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According to the German noise law, in future it will be possible to set up kindergartens and playgrounds in residential areas without special permission.
Photograph: Alamy
Continue reading "It's ok for kids to enjoy themselves fully - outdoors, at least!" »
U.S. researchers discovered a sound recording from 1860. It is probably the world's oldest audible recording of a human voice. Read more and listen to how it sounds!
Continue reading "Listen to the world's first audio recording!" »
The Freesound Project allows you to find your favourite sound samples! It could be ordinary school sounds, natural sounds or the sound of crushing a soda can! Or why not a ship bell as to get in the mood for ship cruising?
Continue reading "Exchange and download free of charge sounds" »
Photo: nme.com Photo:Andrew Butler
Jarvis Cocker of Pulp has collaborated with the National Trust to create:- National Trust: The Album. (time to think)
Comprising of British natural sounds including birdsong, crashing waves and wind breezing through a country garden.
Continue reading "Rock star collaborates to showcase the theraputic sounds of special places" »
www.ljudplanering.se (sound planning) is a gathering place for many aspects of sound design and sound in the city - a live forum (in Swedish - at least so far) that is continuously updated with new experiences and knowledge. Here you can listen to city sounds, and compare the various solutions in the design affects the sound.
Continue reading "Sound Planning - web portal to be explored" »
Sound policies in public environments usually have the approach of protecting us from, for instance noise. Lately adding sound for various reasons has been applied. How are we actually affected or influenced by sound? Perhaps we should employ acoustic city planners? At least this is what Björn Hellström suggests!
Have you ever listened to the singing ringing tree in the UK?
On sound tourism - a travel guide to sonic wonders, you will be able to find all kinds of sound experiences from all over the world.
Usually travel guides infrom us on all the must-sees. This website however provides you with hints on must-hears as sound can be at least as enjoyable as views or sights.
Sonic Wonders
Sonic Wonders is authored by Trevor Cox, Professor of Acoustic Engineering at the University of Salford
If you want to know more about auditory neuroscience - or simply how is sound processed by our brains, here is a informative website with many good links:
Every other in Sweden is disturbed by Noise! According to a recent report, noise is a major problem at work. Almost every employee is affected, says the president of Hörselskadades (Hearing impaired) Association (HRF), who commissioned the report. "The problem with the sound environment is everywhere - even in school and at cafes for example.
Luckily an increasing amount of organisations have found ways to overcome this challenging sitiuation...
Continue reading "Huge media attention in Sweden for report on sound environment" »
A recent recording in an mosque gives an example of the unique and remarkable acoustic characteristics which can be experienced, click here to view on youtube.
Musicians, trained to hear sounds embedded in a rich network of melodies and harmonies, are primed to understand speech in a noisy background.
Children spend at least 45% of the school day in schools listening! The average hearing loss with middle ear infection is 30 dB. 90% of very young children´s knowledge is connected to hearing conversations around them! These are some relevant facts, but also advice, which you can find at the website of Illinois State University if you go straight to this pdf!
Karin Bijsterveld at Maastricht University in the Netherlands published a book on technology, culture, and public problems of noise in the Twentieth Century.
The most common cause of hearing loss is damage to the hair cells in the inner ear. Once hair cells die, humans (like other mammals) aren’t able to grow new ones. Zebrafish, unlike humans, are able to regenerate their damaged hair cells. US researchers hope knowledge about this can help humans in the future.
A way to communicate noise situations in a pedagogic way is to show a “noise film” for various situations.
Continue reading "“Noise movie” – a way to visualise noise in the community" »
Since the number of editors of Accoustic Bulletin has grown over the years, it might be a good time to introduce them to the readers. Please click here to find your (local) contacts
Source image: Dynamic Architecture
Yesterday, one of my colleagues, forwarded a news item on BBC news. Although it has not much to do with acoustics, it is worth mentioning.
Italian architect David Fisher designed the world's first moving building, an 80-storey tower with revolving floors giving a shifting shape. The 420-metre (1,378-foot) building's apartments would spin a full 360 degrees, at voice command, around a central column by means of 79 giant power-generating wind turbines located between each floor.
Click here to see the animation about the first building that rotates, moves, and changes shape
Continue reading "Can the sound of a voice move a skyscraper?" »
Earlier this year the founder of the “elevator music”, Muzak, went bankrupt! But the business of background music, making you shop more, is still successful.
Continue reading "Shopping music – influencing you either you like it or not!" »
The Building Acoustics Group of the UK's Institute of Acoustics has organised a meeting in Manchester on 16th June 2009. Entitled "Acoustics in Healthcare Environments", it will be held at the Victioria & Albert Hotel, and will discuss Key Issues relating to exactly how environmental acoustics affect healthcare outcomes.
Continue reading "I.O.A. TO HOLD "ACOUSTICS IN HEALTHCARE ENVIRONMENTS" MEETING, in JUNE 2009" »
Noise Action Week in the UK aims to raise awareness about the health effects such as stress, excessive noise can cause for us all.
During Noise Action Week hundreds of organisations involved in managing noise across the UK, including local authority noise, housing, health teams, antisocial behaviour teams, housing organisations, mediation services, schools and others, coordinate events at local level to educate and inform people about noise, the impact it has and how to reduce it.
http://www.environmental-protection.org.uk/noiseactionweek/
The Institute of Acoustics is a sponsor for the week
http://www.ioa.org.uk/
When looking for a thorough overview of the research on how noise affects people I always still refer to the document “Community Noise” prepared for the World health Organisation (WHO). It used to be a book, but has for many years existed on the web as well. Here you can find the documentation edited by Birgitta Berglund , Thomas Lindvall and Dietrich H Schwela.
Costas Karageorghis is a jazz musician, a former athlete and researcher. He has been involved in music and sports since some 20 years. Costas performed several studies revealing that music can enhance your performance when training. What matters is the beat of the song! The relationship between heart rate and music preference is key to maximising the psychological benefits of music.
Continue reading "Let the beat of the music maximise your training" »
Changed flight paths affected health! Noise of the laundry machines disturbed the whole block! Offices workers in an open-plan solution with constant sound exposure from machinery, phones and office chatter had higher levels of adrenaline than workers in a more quiet environment! Noise influence health and wellbeing, and this is being more and more highlighted in life style media and news. Read more here!
Most of the reviews of cafés and restaurants focus on the food and services and sometimes on the atmosphere. Unfortunately they seldom mention the sound/noise levels and acoustic experience. The New Zealand Acoustical Society has created a rating sheet and the results are available on-line. Read more here
Birmingham Women's Hospital NHS Trust took part in a regional campaign to raise awareness of noise levels in Neonatal Units and the need to reduce them. Lead by Advanced Neonatal Nurse Practitioner Cheryl Lewis, the campaign highlighted the impact noise can have on babies, and included staff training, posters and badges, and the use of a Decibel Monitor in the Unit.
Neonatal Units can be very noisy places, with the amount of medical equipment, alarms, telephones and people's voices, and this can impact upon the babies' development.
Continue reading "Campaign to reduce noise in Neonatal Units" »
ANSWER: At least, adding absorption to a room will help to prevent tinnitus.
Scientists from the California Ear Institute in San Ramon, California have discovered a potential cure for some instances of tinnitus in the nerve agent Botox. One in four tinnitus patients in a study experienced improvement in their symptoms following treatment with Botox, 16 reported no change and three said their tinnitus had become worse.
Of course preventing Tinnitus should be priority number one. Applying stricter acoustic demands will benefit the ones suffering from Tinnitus and will support to prevent tinnitus. Effiicient absorbing ceiling panels and wall panels will support the decrease of sound pressure levels.
Voice is a basic tool for teachers. Chronic voice disorders, very common among teaching staff, cause long term sick leaves or leaving the job for good (for other profession or for disability pension). In Poland, chronic voice disorders as a group of diseases are formally recognized as occupational disease. In 2007, officially confirmed voice disorders cases were the biggest group (24,4%) of all occupational diseases in Poland
Continue reading "VOICE DISORDERS AMONG TEACHERS AS AN OCCUPATIONAL DISEASE" »
The Audio Spotlight is a revolutionary new audio technology developed by dr. Joseph Pompei, that creates sound in a narrow beam, just like light. Aim the flat, thin speaker disc to your desired listening area, and provide all of the sound — with none of the noise. Image the possibilities!
Four architecture students from KTH in Stockholm received the first price at the the Future Workplace contest. Their proposal called “Absorbing Transparency” convinced the jury.
High demands on acoustics
They choose to create a room structure with high acoustic features to secure that transparency does not lead to an increase of soundlevels. The focus is on creating a mentally relaxing environment, both visually as well as acoustically. The design should provide the activities that are sensitive to or generate noise to be limited by the room interior.
Continue reading "ABSORBING TRANSPARENCY - A WINNING THEME" »
Rock music really is getting louder and record companies are using digital technology to turn the volume on CDs up! Sound levels are being artificially enhanced so that the music punches through when it competes against background noise in pubs or cars. Read more here!
Scientists from the University of Sheffield in United Kingdom suggest there is a link between an area's daytime noise levels and the number of birds singing at night. Read more here!
The company Digital Recordings offers a variety of hearing test products. Test it yourself, the only you need is a computer and a pair of headphones or earphones. Free software is avalable at http://www.digital-recordings.com/hearing-test/ht-products.html
ECOTECT v5. is now launched.
Illustration: Square 1/ECOTECT
The software is developed by Square 1. It has been existing for some years but will be from this version more actively commercialised.
Continue reading "ECOTECT - Acoustic analysis and visualisation software" »
Attended the IOA conference “Futures in Acoustics: Today’s research – Tomorrow’s careers” a couple of weeks ago. Prof. Mike Barron (University of Bath) lectured on ‘The development of concert hall design – a 111 year experience’.
Promenade 'around the cochlea is a collective resource hosted by the University of Montpellier in France. Impressive pictures and lots of illustrations.
Must be seen!
Continue reading "Ear and hearing explained and illustrated" »
The acoustic treatment of the Henriksberg pub and restaurant won a prize for best practice at European Noise at Work Summit, 12 December 2005. Watch the video of the presentation.
View the Ecophon solution for the project (NB: different conditions might require adjustments of the solution. We recommend to involve an acoustics consultant)
Space is not only visual. For acoustician B. Delage, space can be seen as an interaction of both an acoustical and a visual dimension. In this article, he develops his approach around an architectural icon, the Kidosaki House, by Tadao Ando: a good example of how sounds in architecture can touch and provoke us.
Read the article
Author: B. Delage, www.viasonora.com
Publication: Earshot, # 3, UK, 2002
Intrusive sounds, noise, make us tired and irritable. It has a negative effect on our performance, especially when working on tasks that depend on short-term memory. Noise in the office has a negative impact in three ways ... read more
If you want to not only read about reverberation time, but also listen.
The dictionary has been collected by the Swiss Acoustical Society and now resides on the web page of the European Acoustics Association. The entries can be sorted by mouse click on the language in the table header.
http://www.european-acoustics.org/AD/
Ingemansson Technology AB acquires all shares in Brekke&Strand Akustikk AS to form the largest group of expertise in Acoustics and Vibration in Europe.
The Swedish based company Ingemansson Technology AB has 100 employees and close to 50 years of experience as expert engineering consultants in acoustics with a wide range of customers in Scandinavia, Europe and across the world. Brekke&Strand AS is the leading Norwegian acoustics consultancy with 20 experienced acoustic engineers. Ingemansson has also launched a joint venture operation in France, whereby it will be better prepared to offer its services and competence to a wider range of customers.
For more information: http://www.bs-akustikk.no/ or http://www.ingemansson.com/
Sonoises is an experimental web site, proposing new layouts between image and sound. Explore this unusual soundscape by "walking around" the four interactive sessions!
