ACOUSTICAL DEFECTS

1. Echo – sound waves which have been reflected to a listener with sufficient magnitude and time
delay so as to be perceived separately from those communicated directly from the source to the
listener.

2. Long-Delayed Reflection – similar to echo except that the time delay between the perception of
direct and reflected sounds is somewhat less.

3. Flutter Echo – a rapid succession of noticeable small echoes observed when a short burst of
sound is produced between parallel sound reflective surfaces.

4. Sound Concentration – sound reflections from concave surfaces concentrating in an area

sometimes referred to as hot spots. The intensity of sound at hot spots are always at the
expense of dead spots.

5. Coupled Spaces – two rooms adjacent to each other by means of open doorways, with at least
one space being highly reverberant.

6. Distortion – an undesirable change in the quality of musical sound due to the uneven and
excessive sound absorption of the boundary surfaces at different frequencies.

7. Room Resonance – also called Coloration. Occurs when certain sounds within a narrow band of
frequencies tend to sound louder than other frequencies.

8. Sound Shadow – occurs when an area does not receive an adequate amount of direct and
reflected sound.

9. Whispering Gallery – high frequency sounds creeping along large concave surfaces such as a
hemispherical dome.