Acoustics principles guide this undergraduate course, focusing on how sound behaves in studios, performance spaces, and outdoor environments. You’ll learn to analyze noise, reflections, reverberation, and isolation, applying measurement and prediction techniques to improve recording, mixing, and live sound environments through practical problem-solving.
Key Learning Outcomes
- Predict and quantify how sound behaves in rooms, including reflections and reverberation, to improve clarity, intelligibility, and musical impact
- Apply sound isolation principles to predict, measure, and improve isolation between rooms
- Analyze and solve acoustic challenges in recording, mixing, and small-room environments using practical, real-world methods
- Measure and evaluate acoustic performance using professional tools and modern measurement techniques
Course Description
Become a better recording and live sound engineer, and improve your editing and mixing environment by learning the ins and outs of acoustics. Proper acoustics plays a major role in the success of any musical performance, whether it's in a recording studio, concert hall, or outdoors. This course is designed to introduce the fundamentals of acoustics, with a focus on spaces designed for recording music and live performance. Through both theoretical study and practical experimentation, you will learn the basics that contribute to good acoustics, including control of noise, manipulation of sound propagation, and isolation of sound. You will learn how to measure and quantify these key components in existing spaces, and how to predict acoustical behavior in new spaces.
The course begins with the basics of sound, sound sources, and human perception. It then explores the relationship between the source of sound and the listener in three different scenarios: source and listener outdoors, source and listener in a room, and source and listener in separate rooms. These scenarios provide comprehensive coverage of the principles relevant to music performance, recording, and mixing.
Each week, you will be assigned acoustical problems to solve. Note that the course explores a number of mathematical concepts. These concepts will be reviewed before you are required to use them for the first time. The goal of the course is to enable you to predict and analyze the acoustical qualities of both indoor and outdoor environments, so that you can make informed decisions about the use or design of spaces in which to play, record, and mix.
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
- Relate your experience of sound to the physical attributes of the source and the propagation path between the source and your ears
- Predict and quantify the effects of outdoor environments on sound propagation, including sound barrier walls and other obstacles
- Analyze the challenges of small room acoustics and their effects on recording and mixing environments
- Calculate change in sound pressure level relative to distance
- Evaluate sound absorption
- Apply the basic principles and requirements of vibration isolation and HVAC noise control
Syllabus
Lesson 1: The Properties of Sound
- What Is Sound?
- Waves
- Graphing Waves
Lesson 2: Modes and Harmonics
- Vibration and Modes
- Representing Waveforms with Equations
- Harmonics and Complex Waveforms
- Modes and Harmonics
Lesson 3: Decibels and Octaves
- Review of Logarithms
- Octaves and Octave Bands
- Decibels
- Sound Pressure Level
Lesson 4: Sound Level Measurement
- Adding Decibels
- Equal Loudness Contours
- Frequency Weighting
- Sound Level Meters
Lesson 5: Sound Outdoors
- Inverse Square Law
- Source Models
- When Sound Hits Things
- Sound Barriers
Lesson 6: Room Acoustics
- Sound Absorption
- Propagation Indoors
- Impulse Response
- Reverberation Time
Lesson 7: Room Acoustics (Continued)
- Room Constant
- Critical Distance
- Converting Power to Pressure
Lesson 8: Sound Indoors—Virtual Field Trip
- Theater Overview
- Measurement Equipment
- Measurements
- Data Analysis
- Sound Reinforcement System
Lesson 9: Sound Isolation
- Absorption vs. Isolation
- Transmission Coefficient & Transmission Loss
- Laboratory vs. Field Measurement
- Mass Law and Coincidence Dip
Lesson 10: Sound Isolation Continued
- Single-Number Descriptors
- Composite TL
- Decoupling & Damping
- Practical Sound Isolation
Lesson 11: Small Room Acoustics
- Standing Waves & Modes
- Effect of Isolation on Standing Waves
- Room Acoustics for Listening Environments
Lesson 12: Vibration and HVAC Noise
- Vibration Isolation
- HVAC Noise Sources
- HVAC Noise Calculations
- HVAC Noise Control
Requirements
Prerequisites and Course-Specific Requirements
Prerequisite Courses, Knowledge, and/or Skills
Completion of Applied Mathematics for Musicians, or equivalent knowledge and/or experience
Hardware
- Over-ear studio headphones, such as Audio-Technica ATH-M20x, Philips SHP9500, or better
- Basic SPL meter (smartphone app is acceptable)
Other
- Calculator (hardware or software) with log function. This may be a standalone calculator or an app on a smartphone or computer.
Student Deals
After enrolling, be sure to check out our Student Deals page for various offers on software, hardware, and more. Please contact support@online.berklee.edu with any questions.
General Course Requirements
Below are the minimum requirements to access the course environment and participate in Live Classes. Please make sure to also check the Prerequisites and Course-Specific Requirements section above, and ensure your computer meets or exceeds the minimum system requirements for all software needed for your course.
Mac Users
- macOS Monterey 12.0 or later
PC Users
All Users
- Latest version of Google Chrome
- Zoom meeting software
- Webcam
- Speakers or headphones
- External or internal microphone
- Broadband Internet connection
Instructors
Author & Instructor
Eric Reuter has more than a decade of experience as a consultant and educator in acoustics. He operates an acoustical consulting firm in Portsmouth, NH, and has taught a variety of courses in acoustics and audio electronics at Berklee College of Music since 2000. His consulting spans a broad range of acoustical project work, including architectural acoustics and noise control, environmental noise, and vibration.
Reuter is a Board Certified Member of the Institute of Noise Control Engineering, serves on the Board of Directors of the National Council of Acoustical Consultants, and is an active member of the Acoustical Society of America. He spends his time off racing his sailboat, chasing trains, and tinkering with antique Volvos. Read Less
What's Next?
When taken for credit, Acoustics can be applied towards the completion of these related programs:
Related Certificate Programs
Related Degree Majors
Related Music Career Roles
Employers look for skills learned in this course, when hiring for the following music career roles:
Questions?
Contact our Academic Advisors by phone at 1-866-BERKLEE (U.S.), 1-617-747-2146 (INT'L), or by email at advisors@online.berklee.edu.
