This week I got the chance to conduct a series of experiments with musician Alice Trueman. We chose NOISE Recording, a music studio situated in the city of Wolverhampton, as our venue. This was simply because of the variety of rooms that the studio had to offer.
In each environment the participant was asked to perform two short pieces in succession. The two pieces performed were Chief O'neill's Favorite and Rakish Paddy (in that order).
Each room was measured for it's acoustic qualities (which we will refer to as T30) and musical intelligibility (referred to as C80).
For more information on Reverberation time measurement please click here. For all the results gathered from each environment please click here.
Room 1: Store Room
This room was dark, small and cramped. The materials that made up the environment were very un-aesthetically pleasing (consisting of stacked chairs, tables and tarpaulin). Acoustically the room was measured having an average T30 of 0.214s but the musical clarity of the room was quite positive (measuring at 25.62s). The video below shows Alice's views of the room and was taken after the performance.
Room 2: Garage
This room was also dark but very large and spacious in comparison to room 01. The materials that made up the environment were both aesthetically and un-aesthetically pleasing (consisting of parked cars, plumbing and garbage bins). Acoustically the room was measured having an average T30 of 1.261s. The clarity of the room was somewhat positive (measuring at 3.93). The video below shows Alice's views of the room and was again taken after the performance.
Room 3: Bathroom
This room was quite small and very bright in comparison to the other environments. The materials that made up the environment were very un-aesthetically pleasing (consisting of bathroom stalls, sinks, toilets and cleaning equipment). Acoustically the room was measured having an average T30 of 0.721s which when compared to the volume of the room is very reverberant (the room was only 26m³)! The clarity of the room was positive (measuring at 11.22). The video below shows Alice's views of the room and was again taken after the performance.
Room 4: Studio Control Room
This room was very small and somewhat dark due to there being no windows (and thus no natural light). The materials that made up the environment were quite aesthetically pleasing (consisting of audio equipment, acoustic treatment and soft furnishings). Acoustically the room was measured having an average T30 of 0.205 and the acoustic clarity of the room was very positive (measuring at 35.58). The video below shows Alice's views of the room and was again taken after the performance.
Room 5: Live Recording Room
This room was quite large and more spacious than the other environments (with exception to the garage) and because of the large windows provided the room with a lot of natural light (and some nice views of the city). The materials that made up the environment were quite aesthetically pleasing (consisting of guitars, drums, pianos, amplifiers and a range of audio equipment). Acoustically the room was measured having an average T30 of 0.274 and the acoustic clarity of the room was quite positive (measuring at 26.78). The video below shows Alice's views of the room and was again taken after the performance.
