Architectural Acoustics

and its History

Group 13

Under Supervision Of : Dr. Mohammed Al- Mersawy

 Names
2- Ibrahim Ahmed Ibrahim Ghalwash
8- Ahmed Khaled Taha Ali EL-Degwi
16- Ahmed Farouk Mohamed El-Safty
87- Jessica Yacoub Demian
145- Sarah Atteia Lamei
146- Sarah Mohamed Saber
206- Farah Sherif Mokhtar El-Nady
269- Mariam Nagui Maurice Nashed
292- Mirna Ahmed Mostafa
305- Nada Ashraf Abbas
334- Haidy Hassn Saied
350- Hana Khaled Mohamed AboEl-Nour
TABLE OF CONTENTS

01 02 03
Introduction on History Brief on Analysis on
Architectural Acoustics Architectural Acoustics Software 01

04 05
Analysis on Analysis on
Software 02 Software 03
01 Introduction on
Architectural Acoustics
 What is Architectural Acoustics:
Acoustics is a branch of physics that focuses on studying sound: how it’s produced, transmitted,
controlled, and received, and the effects of this process. As it applies to architecture, acoustics is
the process of using building design and construction methods to harness the properties of sound
to their greatest effect.

-Architectural acoustics involves designing a building to :

1. control how soundwaves reverberate off its interior in such a way as to maximize clarity,
2. amplifying sound in areas where it’s appropriate to do so Ex; Theatres
3. reducing noise levels .

-Architects take these factors into account when designing buildings with :

1.the materials used in construction — specifically their sound-absorbing or enhancing qualities

2. Mechanical systems: Fans, motors, and other mechanical components can create noises that
cause unwanted distractions and may interfere with the transmission of communication.

3. Geometry and shape of the room

 Architectural Acoustic Techniques

01. Reverberation 02. Sound Absorption

03. Sound Insulation 04. Acoustical Board

 Reverberation
● Reverberation is to sound what reflection is to light. Also
known as resonance, reverberation refers to the amount of
time it takes a sound to dissipate.
● As sound waves bounce off surfaces in interior spaces, such
as ceiling tiles and wall panels, noise builds up and reflects
back on itself, reducing its clarity and making it harder to
understand. It’s different from an echo, in which there’s a
delay between the original sound and its fainter answer.
● An echo off a distant canyon wall may take a few tenths of a
second to return to you. But since the original sound only
persists in your memory for 0.1 of a second, there’s no
confusion. With reverberation, the reflecting surface (such as
an interior wall) is much closer to you, and the time between
when the original sound is made and reflected is less than 0.1
of a second.

● The combination of the two can create the perception of a single, prolonged sound wave, which
bounces back on itself, creating distortion.

● concert venues and symphony halls are likely to be constructed with higher reverberation times.
● if your venue is used primarily for speaking, such as a lecture hall, you’ll want to create acoustics
with a lower reverberation time to preserve clarity.
 Sound absorption

Sound absorption is the quality found

in different materials that reduce
reverberation times by absorbing
sound energy and reducing sound
levels. By eliminating unwanted
sound, these materials can improve
sound quality in a room designed for
speaking, such as lecture halls and
conference rooms.
● Sound Insulation
● Sound insulation is the property in a wall that
allows it to keep noise from passing from one side
to the other by absorbing sound waves of different
frequencies.
● It can impact acoustic design by blocking air paths
between rooms or between a room and the
building’s exterior.
● Sound waves need a medium through which to
travel, most typically air.
● As a result, sound can travel through vents and
electrical outlets or under doors — anywhere air
can go.
● Sealing such spaces and adding insulation to
venting systems are therefore effective ways of
reducing unwanted sound.

Acoustic insulation boards consisting of fiberglass panels and wrapped in cloth, can absorb sound and

effectively insulate adjacent rooms from the sound created in each of them.
 Acoustical Board
● Acoustical design that utilizes acoustical boards

not only minimizes human noise from adjacent

rooms but also reduces noise created by HVAC

units, whether they’re against exterior walls or on

the roof. Using acoustical panels can be highly

effective. Fiberglass black acoustical ceiling and

wall liners are inexpensive and effective ways to

reduce noise while being integrated seamlessly

into a structure.
●
●
The Music Hall at the Ālī Qāpū Palace,
Isfahan, Iran

Constructed in the early 17th century,

● Ālī Qāpū is one of the most well-known palaces of the Persian
Empire’s Safavid Era Ceiling of the Music Hall
● . Located on the western side of the Naqsh-e Jahan Square in
Isfahan, Iran, this 48-meter tall, six-story building was built by
decree of Shah Abbas I and later expanded by Shah Abbas II.
● Along all four sides of the upper half of the Music Hall walls, as
well as within the miniature muqarnas ceilings, is a
double-walled design featuring a distinctive pattern of plaster
niches cut out in the shapes of vases and other vessels.
● These not only add visual splendour, but vitally, they absorb
echoes and create what was perhaps the first low-tech
quadrophonic sound system.
02 History Brief on
Architectural Acoustics
 Acoustics in Ancient Times

● Acoustics is the science of sound. Although sound

waves are nearly as old as the universe, the scientific
study of sound is generally considered to have its
origin in ancient Greece.
● The word acoustics is derived from the Greek word
akouein, to hear

● Greeks were aware of the importance of acoustical

design in their many fine theater The first reference to
architectural acoustics in recorded history is made by
the Roman architect Vitruvius (1st century B.C.).
● In his book "De Architecture" he describes sounding
vases ( "echeia") as being used in certain Open-Air
Theatres but no trace of these vases; has ever been
found in any ancient Theatre
 ● There is a considerable literature on the acoustics of the ancient Open-Air Theatres.
● Probably too much credit is given to the Greeks and Romans for acoustical sense in
planning.
● They tried to locate the audience as close as possible to the elevated acting area or
"logion" (speaking place) by shaping the steeply banked seating area in a semi-circle
which naturally resulted in reason-ably good hearing.
● Later the Romans built large slanting roofs above and at both sides of the acting areas
which provided efficient sound reflectors and resulted in at least moderately satisfactory
intelligibility at the remote seats
.
 Acoustics in 19th century:

Architectural Acoustics originated in 1895 in the first scientific work done

on the phenomenon of reverberation in rooms by Wallace C. Sabine at
Harvard. The first twenty years of its history is covered by his
single‐handed attack on the problem of the quantitative aspects of
reverberation and absorption of sound.
The second stage covering the period from 1915 to about 1925
laboratories were built with reverberation chambers for the
measurement of sound absorption coefficients and the transmission of
sound through walls, floors, and ceilings. In this period the organ pipe as
a source, the threshold of hearing as a fixed level of intensity, and the
stop‐watch as a timing device comprised the instrumental equipment for
measurements with Sabine's technique.

With the development of new and powerful sources of sound in the

dynamic type of loudspeaker, improved microphones with constant
characteristics, vacuum‐tube amplifiers and audiofrequency oscillators
came a revolution in experimental technique.
 Example of Sabine’s method:

St. Thomas Church, was a building that completely

divorced sound from architecture. The architects
wanted to build a Neo-Gothic, European-style cathedral
made of stone, with soaring ceilings and stained
glassed windows.

they realized that a Gothic sound would not work for a

modern protestant service, which was much more
sermon-focused. The Church needed less reverb so
parishioners could understand the words. The
architects turned to Wallace Sabine to make a sacred
space that would be clear, calming, and reverb-free.
Sabine could have hung up felt panels and drapes to absorb
sound, but he thought that would stand at odds with the
church’s aesthetic. So he worked with a tile manufacturer to
create ceramic tiles with porous surfaces that absorb
sound. They called them Rumford tiles, and they damped
echo so effectively,

In the 1920s, interest in controlling environmental sound

industrial machinery were filling cities with noise, and
Rumford tiles had launched an industry of acoustic building
materials aimed at soundproofing apartment buildings,
offices, and theaters. Throughout the ’30s, state-of-the-art
buildings were environmentally cut off from the noise
03 Analysis Software 01
ODEON
● What is odeon?
● What can you do in odeon?
•In ODEON you can work with room acoustics in an almost endless number of ways, depending on your
purpose. The most common would be:

•Make simulations of acoustics from 3D models, and display them in numerous ways

•Measure the acoustics in real rooms, and get a range of results immediately

•Listen to the acoustics of 3D computer models with the auralisation options.

● For what type of rooms?

•ODEON can be used for medium-sized rooms and larger. While not designed
for very small rooms like bathrooms, it is perfect for:
•Concert and opera halls, theatres, churches and mosques
•Open plan offices, foyers, restaurants, music studios
•Underground and railway stations, airport terminals
•Industrial environments
•Small-scale outdoor areas, up to 2km in each dimension
 ● WORKFLOW
When working in ODEON the design process can be iterative (trial and error), trying out different materials, sound sources,
result options, parameters, etc. This is possible because of the fast calculations based on the strong algorithms of the
software. See the flowchart of the workflow of simulations in ODEON on the image. However, when working with
measurements or other applications, the workflow will be different
 ● FEATURES AND SPECIFICATIONS
IMPORT 3D GEOMETRIES
Measure the acoustics in a 3D
computer model. Imported models
can come from a range of different
software like SketchUp, Rhino,
AutoCAD, etc.
Fast and Accurate
Simulations
Many years of development have
produced very powerful Ray
Tracing algorithms, that give fast
results with an accuracy fit for
scientific or engineering purposes.
Measure Real Rooms
You can not only simulate, but also
measure real room acoustics with an
accurate sweep method system. The
sweep method attenuates the
background noise drastically, making it
much better able to get good results.
 ACOUSTICS IN GRAPHS
The acoustics can be displayed
in easy-to-read graphs, where
you can toggle between
parameters and octave bands.
ACOUSTICS IN COLOR
The best tool for an overview of
the acoustics of a room or space
is the color maps (or color grids).
Get the acoustical parameters
displayed over surfaces, and
thereby get a very precise picture
of how the geometry affects the
acoustics.
ACOUSTICS IN NUMBERS
In ODEON you get a huge
range of different acoustic
parameters calculated by
default. You can even define
your own parameters
ACOUSTIC SURFACE PPROPERTIES
For all surfaces in the model of a room
or other geometry, you can enter the
acoustic properties. Choose absorption
coefficients from our large library of
materials, or set your own values.
Additionally, you can set scattering
coefficients, transparency and
reductions/transmission index for all
surfaces.
 ● VISUALISE THE
ACOUSTICS
Visualisations of acoustics can be useful to get an
understanding of the geometry in question. In
ODEON there are different visualisation options.
Either billiard balls (as shown in the video), ray
tracing, color maps and more. This can also be
used to explain the acoustics to people without prior
understanding of acoustics.
● LISTEN TO
AURALISATIONS
Acoustics are about sound, and in ODEON you
can get to listen to the acoustics in the model.
Choose from speech, instruments, or other
audio files, and listen to how it would sound at
the location you choose in your model. This can
also be a good way of presenting acoustics to
people not familiar with acoustic parameters
 STI
The Speech Transmission Index (STI) combined
with the Color Grids can be a powerful way to
showcase how acoustical treatments can change
speech intelligibility at different locations.

Copy+Paste Results into Reports

Often you need your results outside the ODEON

software. Therefore ODEON makes it easy to
copy-paste graphs, numbers and auralisations to
where you need them. This could be for further
calculations of the numbers in Excel or to include in a
report or PowerPoint presentation.
 GeneticMaterialOptimiser
It might be tricky to set the correct absorption coefficients for an existing room,
so ODEON has made a tool that can optimize the coefficients you choose to
bring the room model’s acoustics close to reality. By using the acoustical
parameters you choose, together with the error, the tool uses a genetic
algorithm to optimize the absorption coefficients for the surfaces in the room.

FREQUENCY RESPONSE

Especially convenient when testing a combination of PA system with

room acoustics, eg. in concert halls or public transportation stations
 Transmission mixed with Room
Acoustics
In ODEON, you can mix room acoustics with
transmission. Set up the reduction index for a wall or
other surface, and let the transmission of sound
through that surface become part of the acoustic
calculations

Many Types of Sound Sources

Set up loudspeakers, human voice, omnidirectional and

other sound sources in the simulations. Choose between
point sources for specific positions, a line source for pipes,
trains or traffic and surface sources for eg. machinery.
Compare Measurements and Simulations

As you can both measure and simulate the acoustics in

ODEON, it has been made possible to easily compare
the two. This can also be done with measurements
made in another way or with another software. This is
good for validating your model when working with
acoustical optimisation projects in existing rooms.

Reflector Coverage

If working with reflectors, the Reflector

Coverage option in ODEON is very
convenient. See how the position and angles
of the reflectors will distribute the sound, and
where it might be lacking
 How does odeon operate?
● In order to study a room in ODEON, a file containing the description of the room's geometry will have to be
created. All subsequent derivative files and result files are created and managed by ODEON.
● The file containing the room model must be written as an ASCII text file, having the file extension .Par
● You can choose to create the geometry file either by typing the model data directly into a text file in the
supplied text editor ODEON Edit, using the format described in Appendix E, using Google SketchUp, the
ODEON Extrusion Modeler

Guidelines on room modelling

Whether you choose to model your rooms by
typing your rooms directly into a text file, by
using the ODEON Extrusion Modeller or by
using a CAD program
Default coordinate system
X-axis pointing towards the audience
Y-axis pointing to the right as seen from the
audience
Z-axis pointing upwards
Recommended size of a surface
The classical laws of geometrical acoustics are
such that for the purpose of calculating how
much energy is reflected; all surfaces are
considered to be infinitely large in comparison to
the wavelength. For practical room models
surfaces are not infinitely large and ODEON is,
to some degree, able to take into account the
limited size of surfaces in calculations.
Curved surfaces
All surfaces in ODEON must be
(almost) planar; so curved surfaces
have to be approximated by dividing
them into plane sections. Convex
curves naturally disperse sound energy
Concave curves naturally focus sound
energy
 Calculation Principles
Global decay methods ODEON features two methods for calculating the
Global decay of rooms:
● Quick Estimate, which is available from the Materials List, is the fastest
method allowing quick evaluation of the effect of changes to materials. This
method should be considered only as a tool for preliminary results.
● Global Estimate is the most precise of the two global methods allowing high
quality results.

● Odeon 5.0 was used to estimate RTs in the DBS auditorium. The method estimates a mean
absorption coefficient, which is inserted in the Sabine, Eyring and Arau‐Puchades formulas to give
an estimate of RT
● Instead of simply taking the areas of the surfaces and multiplying by the corresponding absorption
coefficients to obtain the total absorption in the room, Odeon also sends out ‘particles’ from the
source, assuming diffuse conditions thus reflecting them in random directions, keeping a count on
how many times they hit each surface.
● Surfaces that are hit very often then carry greater weight in the overall mean absorption coefficient
of the room.
● Surfaces, which are not detected at all in the ray‐tracing process, are left out of all calculations
● surfaces which are hit on both sides are included twice in the calculation. As a result the estimated
reverberation time corresponds to the sub‐ volumes in which the selected source islocated
Input signals for auralisation - anechoic recordings

For auralisation you will be using input signals to convolve with the calculated BRIR's. Usually the
signals will be anechoic signals although it may also be other types of signals

Output signals

● The output signals from all binaural auralisation are stored in two channel wave files and will have the same leading name as the
room.
● The result files, being in the wave format, makes it easy to edit and publish the results e.g. on the Internet or on audio CD's.
● The binaural impulse responses files have the extension .Jnn.Wav where nn refers to the relevant job number. The wave files
created as results from the Convolve BRIR and Signal file table, will have the extension .ConvAuralnn.Wav where nn refers to the
row in the table (Conv. no.).
● The wave files created as results from the Mix convolved wave results into one wave file table will have the extension
.MixAuralnn.Wav where nn refers to the row number in the table (Mix. No.).
● The output from surround auralisation follows rules similar to those of the binaural ones, the impulse responses are stored in wave
files following the WaveFormatExtensible format where a signal is available for each loudspeaker /channel in the specified surround
setup. The impulse response has the extension .SurRoundnn.Wav where nn refers to the relevant job number. The convolved files
have the extensions .ConvSurRoundAuralnn.Wav where nn refers to the row in the table (Conv. no.) and vice versa for the mixed
files. These files should be playable using the Windows Media Player
● Some of the examples designed by this software
Concert Halls and the Auditoriums
● Great Festival House in Salzburg, Austria
● Royal Festival Hall in London, UK
● Aarhus, Denmark
● Musikverein, Vienna ,austria
● Diocesan Boys’ School (DBS) Hong Kong
Worship places
● Hagia Irene ,Istanbul, Turkey
● Saint Sergius Bacchus(“Little Hagia Sophia”),Istanbul,turkey
● Grundtvigs Church ,Copenhagen, Denmark
● Sokullu Mosque ,Istanbul, Turkey
● Süleymaniye Mosque ,Istanbul, Turkey
● Hagia Sophia ,Istanbul, Turkey
 ● First example
Diocesan Boys’ School (DBS) Hong Kong
The consultancy work considers four important acoustic design issues for auditoria:
● volume and seats
● control of reverberation time (RT)
● diffusion of sound;
● elimination of defects.
Odeon 5.0 was used to simulate the reverberation time and sound propagation and diffusion
For a small auditorium, the design recommendation is about how to minimize sound absorption
and to achieve sufficient reverberation. Sound defects were found in the stage outlet and rear
walls

The location of the auditorium and the project under

construction
● 01) Design Objectives
The acoustical environment for an auditorium project can be enhanced in following respects (Barron, 1993):
● The floor area and volume of the auditorium should be kept at a reasonable minimum for adequate loudness in
every part of the auditorium thus shortening the sound paths
● Optimum reverberation characteristics should be provided in the auditorium to facilitate whatever function is
required.
● The sound energy should be uniformly distributed within the room.
● The room should be free from acoustical defects(distinct echoes, flutter echoes, picket fence echo, sound
shadowing, room resonance, sound concentrations and excessive reverberation)

The following table details recommended Volume‐per‐seat Recommended Volume‐per‐Seat Values (m3 ) for
values for various auditoria Auditoria (Source: Egan,1988)

● The volume for the DBS auditorium is 7,324 m3 (The

calculation was conducted in SketchUp 8.0).
● The total number of seats is 800. So, the
Volume‐per‐Seat is 7,324 m3 /800 = 9.2 m3 .
● The value falls into the range for Concert Halls
02). Building Simulation
a)Reverberation Time
● Reverberation is the persistence of sound in a particular space after the original sound is removed
● The choice of appropriate RT for a recital hall is at the same time more difficult but less critical than for a full symphony
concert hall. In a small hall , reflections arrive earlier and this means that maintaining satisfactory clarity should be less
of a concern.

● Odeon 5.0 was used to estimate RTs in the DBS auditorium. The method estimates a mean absorption coefficient, which
is inserted in the Sabine, Eyring and Arau‐Puchades formulas to give an estimate of RT

● Instead of simply taking the areas of the surfaces and multiplying by the corresponding absorption coefficients to obtain
the total absorption in the room, Odeon also sends out ‘particles’ from the source, assuming diffuse conditions thus
reflecting them in random directions, keeping a count on how many times they hit each surface.

● Surfaces that are hit very often then carry greater weight in the overall mean absorption coefficient of the room.

● Surfaces, which are not detected at all in the ray‐tracing process, are left out of all calculations

● surfaces which are hit on both sides are included twice in the calculation. As a result the estimated reverberation time
corresponds to the sub‐ volumes in which the selected source islocated

● Note however that if a part of the area of a surface, which is present in the sub‐volume, is located outside that
sub‐volume then area and surface estimates for the statistical calculations may not be entirely correct
● In Odeon, two mean absorption coefficients are inserted in the Sabine and Eyring formula to calculate reverberation times.

● The mean absorption coefficients used for the Arau‐Puchades formula are derived in similar ways except that separate
values for surface hits, area and the corresponding mean absorption coefficient are calculated as projections onto each of
the main axis of the room.

● The DBS model was based on the architects’ design scheme and the principle of material selection is to minimize the
sound absorption

● The condition was the auditorium occupied (audience on the wooden chairs); one speaker was located in the center of
the stage. The result was shown in Figure 4 (estimated RTs) and 5 (absorption sources).

● The estimated RT for the DBS auditorium at the mid‐frequency (500 Hz) cannot fall in to the range 1.4 ‐ 1.7 seconds. The
RTs at the high‐frequencies (1000 Hz, 2000 Hz etc.) are even lower than 1.0 seconds. Undoubtedly, the audience
absorbed the largest part of sound; the ceiling in the wake of the audience. Considering the absorption due to audience
that is hard to change, efforts should be made on the ceilings.

Figure 3: Material settings for ceiling

(top), walls (middle) and bottom (chairs)
Figure 4: Estimated RTs for the DBS
Auditorium

Figure 5: Absorption sources

 b) Sound Distribution
● “3D Billiard” in the Odeon software was used to simulate the
sound energy propagation and distribution. Figure 6 shows
the result.
● One of outstanding issues is that the upper part of the stage obstructs the
sound propagation to the audience.

● The direct sound (deep red balls) has not yet reached the rear wall, but
some balls have been reflected eight times (green balls) in the stage.

● It means that the outlet of the stage needs acoustic treatment.

Reflectors should be considered.

● Most of the sound energy we receive in enclosed spaces has been

reflected by walls and ceiling surfaces.

● The geometries of reflection for light and sound are identical. But, for
sound, much larger surfaces are required owing to the much longer
wavelengths involved.

● An acoustic mirror is a large, plane, massive surface of, for instance,

concrete or timber.

● Sound reflected by one surface will continue to be reflected between the

room surfaces, until its energy is removed by absorption.
 C)Sound Defects
● Any time the surfaces of a room focus the sound which is reflected from them, they create spots of high intensity and other
spots with low intensity.
● This is generally undesirable in an auditorium since we want a uniform, evenly dispersed sound to all listeners (Andrade,
1932).
● The “3D Billiard” again, is used to display sound effects such as scattering, flutter echoes or sound focusing. A number of
billiard balls are emitted from the source and reflected by the surfaces in the room. To visualize any sound effect, a large
number of billiard balls (10,000 balls) were used.
● The results are shown in Figure 7
● . As expected, the real walls of the stage contributed to a sound focusing in the front of the auditorium. The focused sound
energy will cause sound distortion, which should be avoided. The main reason is that the real wall is concave. This form
should be avoided in auditorium design.
 03)Case Studies
● The DBS case is very similar to the Maltings Concert Hall,
Snape (around 800 seats and 7500 m3).
● . The auditorium is rectangular in plan, using existing red brick
walls which were grit‐blasted and sealed.
● To achieve a suitable internal volume the walls were extended
upwards 1 m.
● For the roof, two layers of 25 mm tongued and grooved
timber boarding were used, set at 45o relative to one another.

● The timber roof trusses and steel ties are all exposed on the
auditorium interior, yet the construction is stiff enough to
ensure little low‐frequency absorption. In acoustic terms,
the exposed roof elements can be expected to contribute
to good diffusion.

● Use of seats without upholstery is unusual in modern

auditoria, as it results in large changes of reverberation
time with occupancy (Barron, 1988).

● The case study showcases a way for auditoria with small

volumes to achieve good reverberation times. The DBS is
suggested to increase the volume by enlarging and
elevating the ceiling and roof
● We also proposed an over‐stage reflector used in the selected projects to reflect sound onto the audience.
● Itis due to the concern about inadequate clarity at the rear of the new large concert halls, but some acousticians criticized the harsh
quality they imparted to the sound.

● In the Queen Elizabeth Hall the reflector is movable between a reflecting and non‐reflecting position.
● Subjective tests conducted at the time of opening suggested that the audible effect of the reflector was small but that in general the
preference was for the vertical, no‐reflection condition.

● With a massive auditorium shell (the walls here are 375 mm thick concrete), the bass reverberation time will rise. For symphony
concerts many consider this to be highly desirable but for chamber music the argument for a bass rise is less clear.
● We also found sound focus due to the concave stage walls.
● This sound defect can be avoided by decorating the surfaces (using boundary element methods) of the concave walls to distribute the
sound energy (Figure 8).
● Out of this technique have come ‘wavy’ surfaces optimized for their directional reflection characteristics
● It is a scattering wall in a rehearsal hall with circular geometry in plan.The shape of the wall is based on a wave motif optimized for
diffusion using boundary element techniques
04) Design Recommendations
● The project is a small auditorium with volume at 7,324m3 and seats at 800.
● The experience learnt from small auditorium is to elevate the roof to increase the reverberation.
● The openings (holes) for daylight access in the DBS auditorium could be enlarged and elevated to
increase the volume and consequently increase the RT.
● The estimated RT was lower than the expected RT (1.4‐1.7 s).

● Sound absorptions from ceilings and walls must be minimized during material selections.
● The sound diffusion in the DBS auditorium is not advantageous at the outlet of the stage.
● Reflectors should be placed to distribute the sound energy to the audience. Sound energy
focusing was found in the front of the auditorium.

● The rear wall of the stage should be designed to avoid sound focusing
● .A scattering wall in a rehearsal hall was studied as a good example to shape the wall to “wavy”
surfaces to suppress focusing caused by concave walls.

● First, the architects kept the interiors simple to maximize the volume, minimize the sound
absorption and achieve appropriate reverberation time. There are no excessive decorative
elements in the ceiling system or on the walls. The roof is exposed to the audience This also
benefits daylighting.

● Second, the architects changed the stage outlet to make it open and reflective. Over‐stage
reflectors were used to maximize early reflection towards audience.
● Third, the architects use timber panels to reshape the rear walls of the stage to minimize the sound
focus and diffuse sound from the stage to the audience.
5) conclusion
● In this project, reverberation time is one of key design criteria
for auditorium acoustics
● checking seat‐volume ratio and performance‐based design
approaches such as simulating reverberation time are used.
● Prescriptive design, as a traditional design method and rule of
thumb, is of great important and useful in the very beginning of
the design stage.

● Performance‐based design using computer simulation can be

instrumental in schematic design, especially material selection
and interior installation and construction optimisation.

● In this study, the quality of the acoustics of an auditorium also

covers the shape and size of the enclosure and related
acoustical defects such as concentration and focus.

● Through the visualization of sound distribution, these defects

can be detected.

● Actually, prescriptive approaches for acoustic design such as

room geometrical analysis can also help architects to avoid
sound defects such as echoes, dead spots and flutter
● Second example
Church, Hagia Sophia
● Hagia Sophia’s central dome is placed more than 50 metres above the floor,
● has a diameter of more than 31 m and is embraced by two half domes.
● The reverberation time is approximately 10 sec (1000 Hz).

Measurements were
simulated with three
sources in 12
receiver positions –
here we are having a
look around the
room.
● Wireframe of the Hagia Sophia church, displaying source and receiver
positions (for the simulated parameters).
● Source and receiver positions (for the auralization).
Source 1 active. Examples of simulated Source 2 active. Examples of simulated Source 3 active. Examples of simulated
room acoustic parameters compared to the room acoustic parameters compared to room acoustic parameters compared to
real measured values. the real measured values. the real measured values.

https://odeon.dk/the-church-hagia-s Here u can find audios recorded from the different positions of
sources and how it will be heard at the receiver end , each sound is
ophia/
recorded in diff positions
04 Analysis Software 02
CATT-Acoustic
Computer Aided Theatre Technique
CATT-Acoustic:
software for room acoustics prediction, auralization, studio stereo, and surround
reverberation. One of the leading modeling programs for architectural acoustics.

CATT-AcousticTM is a software application that allows investigations into the acoustical

characteristics of an auditorium. Such investigations can be used to predict the sonic
performance of a space or to evaluate proposed acoustical changes

CATT-Acoustic offers a range of modeling options, including ray tracing, diffusion, and
absorption calculations. It provides a graphical user interface and is widely used in the field
of architectural acoustics.

CATT-Acoustic software allows us to, among other things, go through the basic stages of interior
space acoustics modelling, such as:

•Transferring the interior’s geometry into a computer model

•Entering the acoustic parameters of upholsteries
•Performing acoustic parameter simulations
CATT-Acoustic:
is widely used open-source software for room acoustics modeling. It enables you to predict and
visualize the acoustic performance of various spaces, including concert halls, auditoriums,
classrooms, churches, theatres, lecture theatres, libraries, offices, sports halls and all types of
performance spaces, etc. It provides tools for sound source placement, material selection, and sound
propagation simulation.

It enables you to simulate and analyze sound

distribution, sound reflections, and other acoustic
parameters within buildings. It offers a user-friendly
GUI and provides visualization and analysis
capabilities.
CATT-Acoustic
uses three-dimensional CAD-type models to simulate the acoustics in a closed room
utilizing geometrical and statistical acoustics. Implementing ray tracing, image source
modelling, and Sabine’s and Eyring’s formulae to provide results of many acoustical
parameters and to auralize the room. Source to receiver calculations and audience mapping
are the main tools used to analyze acoustical parameters such as sound pressure level,
clarity, strength, speech transmission index, reverberation time, and many more. The source
emits rays and the receivers and audience maps record the resulting rays that reach the
respective positions. CATT also includes such features as Time Trace to see how the rays
travel through the model and Image Source Model to see the path that each ray took to reach
the receiver.
CATT-Acoustic TUCT prediction algorithms
TUCT™ stands for The Universal Cone Tracer and predicts echograms and room impulse responses
offering several different internal algorithms depending on the room case, ranging from basic to advanced.

TUCT was introduced as an add-on module to CATT-Acoustic during the later releases of Version 8 so that users
could familiarize themselves with what was to come. In CATT-Acoustic v9 and above it is the only prediction engine.
TUCT offers a choice of three different algorithms for detailed source-receiver prediction, which vary by their handling
of high order specular and diffuse reflections. Randomised tail correction (RTC) of previous CATT-Acoustic versions
is no longer used in TUCT; the full-length impulse response is calculated using a mix of image source modelling for
first-order specular reflections, and cone and ray tracing first order diffuse and later reflections. It is important to
understand the basic workings of each algorithm so that the appropriate calculation method can be selected for a
given task. TUCT uses two different methods of generating diffuse reflections in cone and ray tracing; deterministic
split ray scattering and random scattering. Each of the three prediction algorithm uses different combinations of
deterministic split ray scattering and random scattering.
BASIC STEPS
The steps involved in studying a room are :
Frequency range

All calculations are made for eight octave-bands: 125 Hz to 16 kHz. If no data are available for 8 and 16
kHz, extrapolation is made based on the values at 2 and 4 kHz.

Where relevant, the overall results (if appropriate A-weighted) can be obtained from these six or eight
octave bands.

The underlying theory is geometrical acoustics and in most halls the lowest two octaves will not be well
predicted. For small rooms such as control rooms and studios typically only the upper octaves 1, 2, and 4
kHz will be well predicted (8 and 16 kHz may suffer from lack of proper input data) but as a qualitative
analysis it is still useful for the lower octaves.
● Some of the examples designed by this software:
1) DERRY MILLENNIUM THEATRE - THE FLEXIBLE AUDITORIUM
2) NORWICH MILLENNIUM PROJECT
3) TOTTENHAM COURT ROAD UNDERGROUND STATION

OTHER PROJECTS
Projects in progress at the time of writing include the "Virtual listening Room" research project at
Surrey University, where CATT was used to model different layouts of passive reflectors and flat
panel loudspeakers to create an ITU-compliant listening room in a large space [9,10] a replica of the
Shakespearean Rose Theatre, and the use of different diffusers in BBC Radio control rooms.
1.DERRY MILLENNIUM THEATRE - THE FLEXIBLE AUDITORIUM
Computer Modelling with CATT-Acoustic -
shows a simplified CATT model of a 1,000 seat auditorium built on a traditional
proscenium theatre layout, but with a complex series of reflectors over the
auditorium and stage.
Some of these reflectors are omitted for clarity in the illustration.
The stage reflectors form part of an orchestra shell which can be varied in size and
height to suit different types of musical ensemble. The reflectors over the
auditorium have a number of positions at which they can drop down to close off
conceal balconies and slip seating, allowing a 1,000 seat auditorium to be reduced
in apparent size to 670 or 300 seats. Completely closing off the upper volumes was
impractical within a limited budget and the model was used to assess the effect of
different sizes and coverage of reflectors both on speech clarity and also on
reverberation time. In practice, the reflectors are curved and the effect of different
diameters of curvature was also estimated by changing the diffusion coefficients of
the reflectors - a much simpler process than re-modelling the reflectors as multiple
complex planes, but one that relies on accurate frequency-dependent diffusion
modelling. The theatre was commissioned in September 2001 and the results of
measurements accord well with the modelling results.
2.NORWICH MILLENNIUM PROJECT
Norwich Forum with Intellivox 2c overhead reflectors in
intermediate position.
shows a simplified CATT model of the Norwich Forum, another
Millennium project which includes a library open to a 30,000 m³
atrium made largely of glass and concrete. The model was used for
room acoustic calculations as well as to predict coverage and
intelligibility of a Public Address and Voice Alarm system using two
Intellivox 2c loudspeakers, each with "split beam" technology to
cover two separate floors, using the method described in Section 5
of this paper.
 3.TOTTENHAM COURT ROAD UNDERGROUND
STATION
shows RASTI mapping for a proposed refurbishment of the
main concourse at Tottenham Court Road Underground
station in London, using a distributed sound system with
loudspeakers at two ceiling heights. The concourse has all of
the acoustic absorption concentrated on the walls, with very
little absorption at the center of the concourse

so that again standard Sabine theory for reverberation time

does not apply and the only way of predicting intelligibility
was to create a computer model. The whole model,
including escalators and tunnels, comprised some 70
loudspeakers, making initial calculation times relatively long
(2 hours on a Pentium 600) for a full calculation, but the
ability to test changes to individual sources without having
to re-run the whole calculation procedure saves a great deal
of time in this modelling of distributed systems.
05 Analysis Software 03
 RAP - ONE II
Room Acoustics Prediction and Occupational Noise Exposure
RAP-ONE II, from Soft dB in Canada, is an
easy-to-use program designed for analyzing
and managing sound in industrial fields with
acoustics consultants and engineers

Types of rooms and spaces where RAP

ONE II is used :
1. performance and art centers
2. any type or size of room

Uses of RAP ONE in the field :

1. To determine quickly and precisely
sound levels at every point in a room
2. To determine the contribution of each
sound source to these points, and the
noise dose perceived by workers.
3. Can be used to do RT60 calculations
(Reverberation Time)
4. To evaluate the efficiency of a treatment
or of a treatment combination in real
time before it is implemented
User interface
Steps to create a sound analysis using RAP ONE II:

2. Define the Scale of your Project

3.Draft the Walls of your project
And enter the room height to complete
1.Create a Model importing in it the your model
project layout which represents the
floor plane of the modeled room
4.Define the Material and the Acoustical 5.Draw your absorption panels and set
Properties of each wall its coefficient

6.Draft your barriers ( interior walls ) 7.Define Sound Sources ( point source
or box source)
8. Set the parameters of your sound 8. Define the receivers position
source 9. Set the receivers height
Results:

1. Horizontal Sound Map

2. Updated Receivers Parameters

Calculation Methods:

1. Source Modeling
RAP ONE II projects 60 triangular pyramids in the room. Each
pyramid carries the sound energy of the source.
The number of pyramids used to characterise the sound source is
not critical as each pyramid carries an infinite number of rays.
Moreover, these pyramids are subject to split as they interfere with
objects along their propagation path allowing them to naturally
increase in number over distance.
2. Pyramid Tracing Algorithm
The pyramid starts at the origin of the sound source and is
projected in the model following its edges. When the pyramid
intersects a surface, its edges are reflected in a specular way to
continue the propagation. Every time the pyramid is reflected on a
surface, its energy is decreased by the absorption coefficient of the
surface.
3. Scattering:
Scattering occurs each time a pyramid is reflected
form a surface. Scattering is modelled as a point
source located on the center of the beam projection on
the wall and radiates energy in the room. Different
parameters are considered to get the best results such
as the beam incidence angle, projection patch area,
etc

4. Diffraction:
Diffraction is applied to a surface if it has floating edges
or an obtuse angle with other surfaces according to ISO
9613-2 [11]. RAP-ONE II models a simple diffraction
only for the direct field, as the diffraction has minimal
effect indoors.
5. Late Propagation and Residual Energy:
Even when using a high order number, there is still energy left in the pyramids to be
radiated. If this energy is left over, a significant error both in the sound level and decay is
observed. Thus, this residual energy must be radiated back in the model to get precise
results .
While the early part of the sound propagation is calculated using the complete pyramid
tracing algorithm, the late part of the sound propagation is calculated using a simplified
pyramid model. estimating the future path of the pyramid based on its past trajectory and
radiates the energy back to the visible receivers.
Many parameters such as mean absorption, mean path length, and growth rate are
considered to get precise results. The transition between early and late parts is set by the
Critical Time. The late part of the sound propagation will be calculated until the Final Time is
reached.