It is preferable to diffuse slap echoes with diffuser panels. Slap echoes may also be absorbed with carpets, fiberglass panels or drapes. When treating sidewall slap echoes near the sides of the loudspeakers and/or listeners, it is desirable to treat both walls evenly, left and right, to provide a balanced sound field. When treating reflections and echoes, best results are obtained from a proper mix of direct and diffused sound. That is, a balance of diffusive and absorptive materials strategically placed in throughout the room. The key in trying and applying all types of room treatments is to utilize test equipment which is designed to measure the time, energy and frequency relationshipwith the room. Or you can just listen as you go, use the proper treatment for the identified condition, and experiment, experiment, experiment!
Standing waves are high and low pressure energy buildups, which are determined by frequency and room dimension. They are so named because they do not travel or propagate. Instead, they become anchored at various spots in a room determined by boundary conditions. Although standing waves occur at all audible frequencies in a contained space, our focus will be on the widely spaced, low frequency waves. These low frequency standing waves cause severe peaks and dips in the system's in-room bass response, creating the dreaded "one-note bass" while obscuring truly deep bass. All rooms except those very large rooms or halls (whose wavelengths are so low in frequency that they can be ignored) have low frequency standing waves of consequence.
You can graphically show which standing wave frequencies will affect a given room by plotting some simple calculations on graph paper. First, calculate the frequency of the lowest fundamental peak (f) for each room dimension (length, width and height, represented by "d"), by dividing 1130 ("v", or the speed of sound) by twice the dimension in feet, using the formula f = v/2d. The dimension ("d") is doubled to account for the sound wave's round trip. Plot your results on separate lines for the room's length, width and height, one above the other, on your graph paper. Scale the horizontal axis from 20Hz to 150Hz in 10Hz increments. Now plot the additional peaks caused by the even multiples of the fundamental frequency up to 150Hz. For example, if your fundamental standing wave frequency is 50Hz, you will also have buildups at 100Hz and 150Hz. Beyond 150Hz, the spacing of standing waves becomes close enough to ignore. On your graph, any points close to each other will indicate an excessive buildup of energy at that frequency. Ideally, standing waves should be evenly spaced, which will provide a flatter in-room response from most locations. A spreadsheet file on a computer could easily be reated to make these calculations and plot your graphs automatically.
Experiencing Worship, The Study
Used by churches all over the world to help teach worship, the Experiencing Worship study can help your worship team too.
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Experiencing Worship, The Study