I've been asked to do a sound test in a museum room to determine what levels of what kind of sound will bother adjacent rooms. The room will be used for parties and social events including events with music. Think harp and recorder not rock band.
Can anybody suggest a test or sampler CD that would be appropriate? It, I believe, has to have the sound of people talking as in a cocktail party and also people talking with background music.
> I've been asked to do a sound test in a museum room to determine what > levels of what kind of sound will bother adjacent rooms. The room > will be used for parties and social events including events with > music. Think harp and recorder not rock band.
> Can anybody suggest a test or sampler CD that would be appropriate? > It, I believe, has to have the sound of people talking as in a > cocktail party and also people talking with background music.
ScottG wrote: > I've been asked to do a sound test in a museum room to determine what > levels of what kind of sound will bother adjacent rooms. The room > will be used for parties and social events including events with > music. Think harp and recorder not rock band.
Is the concern that the music for the party will bother normal museum visitors in an adjacent room? Or that the sound of normal museum visitors in adjacent rooms will bother those trying to hear the music at the party? And is it a listening party? Or is the harp-and-recorder background music? With amplification or without?
I would think that if it's an issue of the party interfering with the museum visitors, the talking would be more of a problem than the music.
"Bother" is very subjective. There's a reasonably useful test signal to evaluate speech intelligibility, but that's mostly used to evaluate conference rooms to determine if someone listening outside the room can understand what's being discussed inside. But I don't think that's what you're after here.
If I was visiting, say, an art gallery, and I heard baroque music coming from another room, I probably wouldn't be bothered at all. But if I heard a bunch of people milling around, trying to talk over the music while having cocktails, I'd probably move to a different area of the gallery.
In article <337bd245-63ec-4036-9459-6fc10b71c...@s31g2000yqs.googlegroups.com>,
ScottG <sguth...@gmail.com> wrote: >I've been asked to do a sound test in a museum room to determine what >levels of what kind of sound will bother adjacent rooms. The room >will be used for parties and social events including events with >music. Think harp and recorder not rock band.
>Can anybody suggest a test or sampler CD that would be appropriate? >It, I believe, has to have the sound of people talking as in a >cocktail party and also people talking with background music.
I'd try and get as natural as possible a recording of people speaking. Record some cocktail party noise, or get some from a film effects library. Play it back and measure levels. This also allows you to take the customer into the room and let them actually hear what it should sound like. --scott
-- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
> I've been asked to do a sound test in a museum room to determine what > levels of what kind of sound will bother adjacent rooms. The room > will be used for parties and social events including events with > music. Think harp and recorder not rock band.
> Can anybody suggest a test or sampler CD that would be appropriate? > It, I believe, has to have the sound of people talking as in a > cocktail party and also people talking with background music.
It should not be difficult to assemble a 3-5 minute loop of SFX from some of the online vendors such as www.sounddogs.com, et.al.
ScottG wrote: > I've been asked to do a sound test in a museum room to determine what > levels of what kind of sound will bother adjacent rooms. The room > will be used for parties and social events including events with > music. Think harp and recorder not rock band.
No substitute for the real thing. Get a string quartet and record in the room as well as in adjacent areas by whatever definition(s) of areas that applies using same mics and same mic gain, you can then evaluate as well as quantify.
> Can anybody suggest a test or sampler CD that would be appropriate?
Loudspeakers will not couple to the building the same way.
> It, I believe, has to have the sound of people talking as in a > cocktail party and also people talking with background music.
I occasionally record at a museum, the real world issue - assuming the music fits the context - is the noise from the guest that are not at the concert as heard in the concert space.
Chamber music regularly hits the range 80 to 90 dB SPL in the audience area. Even then the noise of nearby other museum guests is more likely to be an issue than the sound of a chamber music concert, such music tends to fit all contexts but the sound of a crying baby tends not to fit a chamber music context.
Music that does NOT fit the museum context is likely to be perceived as 20 dB louder than music that does ... O;-)
> Thanks for any insight. > Cheers, Scott > s...@acw.com
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