They are located in most high school band rooms. They are in any recently modeled auditoriums. Many college and high schools even have them installed in lecture halls. And while acoustical accent clouds may have at one time only been used in the finest of professional performance halls, these specialized sound tiles are now installed and specifically positioned in a large number of spaces where the quality of the sound is especially important.
And while some schools are working to upgrade to acoustical accent clouds on the the ceilings of their performance areas, offices and other business spaces are working to install sound isolation wall panels to both contain and direct the sound from boardroom presentations and conference calls.
Acoustical Engineers Are Known for Their Close Attention to Every Detail of Every Kind of Sound
It may not seem like a common career, but the job of an acoustical engineer is one that affects many aspects of our lives. And while some acoustical engineers come to their careers through the field of engineering, others enter engineering after a career in music or theater. In fact, a musician who has an especially good ear for music may be an especially talented acoustical engineer because of this skill.
Sound insulation panels and other kinds of marlite interior walls are not nearly as effective if they are not properly installed and positioned, and this is often impossible to do without the careful attention of sound and acoustic engineers. And while some of these very specifically tasked engineers spend their careers working on creating perfect sound levels in performance halls, others spend their careers focusing on eliminating the sound from other types of spaces like board rooms, hospital surgery rooms, and court rooms. Perhaps the toughest job combination is in a setting like wall to wall movie theaters where the sound engineers are responsible for the perfect positioning of acoustical accent clouds and the proper placement of sound barrier wall systems in the space between theaters.
The job of an acoustical engineer can make sure that the extra rattles, squeals, hums, and clicks in an airplane are eliminated. It can also make sure that the sound in a performance hall that charges hundreds of dollars for tickets is as authentic as possible. At one end of the spectrum the goal is to eliminate unnecessary sound, while at the other end of the spectrum the sound needs to be not only heard, but to be perfect as well. In both situations, the results are very important.
Acoustic Ceiling Products Help Both Professionals and Amateurs Produce a Clean Sound
Did you know that in the year 2014, there were as many as 173,300 people working as musicians? Of these musicians, including singers, nearly 40% of were self employed. Whether they were self employed, under contract with a major recording studio, working in a home studio or in a professional recording booth, they were all concerned about the same thing: sound quality.
And while some people are born nearly tone deaf, the gifted musicians among us can judge a recording within in minutes. The quality of the sound, the elimination of unnecessary background noise, and the balance of the instruments in any recording, however, is often influenced by more than the quality of the voice and the musical composition. In many recordings, in fact, acoustical accent clouds and other sound materials can ultimately determine the quality of a recording.
The process of soundproofing a room, whether it is a recording studio, performance space, or another setting, includes four basic tasks:
- adding mass
- damping
- decoupling
- filling air gaps
Understanding the use of these four tasks, is in fact, the secret to the sound, or should we say quiet, in many places in our world. And while some places need to be soundproof for the success of security, other spaces are made soundproof so that the man made sounds from voices and instruments can be combined into professional recordings.
We all kind of giggle whenever we find ourselves asking someone on the phone or across the room for where we are talking on a microphone, “Can you her me now?” The goal of acoustic engineers, however, is that the question never has to be asked once they have done their testing and research and made their recommendations.