All this and it’s only Monday morning, right?
The science of sound is a beautiful thing when you really get into it. Honorary guest speaker, Mr Ivan Lin, Founder and Principle Audio and Acoustics Engineer of Linspace visited our CPD Hybrid Session in April, and spoke to our architects about the emotive and scientific depth of sound, and the vast impact it can have on atmosphere and emotions.
He called this “Sound Psychology” and demonstrated some mind blowing insights using a simple music box and some furniture. The results were staggeringly impressive.
Since a room is able to absorb, transmit, reflect or diffuse sound – you have to map out your audio plan smartly. Absorptive materials, like thick drapes or carpet will quiet the sound in a space, however too much absorption can make a room sound dull and lifeless. When installing your home theatre, for example, applying an extreme level of absorption can have a negative result and deaden the room to the point where it is no longer comfortable. Your performance will fail. I assure you.
The key is to balance the mix. Room acoustics involve balancing absorption, reflection, and diffusion to create pleasant-sounding spaces and to mitigate transmission to other rooms. A good rule of thumb is to apply 25% absorption on the walls, and to hire a s*** hot design team.
So my point? If sound starts with science and culminates with emotion, it’s a pretty powerful part of the design process in a home, and should never be oversighted. My advice: don’t go all shy on interior and audio choices, when it comes to space design. Do your homework, be particular and expect nothing short of audio superiority from your designers. In fact, I give you full permission to be an extremely elaborate, O.T.T, unforgiveable, pain-in-the-tuchus sound snob. Or, a SAMA winner – whichever comes first.
