Propagation: Sound waves are longitudinal and they can
travel through most of medium, so molecules of air (or water,
etc.) move back & forth in the direction of the wave creating
high pressure zones (compressions) and low pressure zones
(rarefactions).
Frequency (f) is no. of cycle of vibration per second called
hertz(Hz)
Velocity is the Distance moved in one second(y)
Wavelength(λ) Distance between any two consecutive
repeating point on a wave.
Amplitude: The distance Between the normal position and
final position of the object which produce specific virbrations
Notes:
•Velocity of sound in air increases with temperature and humidity.
•Sound Travel faster in liquids and Solids than in air as elasticity and densities of
these material are more than in air.
Concepts of Acoustics
 Concepts of Acoustics
Audible Frequency of sound to Human Ear

We can hear sounds with frequencies ranging from 20 Hz to

20,000 Hz. This means if the number of high pressure fronts
(wave fronts) hitting our eardrums each second is from 20 to
20 000, then the sound may be detectable. If you listen to
loud music often, you’ll probably find that your range
(bandwidth) will be diminished.
 Concepts of Acoustics
Audible Frequency of sound
Some animals, like dogs and some fish, can hear frequencies
that are higher than what humans can hear (ultrasound). Bats
and dolphins use ultrasound to locate prey (echolocation).
Doctors make use of ultrasound for imaging fetuses and
breaking up kidney stones. Elephants and some whales can
communicate over vast distances with sound waves too low in
pitch for us to hear (infrasound).
 Timber
Sound "quality" or "timbre" describes those characteristics
of sound which allow the ear to distinguish sounds which
have the same pitch and loudness. ... Timbre is mainly
determined by the harmonic content of a sound and the
dynamic characteristics of the sound.
Example Timbre is a word that describes the tone or unique
quality of a sound. If you play the same note on a piano and
on a guitar, each note will have its own timbre.
 Timber vs Tone
Difference between tone and timber
 While “timbre” refers to the quality of sounds among
different instruments, “tone” can be used to refer to the
quality and frequency of a sound as compared to itself.
Example-
Imagine that you are listening to someone playing an electric
guitar. The guitar’s tone control is turned all the way to the
lowest frequency setting so that it produces a very deep and
low sound. Suddenly, the guitarist moves the tone control all
the way to the highest setting so that the sound is very intense
and sharp. The timbre of this instrument is unchanged and
they may repeat the same notes as before, but the tone has
been altered dramatically.
 PITCH
• Pitch refers to highness and lowness of sound. The pitch of
sound which we hear depends on frequency of sound.
• Sound waves of higher frequency will have higher pitch and
vice versa.
• Logarithmic Basics
• Logarithmic Basics
• Logarithmic Basics
• Logarithmic Basics
• Logarithmic Basics
• Logarithmic Basics