Liberty University is the largest private non-profit university in the nation and the largest evangelical university in the world. The school offers over 229 programs of study, including an impressive Center for Cinematic Arts. The Center provides top-of-the-line production equipment for student use, and guest speakers including famous screenwriters. During a recent renovation, classrooms in the department were converted into theater screening rooms where students could be immersed in a film as well as instructed by resident professors. The

A/V equipment in each room would not reach its maximum potential, however, without the proper acoustical consideration.

Application Introduction

A new theater style screening room was near completion in Liberty University’s Center for Cinematic Arts in Lynchburg, Virginia. The rooms came equipped with an enormous screen, high-end projector, and a sound system for optimal sound quality.

The system, however, did not sound as good as it could have inside the classroom. The room was large and had bare, hard, parallel gypsum walls causing reverberation, reduced speech intelligibility and reduced clarity or sound effects and music.

Even when the A/V equipment was not being used, the instructor had trouble being understood by the students, and vice versa.

Treatment Provided

Acoustical Solutions, Inc. stepped in and provided a multifaceted solution to solve issues with reverberation and speech intelligibility. It was important that a comprehensive noise control treatment was provided, or the room would not function correctly and the audio-visual installation would be less than adequate.

Four inch thick acoustical insulation was first applied in the cavity behind the screen, creating in essence a giant bass trap to absorb excessive low frequency noise. Acoustone amplifier grille cloth was then used to cover frames for the speaker compartment below the screen, but still grant access to the compartment. This cloth is engineered for minimum interference and maximum sound reproduction.

2” thick AlphaSorb fabric-wrapped acoustical wall panels were mounted along the side walls and back wall to reduce noise and reverberation, while still keeping the room “live” with some ambience. In addition, curtains made of heavy, backed, sound absorbing fabric materials were custom made to hang on either side of the screen for acoustics and to complete the theatic atmosphere.

Results

The changes in the room’s sound were noticeable before the speakers were even turned on. Michael Gerringer, the Director of
Technical Production & Media Systems at Liberty stated as he clapped in the completed room: “Now that’s quiet!”

Last week Acoustical Solutions, Inc. attended Palme Middle East, the region’s longest standing trade event for the professional sound, light, audio visual, music, entertainment and systems integration industries. Located in Dubai, one of the seven principalities that make up the United Arab Emerites, the Palme Show features over 200 exhibitors and 800 brands.

We were excited to partner with Middle Eastern systems integrator, G7 Company, for the second year at the trade show. As a leading manufacturer of acoustic panels and reseller of acoustic foam, ceiling tiles and other sound damping and acoustical materials, Palme offers us the unique opportunity to provide noise control and soundproofing products to this booming area of the world.

G7 Company represents Acoustical Solutions in the Middle East through a distribution contract, meeting an increasing market demand for premium noise control products like acoustic panels, sound baffles and banners in the construction-intensive region.

“This area of the world is growing economically, and physically as well” said Michael Binns, the owner and operator of Acoustical Solutions, Inc. “The three days we were at Palme we collected over 200 leads from people working on studios, restaurants, nightclubs, and an enormous number of schools… Cities like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and those in Saudi Arabia are putting up new facilities at a quick rate, but there are not many long-established noise control or soundproofing manufacturers in the area, which is where we, and G7, can help”.

Construction in these growing cities is more concrete based than in the U.S., which makes noise control even more necessary. The most popular noise control products at Palme were wall panels, glue-on acoustical tiles, hanging baffles and banners, and Sonex Whisperwave. These products can easily be installed on the exterior of concrete construction.

Please enjoy these pictures we took while exploring Dubai. What a beautiful place!

We are also excited to attend two more upcoming trade shows, rounding out this summer with more noise control and networking!

Next week we will be exhibiting at the GSA Expo in Houston, Texas from May 15 through the 17. We are Booth 2542! Acoustical Solutions, Inc. is GSA contract # GS07F0588X and we are proud to provide noise control and soundproofing to government agencies. As GSA’s signature training opportunity and exposition, this event is specially designed to benefit federal, state and local government employees and military members who make or influence procurement decisions. An invaluable experience for acquisition or program managers, the GSA Training and Expo provides visitors with opportunities to:

• Build their acquisition knowledge with an extensive, three-day, Continuous Learning Point (CLP)-certified training class program;
• Network with hundreds of experts from GSA and other agencies;
• Meet with GSA vendors (like us!) who provide technical expertise and products and services right for your organization’s needs; and
• Bring their national or regional staff together for a meeting in one of our complimentary meeting rooms.

Then next month Acoustical Solutions, Inc. will be at InfoComm in Las Vegas, Nevada, June 13 through the 15. We are at booth C6208! InfoComm is the largest, most comprehensive AV trade show in the world. InfoComm 2012 boasts over 925 exhibitors showcasing thousands of products, over 300 educational sessions taught by the industry’s most respected experts and over 34,000 AV pros from all around the world!

Hope to see you there!

Acoustical Solutions, Inc. recently traveled to the home of a retired NFL star to acoustically treat his in-home basketball court.

Hard Parallel surfaces and a high ceiling created a long reverberation time which amplified noise on the court and muffled speech. Worst of all, when the family dog would bark in the room, the noise was so loud it was painful. Watch this video demonstration to hear the echo and reverb, before and after:

1″ Thick AlphaSorb fabric wrapped wall panels were installed along the upper edge of all four walls, with cutouts made to accommodate baskets and railing.

As soon as the team began working, it became clear why acoustical treatment was necessary. Moving equipment was noisy and communicating with one another was difficult due to poor speech intelligibility until at least a few panels were placed.

These acoustic wall panels have a noise reduction coefficient (NRC) of up to 1.14, meaning they absorb virtually all of the sound that reaches them.

After the install the reverberation time has decreased significantly, making the court a pleasant place to practice and spend time with family.

Are you experiencing a similar noise issue or do you have any questions about this project? Let us know about it below in the comments section, or give us a call at 1-800-782-5742. We would love to hear from you!

One of the most common places you will find acoustical treatment is in worship facilities. Why? Because they almost always need it.

Churches and fellowship halls are usually huge spaces with very large, blank parallel walls and vast angular ceilings.  This is a recipe for a long reverberation time (the time it takes for a sound to fade, similar to echo) which interferes with visitors’ ability to understand each others speech and increases the overall perceived noise level.

This acoustical issue is exacerbated in worship facilities due to the fact that they are generally crowded. Whether it be a service or a dinner in the fellowship hall, these rooms were intended to be full. The more voices, the louder the room becomes.

These were the exact issues that members of Tuckahoe Presbyterian Church were dealing with in their fellowship hall. The room was intended for banquets, meetings, church activities, and VBS, but more often than not the reverberation made it too loud to be comfortable.

Acoustical treatment was applied in the form of Alphasorb Cloud Mount Panels attached to the ceiling and back wall. These panels absorb noise, keeping it from bouncing around the room off of hard surfaces and creating echo.

Watch this video demonstrating the reverberation time and speech intelligibility before and after the acoustical treatment:

Alphasorb Cloud Mount Panels are available in a wide variety of sizes and colors including standard Guilford of Maine fabrics, Anchorage, Lido, and Bailey lines. The 2″ panels have a Noise Reduction Coefficient rating of up to 1.30 at 1000 Hertz, meaning they absorb virtually all noise that comes into contact with them. These panels are a common acoustical treatment in fellowship halls, music practice rooms, restaurants, banks, offices, and other commercial facilities. These panels are easily installed with a combination of eye hooks and zip-ties or T grids and guide wire. Watch this video showing the Tuckahoe Presbyterian installation:

The folks at Tuckahoe Presbyterian were thrilled with their Alphasorb panels and the results of their acoustical treatment. A dinner was held in the fellowship hall the next evening and we were told that the difference in the room was very noticeable. Many even said the room looked better with the panels than it did without! What do you think?