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Propeller Head Plaza Technical and scientific discussion of amps, cables and other topics. |
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Propeller Head Plaza Technical and scientific discussion of amps, cables and other topics. |
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In Reply to: Re: Relative to your theories... posted by vettracer on November 2, 2006 at 19:44:31:
That's correct. Most of the energy comes from sound reflected off the walls, ceiling, and floors of the concert hall. The same sound produced at the same distance in an anechoic chamber would produce a sound for the listener only one tenth as loud, therefore nine tenths of the sound reaching the listener comes from the echoes which in aggregate we call reverberation. The concert hall is in effect a gigantic acoustic amplifier bombarding the listener with each sound produced again and again hundreds or even thousands of time. They can be stretched out for two seconds or more but because they come in rapid succession, they are assoicated by our brains with the original sound. They are qualitatively different because unlike the sound directly from the musicians, each echo is softer and comes from a different direction. It's spectral content constantly changes as well generally attenuating high frequencies about a third to half as quickly as middle and low frequencies. This changes the perception of the musical timbre of the instruments making them sound more mellow but because the initial sound arrives first with all of its high frequency components present, it sounds clear and has a sharp attack. By being made louder but appearing to come from a considerably further distance than would be heard in a recording played through a loudspeaker at home, the instrument appears subjectively to be much more powerful even though it is not necessarily louder. This can be best appreciated by hearing a pipe organ playing at low volume in a church or cathedral. Even though it is not loud, it is clearly a very powerful source of sound, especially at low frequencies. By contrast, a recording of a pipe organ played through a sound system at home even at very loud levels appears relatively close and feeble. It's sound is characterized by blaring rather than its sense of power. Another example is a boat's horn blasted in a harbor. It can be heard for miles around reverberating between buildings, even hillsides. It also sounds powerful even if it is far away and not so loud.
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- Re: Relative to your theories... - Soundmind 03:24:04 11/03/06 (0)
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