Acoustics and Monitoring - Posted on 2017-03-13 by Corrine Selden

Here are a few highlights from what I learned about acoustics and monitoring in Chapter 18:

• Pythagoras observed that when the lengths of vibrating strings are ratios of integers such as 2 to 3 or 3 to 4, the tones produced will be harmonious. 
• Aristotle wrote in his de Anima that impacts, blows or impingements are requried to produce sound. 
• Isaac Newton made a significant contribution to the theory of acoustics in his Pincipia by deciphering the relationship between the speed of sound and the gas it is in. 
• The amplitude of a periodic wave is a measure of its change over a single period that indicates deviation from the point of equilibrium. 
• Low frequency buildup describes a particular type of constructive interference in the low frequency spectrum. 
• The mix position is the point space where an audio engineer (or other listener) is most likely to be sitting for monitoring and mixing. 
• Standing Waves are waves that remain in a constant position. 
• Absorbers are any materials or structures that are natuarly, or designed to be, acoustically unreflective. 
• Diffraction describes the bending of waves around small obstacles and teh propagation and spreding through openings and around corners. 
• Diffusion describes the tendency for sounds to spread out evenly in a consistent medium.
• Frequency is measured in Hertz abbreviated Hz: 1 Hz=1 cycle per second. 
• Interferance can be constructive or deconstructive depending on the phase relationship of the offending waves. 
• Room modes are the resonant frequencies of an enclosed structure.
• Longer wavelengths will require larger absorption materials/constructs.
• A diffuser will cause sound energy to be radiated in many directions.