Earlier than Notre Dame Cathedral’s hearth in 2019, sound traveled all through the sanctuary so effectively {that a} cough or heel faucet might be heard for eight seconds. Guests decrease their voices and measure the pressure of their footsteps.
Whether or not on goal or not, the cathedral’s design makes use of sound to affect conduct. In a cathedral, the mindfulness one has to take with movement, speech, and breath turns into a compass for the way guests really feel. It’s unlikely that the unique builders of Notre Dame had an acoustician on employees, however structure has been used to control sound for hundreds of years.
On this article, I’ll present you some examples of how acoustics and structure work collectively after which present you how you can take these ideas and put them to work to enhance your podcast.
How Does Sound Journey?
Earlier than we get into structure, let’s take into consideration how sound works. For those who’ve learn our article about what is reverb and how to tame it, you know the way sound works already. To [over]simplify:
- Sound travels spherically from a supply till one thing (like a floor) displays or absorbs it.
- Totally different surfaces make sound react in several methods. The more durable a floor is, the extra it displays sound waves. The softer it’s, the extra it absorbs.
- Clean surfaces mirror sound in a path. Irregular surfaces break up sound waves and mirror sound in lots of instructions.
For those who’ve ever screamed right into a pillow or shouted whereas strolling by way of a tunnel, you may think about how this works.
How Can Structure Change Sound?
Now that you know the way sound travels, it shouldn’t be exhausting to visualise how cathedrals like Notre Dame use the connection between acoustics and structure to affect conduct. Excessive ceilings and exhausting surfaces can amplify and maintain a word in a hymn, or phrases in a homily.
However, how has structure been used to affect readability or tone? Listed below are some examples.
The Theatre at Epidarus: Amplify and Filter
Photo by Carole Raddato from FRANKFURT, Germany
Over 2,400 years in the past, Polykleitos the Youthful designed The Theatre at Epidarus, with acoustic marvels which might be nonetheless studied at present.
Location impacts a few of Epidarus’ acoustics. The form and slope of the west facet of Cynortion Mountain, subsequent to the amphitheater, and the wind from the Saronic Gulf, might affect how the performers’ sound travels. However terrain and climate aren’t accountable for every little thing. The amphitheater’s bowl form displays sound up and out, so the viewers within the fifty-fifth row can hear the performers as clearly because the viewers within the first.
One standout element, nonetheless, is the seating. In 2007, researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology decided that “the rows of limestone seats at Epidaurus kind an environment friendly acoustics filter.” Larger-frequency sounds (from the performers) bounce off the limestone benches, and the sound waves transfer upwards and towards the again row. Decrease-frequency sounds (reminiscent of viewers murmur or the occasional cough) don’t reverberate as successfully with the corrugated floor of the limestone benches.
The Historic Greeks constructed acres of amphitheaters, however later benches used completely different supplies, reminiscent of wooden. Whereas that is undoubtedly extra comfy, none of those amphitheaters have the acoustic readability of the Theatre at Epidarus.
The Temple of Kukulcán: The Earliest Tweet
So, you may think about how sound reverberates off flat, exhausting surfaces. We additionally mentioned how limestone steps elevate high-frequency sounds whereas dampening low-frequency sounds. What if structure might harness acoustics to make a selected sound?
The Temple of Kukulcán on the Mayan website of Chichén Itzá in Mexico is a step pyramid, constructed out of limestone, topped with a flat-roofed temple. This pyramid honors the feathered serpent deity Kulkulcán, associated to Quetzalcoatl, an Aztec deity who can also take the type of a feathered serpent. Why am I telling you about Mesoamerican myths and legends? Hold in there; I promise, that is worthwhile.
The Quetzal is a sacred fowl in Mesoamerican tradition, recognized for its good tail feathers and distinctive name; a high-pitched zippy sound. You may hear this birdcall by discovering a Quetzal within the wild. Or, stand on the foot of The Temple of Kukulcán. For those who clap your arms whereas standing close to the temple (as many individuals do), the resounding echo seems like the decision of a Queztal.
Don’t imagine me? Sound up, please:
You’re welcome.
Did the Maya purposefully construct the Temple of Kulkulcán with limestone steps that would filter sound right into a fowl’s name to honor a feathered serpent deity? Do the home windows and doorways of the temple have an effect on the perform? Once more, we don’t know for positive. However the Mayans did use calendars, arithmetic, and written language by 250 BC, a lot of which was destroyed. They might have recognized quite a bit about acoustics and structure that we don’t.
Heatherwick Studios: [How] Can You Hear Me Now?
At the moment, we are able to management touring sound waves with acoustic therapy, reminiscent of desktop workstations or curtains. We will additionally seize, amplify and direct it electronically. However, delicate particulars in constructing supplies nonetheless make a giant distinction in sound at present. Take, for instance, Heatherwick Studios in London.
When architect Thomas Heatherwick designed his studio, “shared areas have been rigorously thought-about and organized to attain the precise ranges of sound wrapping and containment, and evoke a way of connectivity.” The builders sand-blasted the concrete beams within the basis, revealing an irregular floor pockmarked with shingle from the River Thames.
“Instantly, the sound waves that hit which might be damaged and fragmented since you don’t get a singular reflection coming again at you,” Heatherwick mentioned. The diffusion of sound waves leads to a extra harmonious workspace. Acoustics and structure aren’t the one points of Heatherwick’s designs that work collectively to encourage folks, however they make a giant distinction.
What Does The Relationship Between Acoustics and Structure Imply for Podcasters?
You could be trying round your podcast recording area now and considering, “Oh, pricey.” I do know I’m: my studio has nine-foot ceilings. However, there are lots of ways in which people can reap the benefits of structure to enhance their podcast sound.
Listed below are some issues to think about:
The place Do You Document Your Podcast?
Ever discover what number of adverts for podcasting tools present inventory images with folks recording of their residing rooms? Open-plan layouts with excessive ceilings and exhausting flooring are fashionable amongst actual property builders, however these are lower than splendid for podcast recording.
Take into consideration the smaller areas in your house. Closets towards the middle of your dwelling are much less more likely to share a wall with the surface world. Does your own home have a closet that you could re-purpose right into a cloffice? For those who’re caught with a big room, construct a blanket fort. There are a great deal of methods to construct a silent home studio that sounds great.
What Are Your Environment Like?
I stay on a downhill slope, and the home simply downhill from us has a large, flat yard. The gentleman who lives there completely loves his gas-powered leaf blower. Nothing brings him extra pleasure than to blast that flat garden with air till he exsufflates every speck of particles from his area. A low wall divides his flat garden from my slope.
Now that I’ve discovered in regards to the stone steps of The Theatre of Epiudarus and the Temple of Kukulcán, I’m wondering if that stone floor drives the upper sound frequencies from his yard tools towards my home windows. In any case, this man’s lawn-care habits have taught me not to file on the northeast facet of my house.
What surrounds the constructing the place you file? Which elements of the constructing are removed from noise? Sometimes, bedrooms (or bed room closets) could also be farther from the road, and make quiet recording studios. Basements, too, could be good since they’re underground. But when your basement has noisy HVAC machines, possibly not. Solely you may determine how you can make acoustics and structure work collectively on your particular state of affairs.
The Heck With Structure, Document Exterior
For those who really feel as if this matches your podcast, record outdoors. The dearth of partitions and ceiling means nothing on your voice to bounce off of. You may also seize pure sound components that improve your podcast. Seize your cellphone and a tiny equipment just like the BOYA Mini or Rode Wireless Micro, and also you’re all set.
Why Do Acoustics in Structure Matter?
Historic and fashionable constructions can educate us a lot about how sound works. Granted, none of us are recording common episodes within the Theatre at Epidarus, however we are able to at all times keep looking out to make use of our environments to our benefit. Understanding audio is a serious a part of this.
Acoustics in structure is only one ingredient within the fascinating world of audio. In 26 Fascinating Facts About Sound, you’ll find out about how sound can break glass, levitate objects, and even put out fires. What a podcast episode that might be, eh?
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