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What makes a room sound the way it does? Why do some rooms reverberate more freely than others? Why does an organ sound better in some rooms than others? There are a number of reasons - the shape of the room; the height of the ceiling; the presence or absence of boxes, balconies or side rooms - all these will make a big difference. The rooms surface finishes and the materials of the objects in the room make a big difference, as well. Composer Richard Wagner was obsessed with sound in the design of his opera house in Bayreuth, Germany, and as a result had the performance hall itself built with no boxes or balconies and made of nothing but wood - the seats, walls and floors are all wood painted flat black. Sitting in the house during a tour of the Opera House in Bayreuth, you pull a string that rings a 12" gong in the back of the orchestra pit (about a half a city block away) and it sounds as if the gong is right beside you. Wouldn't it be wonderful if all places that present music were that good? Many places try to be, and to accomplish this, they turn to an acoustical engineer, who helps them to design the acoustics of the space. Mark Schaffer is owner of Schaffer Acoustics Inc., an acoustical consulting firm that specializes in the acoustical design of rooms, buildings, theatres and other spaces where sound quality is a consideration. With a Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Mark has over 25 years experience in the field and has been a consultant on such projects as the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu, the Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Castle at EuroDisneyland, the Civic Arts Plaza in Thousand Oaks and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Theatre in Hollywood, as well as dozens of other equally significant projects. We asked Mark recently how a church could improve the sound of the room in general without going to a lot of expense, and here is what he told us. The first thing you need to do is look around the room and take stock of what it's made of and what's in it. If the room acoustics are not lively, we refer to the room as being "dead" – this indicates that there are thick and fuzzy things in the room absorbing sound ("dead" and "fuzzy" are "industry terms", he said with a wink. Thick "fuzzy" things, like heavily pleated velour curtains, absorb bass, while thinner "fuzzy" things, such as carpet, absorb treble.). To "liven up" a room look for ways to reduce the number of soft, fuzzy things in the room, like cloth tapestries on the walls. If the tapestries are hanging more than a few inches out from the walls and can't be removed, then move them directly against the walls to minimize the air gap behind them. Look at the ceiling. If it's an acoustic tile, you can paint portions of the tile with clear Varathane® liquid plastic or some other product to give the tile a hard surface. This will work if the walls have acoustic tile as well. Also, try removing the cushions from the last several rows of the pews, and look around for what we call "space junk", such as contributions for the upcoming rummage sale being stored in the balcony. You can liven a room up quite dramatically with relatively small and painless alterations. If there is a bigger budget available, then look at the carpet, and determine how much of it you can remove. That's usually a major culprit. The floor under the pews or chairs should be a hard surface, like tile, wood or stone – this helps the congregation hear themselves sing. The same thing applies to the chancel, so the sound of the choir can resonate and fill the room with minimal use of sound system amplification. Ideally, the only carpet in the room should be in the aisles to dampen the sound of shoe footfalls. You should also look at the back wall and keep in mind that a flat back wall will bounce sound right back to the front of the church, which can confuse the performers during strongly rhythmic musical presentations. If you have a flat back wall, it might be a candidate for a tapestry or something to change its physical shape. Always bear in mind that as you liven the room for music, it can complicate things for the P.A. system and the amplified voices and instruments. Each congregation can decide which carries more importance and come to a compromise with their sound engineers. In our next article we will discuss how to "soften" a room that is too "lively". Schaffer Acoustics maintains offices at 869 Via De La Paz, Suite A, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272-5200. The phone number is (310)459-6463 and their website is schaffer-acoustics.com . |
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