Cleveland, Ohio

NOISE-CON 2003
2003 June 23-25

Case Studies of Acoustical Design of Rooms for Music Instruction in Schools

Hyun Paek, Siebein Associates, Inc., 625 NW 60th Street, Suite C, Gainesville, Florida 32607, hpaek@siebeinacoustic.com Gary W. Siebein and Bumjun Kim, School of Architecture, P. O. Box 115702, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611-5702
1. ABSTRACT This paper will present guidelines for the acoustical design of rooms for music instruction based on the experience of the authors which includes designing of new music rooms and professional consulting work on existing, problematic rooms of K-12 schools. A series of case studies of rooms for music instruction of band, chorus and orchestra for K-12 schools will be presented including field measured reverberation times, impulse responses, loudness levels and background noise levels. The rooms used for the case studies vary in shape, volume, and acoustical treatment: 1. rooms with high ceilings and floating planes of sound diffusing panels; 2. rooms with inclined or flat, hard ceilings at low to moderate heights with some acoustical wall panels; 3. rooms with flat acoustical tile ceilings, manufactured sound diffusing panels and acoustical wall panels. Computer models of rooms for music instruction varying in ceiling height and acoustical treatment were constructed; and comparisons among rooms with low ceilings, short reverberation times, and high loudness levels are made with rooms with higher ceilings and more sound diffusing materials. The results of the case studies; acoustical measurements of rooms used for music instruction, and interviews with instructors and students indicate that it is important in music rooms to reduce excessive loudness, especially in band rooms; and to control reverberation times based on the types of music. Combinations of adequate room volume, strategically placed sound absorbent materials to reduce reverberation and acoustic defects as well as sound diffusing materials to allow students and instructors to hear each other are also required for satisfactory music instruction and practice.

2. INTRODUCTION
Band Rooms are usually too loud when they are fully occupied. They also generally suffer from low ceiling heights; and a lack of sound diffusing and sound absorbing materials on the walls and ceiling of the room to allow good hearing among the performers while they practice.3 Enough volume and area must be provided to dissipate the sound energy propagated in the room. There must also be enough sound absorbing materials in the room to limit the build-up of reverberant energy. When the entire band uses the room, it is usually necessary to reduce the loudness of the sound from all the instruments playing together. Nationwide, there are increasing numbers of Workers Compensation Claims and law suits filed by music instructors, who work all day in rooms with inadequate ceiling heights and acoustical treatment, against school boards for alleged hearing loss due to excessive noise levels encountered on the job. The problems stemming from poorly designed music rooms are the results of several causes. There are no existing standards for designing rooms for music instruction and many Educational Specifications lack provisions for the acoustical design of such rooms. Reverberation time guidelines for general teaching classrooms do not hold true for music classrooms. The locations and areas of sound reflective and diffusive material and volume desired for proper music instruction, especially for orchestral music and vocal music instruction, usually yields slightly higher reverberation times than those for classrooms. Many designers, school boards, and contractors are not fully aware of the basic acoustical elements such as room volume, shaping, acoustical finishes and noise control required for spaces for music instruction. Many architects and contractors view them as just another classroom. Sufficient time for acoustical planning

during the early phases of design is usually not provided. The lack of planning results in budgets with inadequate funds for acoustic designing, finishes, and sound isolation systems required for proper music education. Instruction takes place in rooms not designed for a specific type of music education. Some music instruction takes place in regular classrooms because the school does not have rooms specifically designed for music instruction. Schools experience shifts in the curriculum such as marching bands using rooms designed for orchestral music with smaller numbers of students such as in the case of Room LCLDA in Figure 6. A drama instructor had stated in an interview that the room being used for drama instruction was a once a choral rehearsal room. The instructor expressed concerns that spoken words were difficult to hear clearly due to excessive reverberation. This paper will present guidelines for the acoustical design of rooms for music instruction based on the experience of the authors which includes designing of new music rooms and professional consulting work on existing, problematic rooms of K-12 schools. Many projects have required the use of acoustical measurements conducted in existing music instruction rooms with inadequate acoustical environments as well as those constructed with adequate ceiling heights and acoustic treatment. The following guidelines will be presented along with case studies to illustrate various components essential for the design of a desirable environment for music instruction.

3. Method
A series of case studies of rooms for music instruction of band, chorus and orchestra for K-12 schools have been investigated with field measured reverberation times, impulse responses, loudness levels and background noise levels. Reverberation time and impulse response measurements were taken in numerous music rooms. The reverberation time and impulse response measurements were obtained with a computer based acoustical measurement system. A laptop computer with WinMLS software was used to generate the source sound. The noise source was amplified via a Crown Com-Tech 200 amplifier and a JBL MR Series Loudspeaker. Impulse responses were taken at varying locations depending on the size and shape of the music instruction rooms. The microphone was mounted on a stand at seated ear height. The computer sound source that excites the space is a maximum length sequence signal that is analyzed to produce an impulse response, which shows the acoustical response of the room at each location. It graphically shows the loudness or amplitude and time delay of sound reflections arriving at each location. Reverberation Time measurements were measured using a steady state noise with an Ivie PC-40 real time analyzer with an Ivie IE-20B pink noise generator, a Crown Com-Tech 200 amplifier and a JBL MR Series Loudspeaker when the WinMLS software was not readily available. The measurements were taken at several source locations and several receiver locations depending on the size and shape of a room to get a room average reverberation time. Background noise levels and sound pressure levels of various instruments and were measured whenever possible in the rooms for music instruction. Diagnostic investigations of poor rooms for music instruction were conducted; interviews with the music instructors and students; analysis of acoustic data on projects involving rooms for music instruction served as the knowledge base for deriving a guideline for the design of rooms for music instruction. The design guidelines for design of rooms for music instruction presented in this paper are based on five components listed below. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Interviews with music instructors and students. Review of the literature. Acoustical measurements and diagnostics of rooms for music instruction with varying acoustical qualities. Computer models of rooms under design. Case study analysis of recently designed rooms.

4. Design Guidelines for Rooms for Music Instruction

There are six basic factors, which direct the design of rooms for music instruction.

Basic factors for Design of Rooms for Music Instruction 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Control Loudness. Provide a sense of presence for students playing or singing while controlling the build up of excessive direct and reverberant energy. Reverberance. Band Rooms: Limit the Reverberation in band rooms to prevent excessive loudness. Vocal and Orchestra Rooms: Provide enough reverberance for fullness or liveness of the music so students will have a sense of how they will sound in a performance hall. Ensemble and Support. Provide diffuse cross-room reflections to allow the instructor to hear each of the students playing and for the students to hear each other. Clarity. Early reflections from ceiling and wall surfaces in the presence of controlled reverberation to allow each note to be heard. Balanced frequency response. The sound field of the room should maintain timbre of each instrument. Limited background noise. Reduce noise generated by mechanical systems and provide sound isolating ceiling, wall, and floor assemblies to give full dynamic range and appreciation of rests and quiet musical passages.

A. Room volume. Enough volume and floor area must be provided to dissipate the sound energy propagated in the room. The floor area of a music room should allow flexibility accounting for conditions such as beginners music classes having larger number of students. An instructor who taught in a room similar to room C1 in Figure 6 complained of loudness of a beginners class of 80 students in a floor area designed for 40 to 50 students. The layout of instrument or vocal arrangement used during rehearsal should be incorporated when determining the floor area needed. Allow room for storage and movement of larger instruments. Students should not be placed up against walls especially for those with louder instruments to reduce harsh reflections.2 Since the floor area is usually defined by program or educational specifications, ceiling height becomes critical in providing adequate volume in the room. If the ceiling is low, the reflected sound does not have adequate distance to decay before it reaches the ears of the students or the instructor. If the ceiling height is higher, and comprised of diffusing surfaces, reflected sound will be of lower intensity and spread evenly throughout the room. A larger volume for sufficient sound dissipation results in a longer reverberation time if the room is left with small amounts of sound absorbing material. The control of reverberation time through strategically located sound absorbent and sound diffusing material are essential in providing a desirable sound field in rooms with higher ceilings. The ceiling height should vary according to the type of music instruction in the room. Table 1 illustrates recommended reverberation times and ceiling heights according to the use of the music rooms. Band rooms require higher ceilings and relatively short reverberation times to reduce the loudness of high energy brass and percussion instruments. Choral rooms tend to have reduced amounts of sound absorbing materials compared to band rooms since human voice are less loud than instruments and reverberation is desired at 0.6 to 1.2 seconds in the mid-frequencies for increased presence of vocal sounds while maintaining clarity of words. Orchestral Rooms are desired to have longer reverberation times than other rooms for music instruction to enhance the sound of instruments through a room response similar to a performance space. Ensemble Rooms and Practice Rooms are usually smaller in volume and floor area to accommodate small numbers of students. These rooms have shorter reverberation times because of their small volume and sound absorbing materials needed for the control of loudness and reverberation. B. Interior acoustical systems. The interior acoustical system consists of a balanced use of sound absorbing and sound diffusing surfaces strategically laid out on the walls and ceilings of rooms used for music instruction. Sound absorbent panels are used to reduce reverberant sound energy and loudness. Sound diffusing panels are is used to provide lower level scattered reflections that are spread throughout the room for the students and instructors to hear each other. Together as a system, the sound absorbing and diffusing surfaces reduce acoustic defects such

as flutter echoes, sound focusing, and standing waves or resonant modes inherent in rectangular spaces that do not have acoustical treatment. Band instructors and students are exposed to high sound levels due to large numbers of students playing musical instruments at loud levels. When this activity occurs outside, such as on a football field, there are no surfaces to reflect sound back to the students. The sound levels of 80-90 dBA are a result of the direct sound only. The direct sound is the sound that travels from the musical instrument to the students ear without striking any surfaces. This sound is reduced by approximately 5 dB as one doubles the distance from the sound source. When the band plays indoors, the sound moves away from each musical instrument and strikes the room surfaces. It is then reflected back to the students, increasing the sound level above that which occurs outside. Computer models of six rooms and an outdoor condition were constructed to examine the effect of adding additional absorbent materials to reduce reflected sound energy in the Band Room. This results in an approximate relative sound levels for varying acoustical conditions in Band Rooms as shown in Table 2. The relative sound levels in Band Rooms with low to moderate ceiling heights with some sound absorbent material are 1-7 dB less than in the Band Rooms with all reflective surfaces. This is heard as noticeably quieter to people of normal sensibilities. A further reduction of 1-5 dB is possible with additional sound absorbing and diffusing materials. This would be heard as noticeably quieter to people of normal sensibilities compared to the existing room. An additional reduction of 1-2 dB is possible with the treatments with Band Rooms of preferred ceiling heights and amounts of absorbing and diffusing materials which would be heard as noticeably quieter again. This scheme would be heard as 2-11 dB quieter than the Band Room with all reflective surfaces which would be heard as half as loud. The sound levels in this room are equal to those that would occur in a totally absorbent room but with a reflected sound field that will result in higher quality instruction. In addition, the raised ceiling height will help to dissipate the strength of the reflected sound beyond that shown in the equations due to the greater distance the sound has to travel to the surface before it is reflected. Instruction can occur more easily in the room due to the presence of the diffusing panels on the ceiling and walls that provide scattered, low intensity reflected sound from each student to the Instructors location. This allows the instructor to hear each section of the band when they are playing as a group, so feedback and instruction can be provided as needed. The Band Room with all absorbent surfaces is not preferred from an acoustical point-of-view because it does not allow the instructor to hear the students as described above. While the sound levels in the absorbent room are the lowest of all enclosed rooms, the quality of instruction will not be optimum. A comparison of impulse response of a room (Figure 2, Room LCLDA) with high ceiling height and volume with a sound diffusing ceiling and a room with low to moderate ceiling height and large areas of flat surfaces (Figure 6, Room HCHDA1) can be seen in Figure 1. The two sound reflections arriving at approximately 15 milliseconds after the direct sound in Room HCHDA1 are indicative of multiple lower level sound reflections arriving from a diffusive surface. Large specular sound reflections arriving at 10 to 12 milliseconds after the direct sound in Room LCLDA) are indicative of a harsh sound reflection from a low flat ceiling. The reverberant energy shows higher continued amplitude indicative of excessive loudness in Room LCLDA. Interestingly, the two rooms have the same mid-frequency reverberation times, while having quite different impulse responses and acoustic qualities. Impulse response of Room HCHDA1 in the top graph in Figure 1 is viewed as very successful with a rich and full but clear sound field. Room LCLDA in the lower graph was renovated because of complaints of excessive loudness, harsh reflections, and the inability to hear students playing. Rooms for music instruction can be grouped into several categories: 1. rooms with high ceilings and floating planes of sound diffusing panels as shown in Figures 2 through 4; 2. rooms with inclined acoustic tile ceilings and sound diffusing panels as shown in Figure 5; 3. rooms with inclined or flat, hard ceilings at low to moderate heights with some acoustical wall panels as shown in Figure 6; and 4. rooms with flat acoustical tile ceilings, with little or no acoustical wall panels as shown in Figures 7 and 8.

1. Provide sound absorption on the ceiling. The perimeter of the ceiling should be covered with sound absorbent material to reduce reverberant sound energy as shown in Figures 2 through 4. Since the center area of the ceiling provides the first order reflections to the instructor and the students, sound traveling to the perimeter corners of the ceiling should be absorbed to reduce reverberant energy as well as to reduce standing waves. 2. Provide sound diffusion in the center portion of the ceiling over the orchestra, choir, or band and instructor as shown in Figures 2 though 5. The sound diffusing panels will provide cross-room reflections to allow musicians to hear each other and allow the teacher or conductor to hear each of the students as they practice and play. The ceiling should be diffuse and high enough to reduce the possibility of specular reflections arriving at the students or the instructors ears as a harsh or focused sound and to allow the instructor to easily distinguish the sounds generated by a student at a particular location. 3. Provide sound absorbent panels on the upper areas of walls above the sound diffusing surfaces. Sound absorbent panels should be mounted on the upper walls as shown in Figures 2 through 3. The sound absorbent panels used may vary from 2 to 4 inches thick depending on the program planned for the room. Sound energy traveling diagonally to the upper corners of the room should be absorbed. 4. Provide sound diffusion on the lower wall surfaces. Sound diffusing surfaces at the walls of the room will allow communication among musicians and to insure a smooth decay of sound in the room. Either surface mounted diffusing panels or zig-zagging the wall surfaces such as HCHDA3 in Figure 4 will assist in providing sound diffusion in the room as space between storage cabinets and other casework permits. Sound diffusing surfaces on the lower walls will break up standing waves in the plane of musicians ears. 5. Splay walls of rooms or work with alternate geometries in plan and section to break up standing waves. 6. Low frequency absorbers or bass traps should be provided for Band Rooms or rooms where percussion instruments or amplified low frequency instruments will be used. Percussion instruments, which generate loud, low frequency sound, which are not readily absorbed by conventional sound absorbent materials, are especially a concern. These low frequency sound absorbers can be bass traps in which the interiors of the device are lined with thick absorbent material. The bass traps should be placed on at least two corners of the upper walls or incorporated into a soffit above to effectively absorb and reduce low frequency standing waves. Figure 4 showing Band Room HCHDA3 with a base trap has significantly lower reverberation times in the low frequencies compared to rooms of similar size and adequate amounts of sound absorbing material such as Band Rooms HCHDA1 (Figure 2) or HCHDA2 (Figure 3). 7. Provide acoustic draperies or other variable acoustic devices when the room must accommodate multiple functions with variable acoustic needs. Music students belonging to different classes such as orchestra, choir, or band may use the same room to rehearse or practice if the school does not have a separate space for each class. Instructors may also vary in teaching methods and may require different acoustic environments for the room at times. 8. Flooring materials vary according to the type of music rehearsed in the rooms. Providing carpet as the floor finish for band rooms and rehearsal spaces involving loud instruments will help absorb residual reverberant energy as well as to reduce noise from shifting furniture and foot steps. Wood is preferred by many instructors for orchestra rooms for its claimed tendency to provide warm quality in sounds. C. Background noise levels. The ANSI Standard S12.60-2002 recommends a maximum one-hour average A-Weighted steady background noise level of 35 dBA (approximately NC 25 to 30) for Core-learning spaces with enclosed volumes > 20,000 cubic feet.1 Ten music rooms were measured for background noise levels with the HVAC system on at normal operating loads. Eight rooms showed higher NC levels than 30 ranging from NC-32 to NC 40. Two rooms had NC-30 or lower background noise levels. Mechanical system noise control is a critical issue particularly for music rooms, because the music instructor needs to hear the

slightest sounds to effectively teach students. Instructors who teach in rooms with high background noise levels have complained about not being able to hear their students play, especially in the frequencies coinciding with the frequencies of the mechanical system noise. Please refer to Case Studies Illustrating Acoustic Design Guidelines for HVAC Systems in Schools, a companion paper presented at Noise-Con 2003 for more detailed discussion of the control of HVAC noise. D. Sound Isolation Systems The walls, ceiling, roof and floor assemblies should be carefully chosen to provide adequate sound isolation of the room. High STC wall assemblies and special details at structural connections and at various penetrations will be needed to reduce exterior noise intrusion as well as sounds produced within the room from being transmitted into adjacent rooms. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Standard S12.60-2002 recommends Minimum Sound Transmission Class (STC) rating of 60 for Music Rooms. 1 The standard does not currently address the sound transmission loss spectra throughout the frequencies of the construction assemblies; therefore the type of music involved should be considered. Some assemblies with STC rating of 60 may not adequately reduce sounds produced by loud, low frequency instruments such as drums. Table 3 shows the measured average sound pressure levels of a 40 student middle school band playing at full strength. The percussion instruments produce average sound pressure level in excess of 100 -110 dB in the low frequencies and decreases as the frequency increases and decreases to 75-100 dB in the middle and high frequencies. Most building materials have lower transmission loss in the lower frequencies. Multi-layer gypsum board walls on double studs, concrete masonry walls with drywall on metal framing with glass fiber in thee cavity, or double wythe concrete masonry walls are often required to reduce sound transmitted to adjacent spaces. However, composite constructions and double wythe wall construction assemblies are not within the practical construction budget of a K-12 school. Designers who have carefully planned adjacencies by providing buffer spaces such as storage rooms or corridors between rooms for music instruction and other instructional spaces have successfully dealt with this issue. Providing buffer spaces between practice rooms, ensemble rooms, and main rehearsal rooms; and providing entry doors to the rooms through a sound lock vestibule or a corridor reduces flanking sound transmission between rooms. Structural isolation of the slabs through expansion joints reduces structurally transmitted sounds from band rooms to adjoining spaces. Acoustically rated door, window, and frame assemblies are frequently used to reduce noise between acoustically sensitive adjacencies.

5. Conclusions
The successful design of rooms for music instruction involves a rationale that can be as simple as understanding the necessary sound field for a given type of music education. Music rooms have been inadequately designed or acoustically treated in the past resulting in numerous renovations. The re-creation of problems inherent in poorly designed music rooms can be avoided by increasing awareness of the requirements of acoustic treatment to design and engineering professionals. The lack of room volume to effectively dissipate loud sounds together with insufficient sound diffusing and sound absorbing materials are common contributors to poor acoustical qualities. Case studies show that providing enough ceiling height and a properly designed system of acoustical treatment and space shaping can provide a desirable environment for music instruction. This involves the planning for music instructional spaces early in the design phase and cooperative efforts of the design team. These guidelines for the design of rooms for music instruction can aid not only design professionals but also the school districts in creating a standard for future facilities where the architectural component of education can be eliminated as a potential cause for the decrease in the quality of education. This paper presents design guidelines to provide high quality rooms for music instruction in K-12 schools. The primary design features of these rooms are listed below. 1. Provide adequate room volume to dissipate build-up of excessive sound energy.

2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Diffusing surfaces on ceiling and walls are required to allow students and teachers to hear each other well. Provide sound absorbent materials on upper walls and ceiling to limit reverberant energy. Lesser amounts of sound absorbent materials are required in orchestral and vocal rooms to provide a longer reverberation time so the sounds are rich and full yet clear. Limit background noise from HVAC systems and adjacent activities so the full dynamic range of the music played can be appreciated. Shape rooms or provide bass traps to dissipate standing waves and excessive low frequency noise where necessary. Provide variable acoustic devices such as acoustic drapes when the room must accommodate multiple functions with varying acoustic needs.

It is necessary for school user groups, architects, interior designers, construction managers and contractors to work with acoustic consultants from the earliest stages of building design through construction administration to implement these guidelines and produce high quality rooms for music instruction. Initial planning of room adjacencies, location of buffer spaces, and the schematic design of the mechanical systems all have major impacts on the resulting acoustical quality of the rooms. Funds in excess of those required to build typical classroom and office spaces must be allocated in the project budget for the required acoustical systems. Construction details for sound isolation systems, sound diffusing panels, sound absorbent panels, and HVAC noise control items should be prepared in an integrated team effort by the architects, engineers, and acoustic consultants. This should be followed by review of submittals and value engineering proposals for acoustic items by the acoustical consultant during construction administration. Post occupancy interviews with teachers and students and acoustic measurements of background noise, reverberation times, impulse responses, and noise isolation class (NIC) should be made to verify conformance with the design criteria and to provide a quantitative basis for making acoustic improvements in subsequent projects.

Tables and Figures

Table 1. Recommended reverberation times and ceiling heights for varying types of music instruction.

Table 2. Summary of relative loudness for various room treatments.

Table 3. Measured average sound pressure levels of a 40 student band playing in Room LCLDA and sound transmission loss data of a concrete masonry wall.

Figure 1. Impulse response graphs of Band Room HCHDA1 (above) and Band Room LCLDA (below).

Figure 2. Band Room HCHDA1 and measured reverberations times in seconds at octave band center frequencies.

Figure 3. Band Room HCHDA2 and measured reverberations times in seconds at octave band center frequencies.

Figure 4. Band Room HCHDA3 and measured reverberations times in seconds at octave band center frequencies.

Figure 5. Band Room LCHDA and measured reverberations times in seconds at octave band center frequencies.

Figure 6. Band Room LCLDA and measured reverberations times in seconds at octave band center frequencies.

Figure 7. Band Rooms ACLDA1 and measured reverberations times in seconds at octave band center frequencies.

Figure 8. Band Room ACLDA2 and measured reverberations times in seconds at octave band center frequencies.

REFERENCES Acoustical Performance Criteria, Design Requirements, and Guidelines for Schools, American National Standards Institute ANSI S12.60-2002 (Acoustical Society of America, New York, 2002) Harold P. Geerdes, Planning and Equipping Educational Music Facilities, Music Educators National Conference (Center for Educational Associations, Reston, Virginia, 1975)
3 2 1

Edward McCue and Richard H. Talaske, Acoustic design of Music Education Facilities, (Acoustical Society of America, New York, 1990)

Robert M. Hoover and Reginald H. Keith, Noise Control for Buildings, Manufacturing Plants, Equipment and Products, (Hoover and Keith, Inc., 1994)