WHAT IS SOUND???

SOUND IS A TRAVELLING WAVE THAT IS AN OSCILLATION OF PRESSURE TRANSMITTED

THROUGH A SOLID, LIQUID, OR GAS, COMPOSED OF FREQUENCIES WITHIN THE RANGE
OF HEARING AND OF A LEVEL SUFFICIENTLY STRONG TO BE HEARD, OR THE SENSATION
STIMULATED IN ORGANS OF HEARING BY SUCH VIBRATIONS.

THE MECHANICAL VIBRATIONS THAT CAN BE INTERPRETED AS SOUND ARE ABLE TO

TRAVEL THROUGH ALL FORMS OF MATTER: GASES, LIQUIDS, SOLIDS, AND PLASMAS.
THE MATTER THAT SUPPORTS THE SOUND IS CALLED THE MEDIUM. SOUND CANNOT
TRAVEL THROUGH VACUUM.
 DEVELOPMENT
The last fifteen years have seen a rapidly growing interest,
both scientific and artistic, in the subject of acoustics, the
discovery of the thermionic effect and the resulting
development of the vacuum tube have made possible the
amplification and measurement of minute alternating
currents, giving to physicists a powerful new device for the
quantitative study of acoustical phenomena.
VARIATION
 WAVELENGTH
Wavelength is distance between
any two points with the same
phase.

In other words the distance

between two consecutive crests and
two consecutive troughs is known
as wavelength

Wavelength is commonly
designated by the Greek letter
LAMDA (λ)
 WAVELENGTH CONTD….
• A SOUND WAVE MAY HAVE A VARIATION IN ITS WAVELENGTH
DEPENDING ON THE MEDIUM IN WHICH IT IS TRAVELLING, IE. IF THE
MEDIUM HAS A HIGHER DENSITY THEN THE SPEED DECREASES AND
CONSEQUENTLY THE WAVELENGTH DECREASES AND VICE VERSA

• THE OTHER NOTABLE PHENOMENON OF SOUND WAVES IS FREQUENCY.

FREQUENCY AND WAVELENGTH ARE INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL TO
EACH OTHER.
WAVES WITH HIGHER FREQUENCIES HAVE SHORTER WAVELENGTHS ,
AND LOWER FREQUENCIES HAVE LONGER WAVELENGTHS
 VARIATION
SOUND WAVES CAN TRAVEL THROUGH TWO TYPES OF
MEDIUM AND THEIR WAVELENGTHS VARY ACCORDINGLY.

• UNIFORM MEDIUM : WAVELENGTHS ARE UNIFORM.

•NON UNIFORM MEDIUM : WAVELENGTHS VARY.

IF THE WAVELENGTH OF THE SOUND VARIES THEN THE FREQUENCY

CHANGES AND ALL THE OTHER ASPECTS OF SOUND CHANGES
ACCORDINGLY , BUT TO GET A UNIFORM SOUND IT IS TRIED TO GIVE A
UNIFORM FREQUENCY AND HENCE UNIFORM WAVELENGTH.
 FREQUENCY
• AN AUDIO FREQUENCY OR AUDIBLE FREQUENCY IS CHARACTERIZED AS A
PERIODIC VIBRATION WHOSE FREQUENCY IS AUDIBLE TO THE AVERAGE HUMAN

• THE RANGE OF FREQUENCIES THAT ANY INDIVIDUAL CAN HEAR IS LARGELY

RELATED TO ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS, THE GENERALLY ACCEPTED STANDARD
RANGE OF AUDIBLE FREQUENCIES IS 20 TO 20,000 HERTZ (HZ).

• FREQUENCIES BELOW 20 HZ CAN USUALLY BE FELT RATHER THAN HEARD,

ASSUMING THE AMPLITUDE OF THE VIBRATION IS HIGH ENOUGH.

• FREQUENCIES ABOVE 20,000 HZ CAN SOMETIMES BE SENSED BY YOUNG PEOPLE,

BUT HIGH FREQUENCIES ARE THE FIRST TO BE AFFECTED BY HEARING LOSS DUE
TO AGE AND/OR PROLONGED EXPOSURE TO VERY LOUD NOISES.

• THE WORD THAT MUSICIANS USE FOR FREQUENCY IS PITCH. THE SHORTER THE
WAVELENGTH, THE HIGHER THE FREQUENCY, AND THE HIGHER THE PITCH OF THE
SOUND. THUSWE CONCLUDE THAT SHORT WAVES SOUND HIGH; LONG WAVES
SOUND LOW.
 FREQUENCY CONTD….
• THE FREQUENCY OF A WAVE REFERS TO HOW OFTEN THE PARTICLES OF THE MEDIUM
VIBRATE WHEN A WAVE PASSES THROUGH THE MEDIUM.

•THE FREQUENCY OF A WAVE IS MEASURED AS THE NUMBER OF COMPLETE BACK-AND-

FORTH VIBRATIONS OF A PARTICLE OF THE MEDIUM PER UNIT OF TIME.
IF A PARTICLE OF AIR UNDERGOES 1000 LONGITUDINAL VIBRATIONS IN 2 SECONDS, THEN
THE FREQUENCY OF THE WAVE WOULD BE 500 VIBRATIONS PER SECOND.

HIGH FREQUENCY

LOW FREQUENCY
 INTENSITY
:- PHYSICALLY, A WAVE INVOLVES THE PROPAGATION OF ENERGY. THIS
TRANSFER OF ENERGY BY A TRAVELING WAVE IS EXPRESSED IN TERMS
OF THE INTENSITY.

:- INTENSITY OF SOUND WAVES IS DEFINED AS THE AVERAGE ENERGY

TRANSPORTED PER SECOND PER UNIT AREA PERPENDICULAR TO THE
DIRECTION OF PROPAGATION..

:-THE UNIT OF SOUND INTENSITY IS WATT PER SQUARE METER.

:- THE INTENSITY OF SOUND IN AIR DEPENDS ON THE SQUARE OF THE

FREQUENCY AND THE SQUARE OF THE AMPLITUDE.

:- THUS, FOR A GIVEN FREQUENCY, THE AMPLITUDE IS AN IMPORTANT

FACTOR IN DECIDING THE INTENSITY

:- THE LOUDNESS OF SOUND IS DEFINED AS THE DEGREE OF SENSATION

OF SOUND PRODUCED IN THE EAR.
 FACTORS
The various factors upon which the intensity and loudness of sound depends.

:- Amplitude-A musical instrument like a guitar or veena gives louder sound when its
string is plucked with a greater force. The intensity is directly proportional to the square
of the amplitude of vibration of the source. The loudness which is a logarithmic function
of intensity, also increases.

:- Size of the sounding body- The sound from a larger tuning fork is louder than the
sound from a smaller one. The sound from a tuning fork becomes louder when its stem
is pressed against a table. A vibrating body with larger area is able to make a larger
volume of air to vibrate thus, increasing the intensity and loudness.

:- Distance from the source- As proved earlier, the intensity of sound varies inversely as the
square of the distance from the source. If two points are at distances d 1 and d2 from a point source,
then the intensities at these points will be in the inverse ratio of the squares of the distances i.e.,
 FACTORS CONTD…
:- Density of the medium- The intensity and hence, the loudness increases with the
density of the medium in which sound travels. It has been observed that more effort
is to be made to make oneself heard by another in planes or balloons, while flying at
high altitudes as the density of air is less.

:- Presence of other bodies- The sound of a tuning fork or a vibrating string in air
is more intense when placed on a sound box which undergoes forced vibration.

:- Wind- the intensity of sound depends on its velocity. If the wind blows in the
direction of the sound, the velocity and hence, the intensity and loudness of sound
increases.

:- Frequency- Intensity of sound depends on its frequency. The human ear is

more sensitive to the middle part of the audible range. Thus, a sound of a frequency
in the middle of the audible range will appear to be louder than the sound of a
frequency near the extremities of the range, though the two sounds have the same
intensity.
For example, consider sounds of frequencies 100Hz and 3000Hz, having the same
intensity. The sound of 3000Hz will appear to be louder than the other.
 Pitch

PITCH IS A FORMAT WHERE MAJOR

AUDITORY ATTRIBUTES OF SOUNDS
ALONG WITH LOUDNESS, TIMBRE AND
SOUND SOURCE LOCATION.

PITCHES ARE COMPARED AS

"HIGHER" AND "LOWER"
FREQUENCIES, AND ARE QUANTIFIED
AS FREQUENCIES
 Kind of pitch:

 DEFINITE PITCH : A SOUND OR NOTE OF DEFINITE PITCH IS

ONE OF WHICH IT IS POSSIBLE OR RELATIVELY EASY TO
DISCERN THE PITCH.

 INDEFINITE PITCH :A SOUND OR NOTE OF INDEFINITE PITCH

IS ONE OF WHICH IT IS IMPOSSIBLE OR RELATIVELY DIFFICULT
TO DISCERN A PITCH.

 CONCERT PITCH: CONCERT PITCH IS THE PITCH REFERENCE

TO WHICH A GROUP OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS ARE TUNED
FOR A PERFORMANCE.
 TONE ….
TONE IS THE LEVEL OF LOUDNESS AND THE FORM OF SOUND
PRODUCTION EITHER FROM A HUMAN OR FROM AN INSTRUMENT.

THIS TERM TONE VARIES FOR EVERY INDIVIDUAL AND THE MOOD IN
WHICH HE IS IN .

WHEN A PERSON IS IN LIGHT MOOD HE TALKS IN A LOWER TONE AND

WHEN A PERSON IS IN ANGER HIS TONE AUTOMATICALLY CHANGES TO A
MUCH GRAVIER ONE.

AS THE TONE CHANGES THE FREQUENCY AS WELL AS THE WAVELENGTH

CHANGES .
 timbre
Timbre is the quality of a
musical note or sound or tone
that distinguishes different
types of sound production.

Tone quality and color

are used as synonyms for
timbre , as well as the "texture
attributed to a single
instrument”.
Timbre has been called a "wastebasket" attribute or category or "the
psycho acoustician's multidimensional wastebasket category for
everything that cannot be qualified as pitch or loudness"
• THE SPEED OF SOUND OR VELOCITY OF SOUND IS THE RATE OF TRAVEL OF A
SOUND WAVE THROUGH AN ELASTIC MEDIUM.

• IN DRY AIR AT 20 °C , THE SPEED OF SOUND IS 343 METERS PER SECOND . OR

ABOUT ONE KILOMETER IN THREE SECONDS AND ABOUT ONE MILE IN FIVE
SECONDS.

• VELOCITY INCREASES WITH TEMPERATURE (EQUATIONS ARE GIVEN

BELOW), BUT IS NEARLY INDEPENDENT OF PRESSURE OR DENSITY FOR A
GIVEN GAS.

• SOUND TRAVELS FASTER IN LIQUIDS AND NON-POROUS SOLIDS (5,120 M/S IN

IRON) THAN IT DOES IN AIR, TRAVELING ABOUT 4.3 TIMES FASTER IN WATER
(1,484 M/S) THAN IN AIR AT 20 DEGREES CELSIUS.

• THE SPEED OF SOUND IS VARIABLE AND DEPENDS ON THE PROPERTIES OF

THE SUBSTANCE THROUGH OF WHICH THE WAVE IS TRAVELLING.

VELOCITY
 Sound pressure

 SOUND PRESSURE IS THE DIFFERENCE, IN A GIVEN MEDIUM,

BETWEEN AVERAGE LOCAL PRESSURE AND THE PRESSURE IN
THE SOUND WAVE.

 A SQUARE OF THIS DIFFERENCE IS USUALLY AVERAGED

OVER TIME AND A SQUARE ROOT OF THIS AVERAGE PROVIDES
A ROOT MEAN SQUARE (RMS) VALUE.

 ROOT MEAN SQUARE IS UNIT OF SOUND PRESSURE LEVEL.

LOUDNESS
LOUDNESS IS THE QUALITY OF A SOUND THAT IS THE PRIMARY
PSYCHOLOGICAL CORRELATE OF PHYSICAL STRENGTH.

LOUDNESS, A SUBJECTIVE MEASURE OF SOUND.

THE PERCEPTION OF LOUDNESS

IS RELATED TO BOTH THE
SOUND PRESSURE LEVEL AND
DURATION OF A SOUND.
SOUND AND ARCHITECTURE
As we start to design a building we first need to learn the human perception and
reaction to sound. The PITCH, critical bands, tone scales, loudness, annoyance ,health
and safety etc. a building when constructed is itself a source of sound or noise. Not
only will it produce sound but will also receive sound from the surrounding
environment. As we all know that sound is an energy and it can be changed from one
form to another, architectural design and acoustics are the few measures which can
change sound to be received in a controlled manner.

Rooms designed for unamplified music are the most visible and interesting spaces
in architectural acoustics. It is here that the science of acoustics and the arts of
architecture and music are blended. From the standpoint of acoustical design, the
hall requires the most careful control, but gives the architect the fewest tools to
accomplish the task. In contrast to sound system design, where a loudspeaker
configuration can yield a very predictable result, the design of a hall or a room for
music requires the sculpting of a sound field without the ability to control the
original sources, whose type, position, loudness, directivity, and number can
change with every performance. The architect can only work indirectly with the
room surfaces that reflect, diffuse, or absorb the primal energy and make it more
audible.
ARCHITECTURAL CONSIDERATIONS
PRECONSTRUCTION CONSIDERATIONS

A DESIRABLE ACOUSTIC ENVIRONMENT BEGINS WITH PLANNING. FOR INSTANCE IN A

BUILDING , AN ELEGANT PRIVATE DINING ROOM THAT SHARED A WALL WITH A BUSY SIDE
STATION. EVERY TIME SOMEONE USED THE WATER TAP WE HEARD A DISRUPTIVE NOISE . WE
CAN EMPLOY VARIOUS TECHNIQUES (SUCH AS PROPER PLACEMENT OF PLUMBING)
TO AVOID PROBLEMS LIKE THESE. PLACING SIDE STATIONS, AIR-CONDITIONING UNITS ,
INTERCOM SYSTEMS, TABLES, DOORS AND WALKWAYS AT SUFFICIENT DISTANCES FROM THE
DINING AREA, WILL MINIMIZE NOISE.
SOUNDPROOFING IN A ROOM AIMS TO DECREASE OR ELIMINATE THE EFFECTS OF EXTERIOR
NOISE. THE MAIN FOCUS OF RESIDENTIAL SOUNDPROOFING IN EXISTING STRUCTURES IS
THE WINDOWS. CURTAINS CAN BE USED TO DAMP SOUND EITHER THROUGH USE OF HEAVY
MATERIALS OR THROUGH THE USE OF AIR CHAMBERS KNOWN AS HONEYCOMBS. SINGLE-,
DOUBLE- AND TRIPLE-HONEYCOMB DESIGNS ACHIEVE RELATIVELY GREATER DEGREES OF SOUND
DAMPING. THE PRIMARY SOUNDPROOFING LIMIT OF CURTAINS IS THE LACK OF A SEAL AT THE
EDGE OF THE CURTAIN. DOUBLE-PANE WINDOWS, ACHIEVE SOMEWHAT GREATER SOUND
DAMPING THAN SINGLE-PANE WINDOWS. SIGNIFICANT NOISE REDUCTION CAN BE ACHIEVED BY
INSTALLING A SECOND INTERIOR WINDOW. IN THIS CASE THE EXTERIOR WINDOW REMAINS IN
PLACE WHILE A SLIDER OR HUNG WINDOW IS INSTALLED WITHIN THE SAME WALL OPENINGS.
ARCHITECTURAL CONSIDERATIONS

CONSIDERING THE EFFECT ON ACOUSTICS WITH EVERY CHANGE OR ADDITION

ONE NEEDS TO CONSCIOUSLY WEIGH EVERY DESIGN OR DECORATING CHANGE

AGAINST THE EFFECT IT WILL HAVE ON A BUILDING ACOUSTICS.
A DISPLAY KITCHEN WOULD SEEM TO MAKE FOR A NOISY AND SOUND-REFLECTIVE
ENVIRONMENT. HOWEVER, THE MANY BROKEN SURFACES, HOODS AND EXHAUSTS
IN A KITCHEN MAKE IT MORE SOUND-ABSORBING THAN MOST WOULD THINK.
CHANDELIERS, WITH THEIR GLASS AND METAL SURFACES, APPEAR TO HAVE HARD
REFLECTIVE SURFACES, BUT, LIKE BAFFLES, THEY ARE USEFUL IN BREAKING UP
SOUND WAVES. THEY ARE ESPECIALLY USEFUL WHEN HUNG FROM CURVED
SURFACES, SUCH AS DOMED CEILINGS WHERE SOUND WAVES TRAVEL IS LOW.
ARCHITECTURAL CONSIDERATIONS
PLANNING THE ACOUSTICS OF A BUILDING

FIXING SOUND PROBLEMS AFTER COMPLETING CONSTRUCTION OR REMODELING

OFTEN REQUIRES LESS-THAN-ELEGANT SOLUTIONS, SUCH AS BAFFLES THAT DISTRACT
FROM THE ARCHITECTURAL LINES OF THE BUILDING . AS NOTED, THERE ARE
NUMEROUS CONSTRUCTION AND DECORATIVE MATERIALS THAT ABSORB OR REFLECT
SOUND WITHOUT
INTERFERING WITH THE AESTHETICS OF THE SPACE. WE CAN MIX HARD SURFACES TO
REFLECT SOUND IN COMBINATION WITH SOUND ABSORBENT MATERIALS FOR A
DESIRED EFFECT.
 ACOUSTICAL MATERIALS:

ACOUSTIC PANELS CEILING TILES

GYPSUM BOARD

FOAM PANELS MELAMINE FOAM

THANX

PRESENTED BY :

• SABYASACHI MUKHERJEE
• VAIBHAV CHAUHAN
• MAYANK TENGURIYA
• DHANANJAY SINGH
• SUMIT AGRAWAL
• PRITAM BHATTER