|
MEMTECH |
illbruck-sonex noise
control |
architectural l
broadcast / audio |
||||
|
|
|
|||||
From Din to Divine: Acoustic Panels Clarify Music and Message
"Before we installed the acoustic panels, there were sections of the Worship Center where we couldn't understand the pastor at all," said Carol Coates, staff assistant. "One word ran into the next. And the pipes of our brand new organ look beautiful in the high ceiling, but the music sounded loud and indistinguishable." Without drapes or carpets to soften the acoustics even a little, speech and music bounced around the room, sounding incomprehensible to the parishioners. Poor sound quality is a common problem in churches and other large interior spaces such as gymnasiums, cafeterias and auditoriums. Hard surface materials-- brick, sheetrock, stone, tile, or even wood--are too reflective, acoustically. Sound waves bounce back and forth between parallel surfaces, creating a confusion of noise until they finally decay. West Congregational's initial solution--installing speakers on the walls and a lapel microphone on the pastor--improved volume but not sound quality. "Fixing an acoustics problem electronically usually doesn't work when the room has poor acoustics to begin with," said acoustics consultant Joe Fattore of VibraSciences Inc., Branford, CT. "If there's too much noise echoing around the room, trying to overpower the reverberations with speakers and amplifiers just makes the problem worse. A PA system won't sound good until you fix the room acoustics." More than simply installing sound-absorbing panels, acoustics control requires some basic but crucial calculations. Fattore's first step was to determine how long it took for sound to decay in the room. Called reverberation time, it is measured by popping a balloon and recording the sound's volume and duration with a hand-held decibel meter. The result of the test was 4.5 seconds. "No wonder the congregation had trouble hearing speech and music if it took that long for one sound to fade out," said Fattore. "Our goal was to bring the reverberation time down to 2.2 seconds, which standard architectural guidelines recommend for a room of that size."
According to Fattore, the best solution for the church was to install acoustical panels, which are designed to absorb airborne sound energy. He recommended illbruck's SONEXvalueline panels to reduce the room's overall noise, reverberation and standing waves. Made from illbruck's proprietary open-celled foam, willtec®, the uniquely sculpted white panels blend easily with the contemporary architecture, while the fiber-free foam is Class 1 fire-rated for low flammability and flame spread. Each panel measures two feet by four feet by 1 1/2 inches thick (they are also available in thicknesses up to 2 1/2 inches). Installation was a simple job for a group of motivated parishioners on a Saturday morning. The lightweight panels are easily cut with an electric carving knife. A standard construction adhesive is used to mount them to any smooth surface. "Acoustics materials such as SONEXvalueline panels work best when they're installed on three non-parallel surfaces," said Fattore. "At West Congregational, we installed the panels across the front of the balcony overlooking the altar and a smaller portion on the two side walls. As a result, sound energy is absorbed without bouncing back again." The installation worked well with the church's design, blending in easily with materials and décor. The acoustical improvement caught the attention not only of the congregation, but a local choral group, Sacred Choral Artists, as well. "They rehearse and perform in the Worship Center, but the acoustics are so good now that they decided to record their first CD there," said Coates. "They never would have considered it before the panels were installed." The success of the project even spilled out into the hall. After-church coffee hours are held in the foyer, which is bright and open--but the tile floor and sheetrock walls amplify the din of talkative parishioners after services. "We couldn't hear each other talk above all the noise we made," said Coates. Again, SONEXvalueline panels, installed on the ceiling this time, reduced the din to levels where parishioners could carry on normal conversations. Fattore installed the panels on the ceiling in a symmetrical checkboard pattern, because covering the entire ceiling with acoustic panels would have deadened the room too much. Attending services at West Church is no longer an endurance test for the ears. Thanks to the conversion, words and music hit a satisfying note--and the conversation and coffee afterwards boosts the spirits, too. illbruck manufactures a broad range of attractive acoustical ceiling tiles, wall panels, baffles, and other noise control products for commercial and industrial applications, including: SQUARELINE® Metal Ceiling Tiles, HARMONI™ and WHITELINE™ Ceiling Tiles, CONTOUR® Wall and Ceiling Tiles, FABRITEC™ Wall Panels, SONEX® Wall Panels and Baffles, and PROSPEC® Barriers and Composites. back to Facilities and Applications
For more information contact: |
||||||
|
Memtech
Incorporated, |
||||||
