Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Acoustical Consultants In New Orleans Help Reduce Interior Noise And Sound Distortion

By Jocelyn Davidson


Sound can be inspiring and uplifting, but the same vibrations can also be used as an effective form of torture. What may be an acceptable level to one individual might seem completely overwhelming to another, but nearly all listeners agree that high noise levels and other sound-related issues have no legitimate place inside a completed structure. Acoustical consultants in New Orleans combine science with experience to isolate problems and create solutions.

It takes more than good ears to become a consultant. Most have completed a graduate degree in engineering, acoustics, physics, or related disciplines, and know how to operate and analyze sound measurement and vibration detection tools. Discovering the strength and source of noise requires digital recording analysis, and knowledge of associated software. Senior managers commonly have more than a decade of experience.

Technicians are not limited to working with churches or schools to eliminate echoes in large spaces. They routinely provide services to every group associated with new construction, including architects and designers, contractors and builders, and even cities and municipalities. Although nearly all their work is related to acoustical issues, each project has a different set of problems to resolve.

That association helps building owners eliminate many problems before they become built-in liabilities. Working directly with building designers ensures that important rooms will be shaped properly, that sound deflecting or absorbing materials are employed when needed, and that floor and wall finishes enhance rather than degrade transmission. Pattern testing is often done on site, or simulated on a computer.

Indoor reverberation and reflection can be mapped to show where room modifications are needed. In many older, larger buildings, internal noises generated by machinery is a serious problem, and can prove stressful for workers. Consulting technicians analyze the direction and source of the reflections, and can provide both internal and external solutions based on accurate digital information rather than guesswork.

The shape or size of a building is not the only source of acoustical disturbance and distortion. Although most people learn to ignore it, the sound of traffic on a nearby freeway, or the roar of jets and other aircraft landing nearby can easily reach harmful levels. Even a noisy urban club can make life unbearable for neighbors, and a consultant routinely tests noise levels, makes an impact study, and creates recommendations for additional barriers or mitigation.

The noises inside a manufacturing facility may reach potentially harmful levels. Industrial sound controls include testing to accurately measure just how loud the sounds really feel to nearby workers, and whether solutions involving isolation or new enclosures will help. Consultants also are commonly called when an internal heating and air conditioning system produces hard-to-isolate background noises.

Although a great deal of this work involves improving the transmission quality of speech and music, technicians may be called on to provide forensic analysis of acoustic patterns central to a criminal cases, or to give expert testimony. They not only help solve existing problems and cases, but help prevent future issues by accurately predicting the degree and length of noisy disruption a project may generate.




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