Chapter 2 Vocab

Question 1

Ambient sound

Answer 1

Sound in a location at a given time, composed of all the sound within the environment

Question 2

Bright

Answer 2

Quality of the sonic environment in which there is an abundance of treble range reflections giving the feeling of “brightness” or “liveliness” to the sound. Sound in a tile bathroom or a kitchen os bright. Too much can seem harsh and irritating–think sonic glare

Question 3

Dead

Answer 3

The condition of sound in a room when there is a lack of reflection and a lack of reverberation. A space with too much sound absorption will be dead, and users will sometimes talk louder in an unconscious effort to normalize the sonic environment

Question 4

Live (liveliness)

Answer 4

Reverberation at middle and high frequencies (above 350 hertz). A “live” space may still be deficient in bass, If a room is sufficiently reverberant at low frequencies,, it is said to sound warm

Question 5

Reverberation

Answer 5

Accumulation of many reflections interacting with one another, so that the sound no longer seems composed of echoes but rather just noise having no identifiable location

Question 6

Structure-borne sound

Answer 6

Sound travels from its source to the receiving space through vibration of the solid materials along the way. This includes sounds generated by impacts to a structure (hammering, drilling, etc.) and sounds from moving parts inside mechanical equipment touching the structure (pumps, motors, fans, etc.)