The Control of Sound in Theaters and Preview Rooms

C. C. Potwin

Acoustical science can now be applied to better advantage than ever before in the planning of modern motion picture theaters. A broader understanding of the purposes and principles of acoustical design and treatment is needed, however, to make this application universal. The Society is in a position to do much toward fulfilling this need. — Greater attention should be given to the design and development of the basic theater structure. The shaping of surfaces for the control of sound reflections is effective and can be kept within a desirable architectural limit. Furthermore, such shaping can be made to function successfully if the basic design is developed to control reverberation. — The all too prevalent idea that “the more acoustical material used, the better the results” should be discouraged. Acoustical materials can be used more efficiently if they are distributed asymmetrically with due regard to the geometry of the reflecting surfaces. In general, they should not be concentrated in large compact areas on single surfaces. This principle of treatment and its effect upon the acoustical characteristics of theaters is discussed. — Instrumental measurements of the effect of surface parallelism upon the frequency reverberation characteristic of a rectangular room are shown. The results are of particular interest with respect to the acoustical treatment of preview rooms.

Print ISSN
Published
1940-08
Content type
Original Research
DOI
10.5594/J10055