1.

SOUND LEVEL, QUANTIFIED IN DECIBELS (DB) AND TYPICALLY

MEASURED USING A DB METER, GAUGES THE INTENSITY OF
SOUND. THE ABSENCE OF SOUND IS DENOTED BY ZERO DB,
WHILE 100 DB MARKS THE THRESHOLD OF PAINFUL NOISE,
WITH CONVERSATIONAL TONES REGISTERING AT 50 DB,
WHISPERS AT 30 DB, AND SHOUTING AT 70 DB.
2. LOUDNESS REFERS TO THE PERCEIVED STRENGTH OF SOUND
TO THE LISTENER. EVEN A 1 DB CHANGE IS MINIMALLY
NOTICEABLE, AND A SOUND PERCEIVED AS TWICE AS LOUD
ACTUALLY POSSESSES A 10 DB INCREASE IN STRENGTH, WHILE
SOMETHING HALF AS LOUD IS 10 DB WEAKER, EQUATING TO A
1/10TH REDUCTION IN STRENGTH.
3. DIRECT SOUND, OR THE DIRECT SIGNAL, CONSTITUTES THE
PORTION OF A SOUND WAVE TRAVELING IN A STRAIGHT LINE
FROM THE SOURCE TO THE LISTENER, REPRESENTING THE
UNALTERED OR DRY SOUND EXPERIENCED.
4. REFLECTIONS OCCUR WHEN SOUND WAVES STRIKE A SURFACE
AND BOUNCE OFF, CHANGING DIRECTION BUT MAINTAINING
THE SAME ANGLE AS THEY APPROACHED THE SURFACE. THESE
REFLECTED SOUNDS CONTRIBUTE TO THE OVERALL AUDITORY
EXPERIENCE.
5. EARLY REFLECTIONS, OCCURRING WITHIN 1/20 OF A SECOND
AFTER THE DIRECT SOUND, SEAMLESSLY BLEND WITH THE
DIRECT SIGNAL, FORMING A UNIFIED COMPOSITE SOUND. THIS
INTEGRATION CAN ALTER THE TONAL CHARACTERISTICS AND
APPARENT DIRECTION OF THE DIRECT SIGNAL.
6. LATE REFLECTIONS, COMMONLY KNOWN AS ECHOES,
MANIFEST WHEN A DISTINCT REFLECTION REACHES THE
LISTENER MORE THAN 1/20TH OF A SECOND AFTER THE DIRECT
SOUND. UNLIKE EARLY REFLECTIONS, ECHOES ALLOW THE
LISTENER TO IDENTIFY THEIR ORIGIN WITHOUT MODIFYING THE
TONAL QUALITIES OF THE DIRECT SOUND.
7. FLUTTER ECHO, PERCEPTIBLE WHEN CLAPPING HANDS IN A
HALLWAY, PRODUCES A DISTINCT "ZING" WITH A TONE
DETERMINED BY THE FREQUENCY OF REFLECTIONS PASSING
BY THE LISTENER'S HEAD. IN SPECIFIC CONDITIONS, SUCH AS
AN 8-FOOT WIDE HALL, THE RESULTING PSEUDO-TONE MAY
SOUND LIKE A BUZZY TONE AT A FREQUENCY, LIKE 143 HZ.
8. REVERBERATION INITIATES APPROXIMATELY 1/5 SECOND
AFTER THE DIRECT SOUND IN A LARGE ROOM. IT ARISES FROM
THE ACCUMULATION OF MULTIPLE REFLECTIONS, BLENDING TO
 THE EXTENT THAT THE SOUND TRANSFORMS INTO A
CONTINUOUS NOISE, DEVOID OF DISCRETE DIRECTION OR
TIMING.
9. DIFFUSION REFERS TO REFLECTIONS OFF NON-FLAT SURFACES
THAT DISORGANIZE SOUND WAVES MORE RAPIDLY THAN
THOSE OFF FLAT SURFACES. SURFACES WITH HIGH DIFFUSION
REDUCE THE TIME FOR ECHOES TO TRANSFORM INTO
REVERBERATION. THE GOTHIC CHURCHES OF THE OLD WORLD
EXEMPLIFY THIS QUALITY, WITH THEIR SOUND-SCATTERING
SURFACES CONTRIBUTING TO THE SONIC RICHNESS OF THESE
SPACES.
10. DECAY RATE (RT-60) REPRESENTS THE TIME, MEASURED IN SECONDS,
FOR REVERBERATION TO TRANSITION FROM VERY LOUD TO
IMPERCEPTIBLY QUIET, INVOLVING A TOTAL SOUND LEVEL CHANGE OF
60 DB. THE RT-60 CAN VARY, WITH LIVING ROOMS HAVING A POTENTIAL
DURATION OF 1 SECOND, WHILE GYMS MIGHT EXHIBIT A 4-SECOND
DECAY.
11. ABSORPTION REFERS TO THE LOSS OF SOUND ENERGY WHEN A WAVE
ENCOUNTERS A FIBROUS SURFACE, CAUSING ACOUSTIC FRICTION
THAT DIMINISHES ENERGY WITHOUT ALTERING THE WAVE'S SPEED.
ABSORPTION RESULTS IN A QUIETER SOUND.
12. NRC RATING (NOISE REDUCTION COEFFICIENT) QUANTIFIES A
SURFACE'S EFFICIENCY IN ABSORBING SOUND, EXPRESSED AS A
PERCENTAGE. A 30% ABSORPTIVE SURFACE REFLECTS ONLY 70% OF
INCIDENT SOUND BACK INTO THE ROOM.
13. NOISE, OR BACKGROUND NOISE, ENCOMPASSES UNWANTED AND
INTERFERING SOUNDS IN A SPACE, OFTEN ARISING FROM SOURCES
LIKE AIR CONDITIONERS OR CONVERSATIONS.
14. NOISE FLOOR DENOTES THE STRENGTH OF BACKGROUND NOISE,
MEASURED IN DB, IMPACTING THE ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND
COMMUNICATION IN HIGH NOISE FLOOR ENVIRONMENTS.
15. SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO (S/N RATIO) MEASURES THE DB DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN THE DESIRED SOUND AND THE NOISE FLOOR, CRUCIAL FOR
DISCERNING CLARITY IN COMMUNICATION.
16. ARTICULATION EVALUATES THE CLARITY OF SOUND MESSAGES,
CONSIDERING FACTORS LIKE SLURRED SOUNDS, NEARBY LOUD
NOISES, AND ECHOES, OFTEN QUANTIFIED IN A DESIRED SIGNAL TO
UNWANTED NOISE RATIO.
17. INTELLIGIBILITY ASSESSES THE CLARITY OF SOUND BASED ON THE
COMPREHENSIBILITY OF CONVEYED MESSAGES, OFTEN EVALUATED
THROUGH RECOGNITION TESTS LIKE "CAT, BAT, TAT, RAT."
18. BRIGHT/LIVELY SOUND CONDITION FEATURES AN ABUNDANCE OF
TREBLE RANGE REFLECTIONS, GIVING A SENSE OF BRIGHTNESS OR
LIVELINESS, COMMON IN TILED BATHROOMS OR KITCHENS.
19. DARK/DEAD SOUND CONDITION OCCURS WHEN A ROOM LACKS
REFLECTIONS AND REVERBERANCE, POTENTIALLY LEADING TO A LACK-
LUSTER AND UNEASY ATMOSPHERE.
20. BOOMY SOUND CONDITION ARISES WHEN LOWER FREQUENCIES,
PARTICULARLY IN THE MALE VOICE RANGE, EXHIBIT EXCESSIVE
REVERBERATION IN A ROOM.
21. PSYCHOACOUSTICS IS THE STUDY OF HOW HUMANS COMPREHEND
AND MAKE SENSE OF THE SOUNDS THEY HEAR, ENCOMPASSING
PHENOMENA LIKE THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN EARLY AND LATE
REFLECTIONS AND THE BLENDING OF EARLY REFLECTIONS WITH THE
DIRECT SOUND.
22. FREQUENCY (HERTZ, HZ, CPS) REFERS TO THE NUMBER OF REPEAT TIMES PER
SECOND THAT A SOUND'S PRESSURE PULSE CHARACTERISTIC OCCURS. TONES,
ARISING FROM VOICES OR INSTRUMENTS, HAVE A REPETITIVE PULSE, AND
FREQUENCY IS MEASURED IN CYCLES PER SECOND (CPS) OR HERTZ (HZ), AKIN
TO PITCH IN MUSICAL TERMS.
23. SOUND SPECTRUM IS THE MEASUREMENT OF SOUND LEVEL AT DIFFERENT
FREQUENCIES, CAPTURING THE STRENGTH OF EACH FREQUENCY IN A GRAPH
KNOWN AS A SOUND SPECTRUM. TONES, OFTEN COMPOSED OF MULTIPLE
FREQUENCIES, ARE REPRESENTED IN THIS PLOT OF SOUND LEVEL VS.
FREQUENCY.
24. SONIC COLOR PERTAINS TO THE EMPHASIS OR SHIFT IN EMPHASIS OF A
COMPLEX SOUND WITHIN ITS SPECTRAL RANGE. A NEUTRAL COLOR
REPRESENTS A PREFERRED, NATURAL SOUND, WHILE WARM COLOR SIGNIFIES
AN EMPHASIS ON LOWER FREQUENCIES, COLD COLOR ON HIGHER
FREQUENCIES, OR NASAL COLOR ON MIDRANGE FREQUENCIES. THIS CONCEPT
IS USED METAPHORICALLY TO DESCRIBE THE TONAL QUALITIES OF SOUND.
25. OCTAVE REFERS TO A SPECIFIC FREQUENCY RANGE IN SOUND, DELIMITED BY A
LOWER FREQUENCY AND AN UPPER FREQUENCY, WHERE THE DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN THE TWO IS EQUAL TO THE LOWER FREQUENCY. FOR EXAMPLE, THE
OCTAVE SEQUENCE FOR THE NOTE "C" SPANS FROM 31 HZ TO 16K HZ,
PROGRESSING IN DOUBLING INTERVALS.
26. VOICING IS THE COMPREHENSIVE PROCESS OF DETERMINING THE DESIRED
ACOUSTIC CONDITION OF SOUND IN A GIVEN SPACE. IT INVOLVES
INTEGRATING DIRECT, EARLY, AND LATE REFLECTIONS WITH REVERBERATION,
CONSIDERING TIMING AND DIRECTION TO CREATE AN APPROPRIATE AND
PLEASING ACOUSTIC ENVIRONMENT FOR THE LISTENER. VOICING COMBINES
BOTH THE ARTISTIC AND SCIENTIFIC ASPECTS OF SOUND, RECOGNIZING THE
AESTHETIC PREFERENCES ASSOCIATED WITH VARIOUS TYPES OF SOUNDS IN
SPECIFIC LOCATIONS. AS A SCIENTIFIC PRACTICE, IT DRAWS ON
PSYCHOACOUSTICS, UNDERSTANDING HOW HUMANS PERCEIVE AND MAKE
SENSE OF SOUNDS.