Acoustics of auditoriums

by Floyd Rowe Watson

Exner, S. “Uber die Akustik von Hörsälen und ein Instrument, sie zu bestimmen.” Zeitschrift des Osterreichischen Ingenieur und Architekten-Vereines, Vol. LVII, p. 141, March, 1905. Indicates his opinion of good acoustical properties in a hall. Gives experimental determination of reverberation.

Fournier, Lucien. “The Suppression of Echoes.” La Nature (Paris), April 24, 1909. English translation given in “The Literary Digest,” New York, May 29, 1909, p. 924. An account of the experiments of Gustav Lyon in investigating the echoes in Trocadero Hall in Paris.

Franklin, W. S. “Derivation of Equation of Decaying Sound in a Room and Definition of Open Window Equivalent of Absorbing Power.” Physical Review, Vol. 16, pp. 372–374, 1903. A theoretical development of the formula found experimentally by Sabine.

Haege. “Bemerkungen über Akustik.” Zeitschrift für Baumesen, Vol. IX, pp. 582–594, 1859.

Henry, Joseph. “Acoustics Applied to Public Buildings,” Smithsonian Report, 1856, p. 221.

Hoyt, J. T. N. “The Acoustics of the Hill Memorial Hall,” American Architect, Vol. CIV, pp. 50–53, August 6, 1913. Discusses the design of the hall and indicates how it fulfills his ideas of good acoustics.

Hutton, W. R. “Architectural Acoustics; Hall of Representatives, U. S. Capitol, 1853.” Engineering Record, Vol. 42, p. 377, 1900. A discussion of the cure of the faulty acoustics in the U. S. Hall of Representatives.

Jacques, W. W. “Effect of the Motion of the Air Within an Auditorium Upon Its Acoustical Qualities.” Philosophical Magazine (5), Vol. 7, p. III, 1879. A record of experiments in the Baltimore Academy of Music showing that the ventilating current had a marked action on the acoustics.

Jager, S. “Zur Theorie des Nachhals,” Sitzungsberichten der Kaiserl. Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien. Matem.-naturw. Klasse; Bd. CXX, Abt. Ha, Mai, 1911. An important paper giving a theoretical development of Sabine’s formula showing the factors that enter into the constants. Considers also the case of the reflection of sound from a thin wall and also the case when it encounters a porous material such as a curtain.

Lamb, Horace. “The Dynamical Theory of Sound.” Published by Edward Arnold, London, 1910. A more elementary treatment than Rayleigh’s “Theory of Sound.”