Hello all,

Are there any guidelines for this? I have noticed that I MUCH prefer the sound of my lounge when the two sets of curtains are drawn. There is much less echo - or not quite echo but perhaps reverberation? (I don't really know much about this sort of stuff) and the TV and stereo sound much better.

I did a quick search of the internet but all I could really find were somewhat technical discussions about the quality of recording rooms.

I got thinking about recording rooms and saw this photo of an Abbey Road studio:

http://www.guy-farley.com/sessions_landoftheblind.jpg

which seems to be a hollowed-out house (I have never been there, just seen photo's) which has big spaces for recording. So would this room sound dead? If the space is larger, surely sound behaves like light in that the further away from the point source, the weaker the power level, and therefore the weaker any resulting reflections will be.

I really hope someone can imagine what I am trying to describe here!

Thanks in advance,

David Paste.

In article ,
scribeth thus
Hello all,

Are there any guidelines for this? I have noticed that I MUCH prefer the sound
of my lounge when the two sets of curtains are drawn. There is much less echo -
or not quite echo but perhaps reverberation? (I don't really know much about
this sort of stuff) and the TV and stereo sound much better.

I did a quick search of the internet but all I could really find were somewhat
technical discussions about the quality of recording rooms.

I got thinking about recording rooms and saw this photo of an Abbey Road studio:

http://www.guy-farley.com/sessions_landoftheblind.jpg

which seems to be a hollowed-out house (I have never been there, just seen
photo's) which has big spaces for recording. So would this room sound dead? If
the space is larger, surely sound behaves like light in that the further away
from the point source, the weaker the power level, and therefore the weaker any
resulting reflections will be.

I really hope someone can imagine what I am trying to describe here!

Thanks in advance,

David Paste.

It'd be tuned so its a little "bright" and with carefully controlled
reverb and well insulated against extraneous noises.

Very famous place .. Elgar and the Beatles were known well there

http://www.abbeyroad.com/Studios


Especially the pedestrian crossing outside when that was on the Abbey
road album and EVERY Japanese tourist that comes to London wants their
pic taken outside;!. It's even got a webcam:!....


http://www.abbeyroad.com/crossing
--
Tony Sayer

What you've discovered is that the wall (and floor and ceiling) surfaces
make a big difference: With the window, a large area of glass reflects back
the sound, making it brighter, more toppy and lively (hence "a live
acoustic"). When the curtains are drawn, the fabric, especially if it hangs
in folds, absorbs some of the frequencies, there's less sound to bounce
around and the overall quality is deader.

Rugs on a hard floor do much the same thing. A similar, but less
pronounced, effect comes if a plain wall surface is broken up and made
irregular - by having shelves with occasional items on them, for example, or
hanging fabrics. Soft furnishings help, too, and even putting a fabric
cloth on a table can make a difference. The ultimate in deadness is
achieved in some areas of some recording studios by having all surfaces
(sometimes including most of the floor) covered in irregular spikes of
absorbent material. Being in an almost completely dead room can be a very
disconcerting experience.

Absolute hifi nuts will tell you that what you wear when listening to music
affects the sounds too. It does, but I don't know anyone who deliberately
chooses what they wear according to the acoustic they're trying to create.

Here's a short news report about the oddness of being in an almost
completely sonically-dead space (or anechoic chamber, to give it its
scientific name): http://tinyurl.com/bndph3b .

On 27/11/13 20:44, wrote:
Hello all,

Are there any guidelines for this? I have noticed that I MUCH prefer the sound of my lounge when the two sets of curtains are drawn. There is much less echo - or not quite echo but perhaps reverberation? (I don't really know much about this sort of stuff) and the TV and stereo sound much better.

I did a quick search of the internet but all I could really find were somewhat technical discussions about the quality of recording rooms.

I got thinking about recording rooms and saw this photo of an Abbey Road studio:

http://www.guy-farley.com/sessions_landoftheblind.jpg

which seems to be a hollowed-out house (I have never been there, just seen photo's) which has big spaces for recording. So would this room sound dead? If the space is larger, surely sound behaves like light in that the further away from the point source, the weaker the power level, and therefore the weaker any resulting reflections will be.

I really hope someone can imagine what I am trying to describe here!

Thanks in advance,

David Paste.

Multiple random reflections are your freand Decorate the walls with egg
boxes or tapestry


--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.

Bert Coules wrote:

Here's a short news report about the oddness of being in an almost
completely sonically-dead space (or anechoic chamber, to give it its
scientific name): http://tinyurl.com/bndph3b .

I once spent some time on a project in a simple form of anechoic
chamber, and it was indeed quite strange.

As I was doing tests near the hearing threshold, I set up my kit
with a sound level meter, which happened to have a scope output.
Out of curiosity, I had a look at things with a flat response
selected (instead if the usual "A" weighting), and was surprised
how much low frequency stuff there was about.

One odd aspect was that, although external airborne noise was
well suppressed, they hadn't managed fully to isolate the chamber
from the basement floor it stood on. There was a railway line
about 1/4 mile away, and although I never ever heard a passing
train outside the chamber, inside they were clearly audible.

You don't realise how loud your breathing is until you are in
such a quiet environment.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Plant amazing Acers.

In article ,
wrote:
Are there any guidelines for this? I have noticed that I MUCH prefer the
sound of my lounge when the two sets of curtains are drawn. There is
much less echo - or not quite echo but perhaps reverberation? (I don't
really know much about this sort of stuff) and the TV and stereo sound
much better.

I did a quick search of the internet but all I could really find were
somewhat technical discussions about the quality of recording rooms.

The two are very different. For recording say a classical orchestra, you
likely need a hall with a reasonably long reverb time which is also
contains reflective surfaces. If, say, a violin player can't hear himself
being reflected back he tends to play rather harder. For a pop recording
where everything is individually miked up you'd ideally use a much
'deader' studio.

As regards the listening room, you ideally don't want that to add acoustic
to the recording, so the 'deader' the better. Lack of reflections in a
room help considerably with the positioning of things in the sound stage.
Of course a very dead room may not be pleasant for general use, so a
compromise is usually needed at home.

The fashion for wood floors has done nothing to help this - a decent thick
fitted carpet helps enormously.

The shape of the room is quite important too - the more it approaches a
cube, the worse it becomes.

--
*If you think this van is dirty, you should try having sex with the driver*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 27/11/2013 20:44, wrote:
Hello all,

Are there any guidelines for this? I have noticed that I MUCH prefer the sound of my lounge when
the two sets of curtains are drawn. There is much less echo - or not
quite echo but perhaps reverberation?
Thanks in advance,

David Paste.


Related topic: I am put off visiting several pubs and restaurants
locally (Cheshire/South Manchester area) as the interior designer(s)
seem to have b*ggered the acoustics by excessive use of hard surfaces on
walls, floors, ceilings and furniture in their modernisations. Sounds
bounce around unrestrained. Localised conversations become unclear, so
everyone speaks up more and more. Some even have an open-fronted kitchen
to add the clatter of cooks throwing pans and cooking implements around.

Result: struggle to follow a conversation at the same table and the
whole ambience becomes a strain - unbearable to my ears.

Anyone else notice this unwelcome trend?

BTW1: I even had my ears tested because I thought it might be due to my
age or some other problem. Nope, and the practitioner confirmed that it
is the building interior that is at fault.

BTW2: I prefer the decor (and beer) of less trendy places anyway - which
probably is an age thing. :-)

On 27/11/2013 20:44, wrote:
Hello all,

Are there any guidelines for this? I have noticed that I MUCH prefer the sound of my lounge when
the two sets of curtains are drawn. There is much less echo - or not
quite echo but perhaps reverberation?
Thanks in advance,

David Paste.


Related topic: I am put off visiting several pubs and restaurants
locally (Cheshire/South Manchester area) as the interior designer(s)
seem to have b*ggered the acoustics by excessive use of hard surfaces on
walls, floors, ceilings and furniture in their modernisations. Sounds
bounce around unrestrained. Localised conversations become unclear, so
everyone speaks up more and more. Some even have an open-fronted kitchen
to add the clatter of cooks throwing pans and cooking implements around.

Result: struggle to follow a conversation at the same table and the
whole ambience becomes a strain - unbearable to my ears.

Anyone else notice this unwelcome trend?

BTW1: I even had my ears tested because I thought it might be due to my
age or some other problem. Nope, and the practitioner confirmed that it
is the building interior that is at fault.

BTW2: I prefer the decor (and beer) of less trendy places anyway - which
probably is an age thing. :-)

Well, if you have some form of recorder and set it going in the room then
clap or speak or play a stereo, you ill be surprised ou how different it
sounds to you than the ears on your head hear it to be when live. Use
headphones to listen to the recording or use headphones for a live
microphone.

The issue is that people hear things differently, and what souits one person
will annoy another. Basically, the less reflective to sound the floor and
walls and ceiling are, ie the more absorbtive they are, the deader it
sounds. What you need to ask yourself is would that really be what you want?
I was fortunate enough some years ago to go into an anechoic chamber where
they test things for sound emission etc, and when there is no sound being
generated in such a place, it feels very uncomfortable and as if the whole
room is closing in around you.
Brian

--
From the Sofa of Brian Gaff Reply address is active
wrote in message
...
Hello all,

Are there any guidelines for this? I have noticed that I MUCH prefer the
sound of my lounge when the two sets of curtains are drawn. There is much
less echo - or not quite echo but perhaps reverberation? (I don't really
know much about this sort of stuff) and the TV and stereo sound much better.

I did a quick search of the internet but all I could really find were
somewhat technical discussions about the quality of recording rooms.

I got thinking about recording rooms and saw this photo of an Abbey Road
studio:

http://www.guy-farley.com/sessions_landoftheblind.jpg

which seems to be a hollowed-out house (I have never been there, just seen
photo's) which has big spaces for recording. So would this room sound dead?
If the space is larger, surely sound behaves like light in that the further
away from the point source, the weaker the power level, and therefore the
weaker any resulting reflections will be.

I really hope someone can imagine what I am trying to describe here!

Thanks in advance,

David Paste.

Chuckle certainly not indeed. However, one effect not mentioned yet is
corner resonance.If you play a bassy track and move into a corner, normally
the bass is louder there due, presumably to the adding effects at the longer
wavelengths of sound.
also of cours small rooms tend to need more bass to sound right as there is
not enough room to allow the wave to exist. Note the in car model where the
bass bin in is needed, and all it does is move the actual material the car
is made form to allow the bass to exist. Hence when one goes by you hear the
bass and not much else.
Acoustics are very complex, and really if you are trying to find a good
room design it can be a long process of moving where things are and
furnishings about a lot.
Brian

--
From the Sofa of Brian Gaff Reply address is active
"Bert Coules" wrote in message
...
What you've discovered is that the wall (and floor and ceiling) surfaces
make a big difference: With the window, a large area of glass reflects
back the sound, making it brighter, more toppy and lively (hence "a live
acoustic"). When the curtains are drawn, the fabric, especially if it
hangs in folds, absorbs some of the frequencies, there's less sound to
bounce around and the overall quality is deader.

Rugs on a hard floor do much the same thing. A similar, but less
pronounced, effect comes if a plain wall surface is broken up and made
irregular - by having shelves with occasional items on them, for example,
or hanging fabrics. Soft furnishings help, too, and even putting a fabric
cloth on a table can make a difference. The ultimate in deadness is
achieved in some areas of some recording studios by having all surfaces
(sometimes including most of the floor) covered in irregular spikes of
absorbent material. Being in an almost completely dead room can be a very
disconcerting experience.

Absolute hifi nuts will tell you that what you wear when listening to
music affects the sounds too. It does, but I don't know anyone who
deliberately chooses what they wear according to the acoustic they're
trying to create.

Yes and one particular individual will sell you mains cables costing the
best part of 1000 quid as they make it sound better, its balderdash most of
the time, though coiling up speaker cables is not a good idea.
Brian

--
From the Sofa of Brian Gaff Reply address is active
"Jethro_uk" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 27 Nov 2013 22:41:13 +0000, Bert Coules wrote:

Absolute hifi nuts will tell you that what you wear when listening to
music affects the sounds too. It does, but I don't know anyone who
deliberately chooses what they wear according to the acoustic they're
trying to create.

They'll also tell you cables linking equipment have a directionality ...

Yes, see my earlier message about the weird effect. Its actually quite
disconcerting. I actually felt rather sick.
Isolation of structure borne sound is notoriously difficult as after all
you have to be connected to the ground somehow. Maybe one should construct
ones listening room held aloft by a balloon. I must suggest this idea to
Russ andrews.

Brian

--
From the Sofa of Brian Gaff Reply address is active
"Chris J Dixon" wrote in message
...
Bert Coules wrote:

Here's a short news report about the oddness of being in an almost
completely sonically-dead space (or anechoic chamber, to give it its
scientific name): http://tinyurl.com/bndph3b .

I once spent some time on a project in a simple form of anechoic
chamber, and it was indeed quite strange.

As I was doing tests near the hearing threshold, I set up my kit
with a sound level meter, which happened to have a scope output.
Out of curiosity, I had a look at things with a flat response
selected (instead if the usual "A" weighting), and was surprised
how much low frequency stuff there was about.

One odd aspect was that, although external airborne noise was
well suppressed, they hadn't managed fully to isolate the chamber
from the basement floor it stood on. There was a railway line
about 1/4 mile away, and although I never ever heard a passing
train outside the chamber, inside they were clearly audible.

You don't realise how loud your breathing is until you are in
such a quiet environment.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Plant amazing Acers.

Egg boxes need to be of the papier mache kind, not the plastic kind. However
health and safety folk frown on such things as fire hazards.

Brian

--
From the Sofa of Brian Gaff Reply address is active
"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...
On 27/11/13 20:44, wrote:
Hello all,

Are there any guidelines for this? I have noticed that I MUCH prefer the
sound of my lounge when the two sets of curtains are drawn. There is much
less echo - or not quite echo but perhaps reverberation? (I don't really
know much about this sort of stuff) and the TV and stereo sound much
better.

I did a quick search of the internet but all I could really find were
somewhat technical discussions about the quality of recording rooms.

I got thinking about recording rooms and saw this photo of an Abbey Road
studio:

http://www.guy-farley.com/sessions_landoftheblind.jpg

which seems to be a hollowed-out house (I have never been there, just
seen photo's) which has big spaces for recording. So would this room
sound dead? If the space is larger, surely sound behaves like light in
that the further away from the point source, the weaker the power level,
and therefore the weaker any resulting reflections will be.

I really hope someone can imagine what I am trying to describe here!

Thanks in advance,

David Paste.

Multiple random reflections are your freand Decorate the walls with egg
boxes or tapestry


--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc'-ra-cy) - a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members
of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded
with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.

In message , The Natural Philosopher
writes
Multiple random reflections are your freand Decorate the walls with egg
boxes or tapestry

Curtains with an air space behind them are better for balanced
dispersion/absorbtion of sound.
--
Bill

On 28/11/2013 10:41, Brian Gaff wrote:
Yes, see my earlier message about the weird effect. Its actually quite
disconcerting. I actually felt rather sick.
Isolation of structure borne sound is notoriously difficult as after all
you have to be connected to the ground somehow. Maybe one should construct
ones listening room held aloft by a balloon. I must suggest this idea to
Russ andrews.

The "room within a room" approach works quite well, as lomg as the inner
room is mounted on something compliant enough. You do need deep pockets,
though, and bass traps if it's not a huge room.

It's a topic that often comes up on rec.audio.pro
--
Tciao for Now!

John.

In article ,
Bill wrote:
In message , The Natural Philosopher
writes
Multiple random reflections are your freand Decorate the walls with egg
boxes or tapestry

Curtains with an air space behind them are better for balanced
dispersion/absorbtion of sound.

Quite. I've no idea where the notion that egg boxes are a decent way to
treat a wall came from. Because they are near useless. Perhaps it's
because some types of acoustic treatment may be shaped vaguely like egg
boxes.

--
*If only you'd use your powers for good instead of evil.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 28/11/13 11:19, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Bill wrote:
In message , The Natural Philosopher
writes
Multiple random reflections are your freand Decorate the walls with egg
boxes or tapestry

Curtains with an air space behind them are better for balanced
dispersion/absorbtion of sound.

Quite. I've no idea where the notion that egg boxes are a decent way to
treat a wall came from. Because they are near useless. Perhaps it's
because some types of acoustic treatment may be shaped vaguely like egg
boxes.

no. they do stop hard reflections.

They are better than nothing and cheap. They are nowhere near as good as
what they resemble to which you allude, I acknowledge. I saw a few
budget 'semi pro' studios equipped with them in the 70s.

Better than bare concrete or masonry.

Tell you waht which may amuse you. Sometimes I need to clap my hands to
call in a dog that's gone looking for love. There is a copse 150meters
away planted in a straight line. I can clearly hear an echo off it. And
from a similar one 300 meters way plus.

At might I can walk through the woods and 'hear' roughly where trees are
by the reflected sounds I make..

the 'sound' of being in open country is totally different.

--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.

On Wednesday, November 27, 2013 8:44:54 PM UTC, wrote:
Hello all,



Are there any guidelines for this? I have noticed that I MUCH prefer the sound of my lounge when the two sets of curtains are drawn. There is much less echo - or not quite echo but perhaps reverberation?


I used to work (in 1973) in the world's largest (at that time) 'dead room'. It was the anechoic chambre at the Building Research Station. It had 4 foot long polyeurathane foam wedges sticking out of the walls and the ceiling and the floor. You walked on an open wire mesh 'trampline-type' floor. The door (motorised) also had wedges on it.

It was very big; they had a symphony orchestra in there at one time.

I'd sometimes go and sit in it with the door closed. It was VERY quiet. You could hear the blood going round inside your head. If you listened to someone else speaking you got no sensation of distance. As they walked away from you the voice got quieter but otherwise was unchanged.

Next door was the reverberation chambre - a huge room where no two walls were parallel and everything was done to make the walls hard so the reverberation time was very long (20 seconds IIRC).

They would put test panels in a 'window' between the two rooms to measure acoustic properties of building materials.

Just though I'd share that...

Robert

Absolute hifi nuts will tell you that what you wear when listening to music
affects the sounds too. It does, but I don't know anyone who deliberately
chooses what they wear according to the acoustic they're trying to create.

As a gross example of something like this, it is very obvious if you read a magazine whilst listening to the TV or hifi, the effect of turning the pages.

Jon N

In article ,
The Natural Philosopher wrote:
Quite. I've no idea where the notion that egg boxes are a decent way to
treat a wall came from. Because they are near useless. Perhaps it's
because some types of acoustic treatment may be shaped vaguely like egg
boxes.

no. they do stop hard reflections.

They stop them, do they?

They are better than nothing and cheap.

The second bit is true.

They are nowhere near as good as
what they resemble to which you allude, I acknowledge. I saw a few
budget 'semi pro' studios equipped with them in the 70s.

They obviously read the same mags.

Drapes are the best option. Secondhand if money is tight.

--
*Who are these kids and why are they calling me Mom?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In message , The Natural Philosopher
writes

At might I can walk through the woods and 'hear' roughly where trees
are by the reflected sounds I make..

the 'sound' of being in open country is totally different.


There is a blind chap who taught himself to use echolocation to navigate
around. Not just walking but riding a bicycle

--
Chris French

On 28/11/13 19:27, chris French wrote:
In message , The Natural Philosopher
writes

At might I can walk through the woods and 'hear' roughly where trees
are by the reflected sounds I make..

the 'sound' of being in open country is totally different.


There is a blind chap who taught himself to use echolocation to navigate
around. Not just walking but riding a bicycle

I swear I can sense people at a distance as well. There's all sorts of
things like body heat causing slight air currents and radiant heat..

And by day I check the wildlife. If the pigeons fly away from ME it
means there's no one else in the wood at all..

--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.

In article , R.G. Bargy
scribeth thus
On 27/11/2013 20:44, wrote:
Hello all,

Are there any guidelines for this? I have noticed that I MUCH prefer the sound
of my lounge when
the two sets of curtains are drawn. There is much less echo - or not
quite echo but perhaps reverberation?
Thanks in advance,

David Paste.


Related topic: I am put off visiting several pubs and restaurants
locally (Cheshire/South Manchester area) as the interior designer(s)
seem to have b*ggered the acoustics by excessive use of hard surfaces on
walls, floors, ceilings and furniture in their modernisations. Sounds
bounce around unrestrained. Localised conversations become unclear, so
everyone speaks up more and more. Some even have an open-fronted kitchen
to add the clatter of cooks throwing pans and cooking implements around.

Result: struggle to follow a conversation at the same table and the
whole ambience becomes a strain - unbearable to my ears.

Anyone else notice this unwelcome trend?

Yes, but the acoustics didn't occur to them. They were too busy in
making it as visually impressive as possible. In fact its very difficult
now to find a quiet pub anywhere ;(...


BTW1: I even had my ears tested because I thought it might be due to my
age or some other problem. Nope, and the practitioner confirmed that it
is the building interior that is at fault.

BTW2: I prefer the decor (and beer) of less trendy places anyway - which
probably is an age thing. :-)


;!..
-
Tony Sayer

On Friday 29 November 2013 11:20 tony sayer wrote in uk.d-i-y:

In article , R.G. Bargy
scribeth thus

Related topic: I am put off visiting several pubs and restaurants
locally (Cheshire/South Manchester area) as the interior designer(s)
seem to have b*ggered the acoustics by excessive use of hard surfaces on
walls, floors, ceilings and furniture in their modernisations. Sounds
bounce around unrestrained. Localised conversations become unclear, so
everyone speaks up more and more. Some even have an open-fronted kitchen
to add the clatter of cooks throwing pans and cooking implements around.

Result: struggle to follow a conversation at the same table and the
whole ambience becomes a strain - unbearable to my ears.

Anyone else notice this unwelcome trend?

Yes, but the acoustics didn't occur to them. They were too busy in
making it as visually impressive as possible. In fact its very difficult
now to find a quiet pub anywhere ;(...


There is a recruitment consultancy in London that has its offices "under the
arches" somewhere that been poncified.

They leaf the bare brick arch - sort of reasonable.

Then they added a concrete floor and hard mezzanine floor.

No carpets and no soft hangings.

The place is ****ing awful. As a customer, I was appalled - I nearly went
deaf with the noise and could barely conduct a conversation. I would have
gone postal if I had to work there.

Pretty sure carpets and a few wall heavy wall hangings (arty of course)
would have sorted it out without losing the "vision".

Bloody architects and interior designers - no clue.



--
Tim Watts Personal Blog: http://squiddy.blog.dionic.net/

http://www.sensorly.com/ Crowd mapping of 2G/3G/4G mobile signal coverage

On Wednesday, 27 November 2013 22:45:11 UTC, Bert Coules wrote:

Here's a short news report about the oddness of being in an almost
completely sonically-dead space (or anechoic chamber, to give it its
scientific name): http://tinyurl.com/bndph3b .


I'd love to spend some time in one of those!

On Wednesday, 27 November 2013 23:44:39 UTC, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

Multiple random reflections are your freand Decorate the walls with egg
boxes or tapestry


That's a very narrow choice.

On Thursday, 28 November 2013 10:30:13 UTC, Brian Gaff wrote:

I was fortunate enough some years ago to go into an anechoic chamber where
they test things for sound emission etc, and when there is no sound being
generated in such a place, it feels very uncomfortable and as if the whole
room is closing in around you.


Sounds quite cosseting!

wrote:

I'd love to spend some time in one of those!

It can be a very strange and uncomfortable feeling. I've worked in many
studios which have a dead room: the most disconcerting example I've ever
been in was built like a spiral shaped corridor: getting to the middle
involved walking round a couple of complete turns and was odd enough, but
staying the very centre for anything more than a few minutes was truly
spooky: it felt as if the rest of the world had disappeared.

On 30/11/2013 00:31, Bert Coules wrote:
wrote:

I'd love to spend some time in one of those!

It can be a very strange and uncomfortable feeling. I've worked in many
studios which have a dead room: the most disconcerting example I've ever
been in was built like a spiral shaped corridor: getting to the middle
involved walking round a couple of complete turns and was odd enough,
but staying the very centre for anything more than a few minutes was
truly spooky: it felt as if the rest of the world had disappeared.


I find that effect simply by wearing headphones or earplugs. Cannot bear
doing so for more than short periods. (Though I wonder whether having to
"ignore" tinnitus has made me even less tolerant of being cut off from
any real external sounds?)

--
Rod