Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I need an interview with an expert ASAP. Could anyone please just answer whatever questions they feel they can and email me the answers? Thank you. (email address is on bottom)


(if you don't have a response to any question just leave that one blank)


Question 1) What is your job title or other qualification?

Question 2) How long have you been in this occupation?

Question 3) What are some materials that you have heard of using or used yourself in soundproofing?

Question 4) Have you ever heard of or used recycled shredded paper, or any other “green” material in soundproofing successfully?

Question 5) Is sound reflection used in soundproofing more or less often than sound absorption form what you have seen?

Question 6) Do you know if different materials are used in such places as recording studios compared to normal homes or other buildings in soundproofing?

Question 7) Would the pitch of the sound expected to be most common effect your choice in soundproofing materials?


please send all response emails to:
[E-mail address deleted by moderator]

Hi,

Science Buddies does not allow students and experts to contact one another via e-mail; all communication must be kept on the forum. Thus, I have deleted your e-mail address.

Have you considered interviewing someone at a local music store? They might know a thing or two about soundproofing.

1) Engineer
2) 35 years
3) Celulose, fiberglass, polyurea and other foamed plastics, glass, wood, brick, stone.
4) Yes, celulose can be obtained from shredded paper.
5) Sound "absorption" materials usually involves sound reflection at least on a miniture scale. "Sound proofing" ususally involves a combination of disrupting sound transmission either by using materials that won't conduct mechanical vibrations well and providing reflective barriers to obtain sound isolation.
6) Recording studio design usually involves several aspects. One goal is to provide a room where internal reflections meet the desire of the musicians involved. Some groups like a highly reflective environment ("lively" room) and others a more muted environment but nobody I've met likes a completely "dead" room. If you ever have a chance to go into a sound isolation chamber, you will hear all sorts of sounds your body is making that are unsettling at first. Because most studios are used by multiple groups, these characteristics of the room has to be "tunable" by moving in and out wall hangings and portable sound baffles. Another goal is to insure that light fixtures and other permanent room fixtures will not resonate in the audible range. Tracking down a sympathetic annoying "buzz" somewhere in the room is a real time waster. Another goal is to prevent sounds from outside the room entering the recording room at sufficient amplitude to be recorded; however, there must be some two way visual contact with the recording engineer so management of sound through glass has to be dealt with.
7) There are many situations in industry and home appliances where the goal is to reduce noise pollution. In these situations, both the pitch and the amplitude of the sound source play a major role in determining how to mitigate the noise pollution.

Sound absorption works fairly well for higher frequencies, but low frequencies can be a problem.
One of my friends noticed that his son's drum practice could be heard around the neighborhood. so he constructed a special practice room in the garage. The room had inner and outer walls; with the space between filled with sand. The sand reduced transmission of vibrations from the inner to outer wall. I'll bet you can think up a small scale experiment, perhaps with a loudspeaker inside a miniature room.

Have you tried looking at the soundproofing forum site, there are huge amounts of info on soundproofing there.

http://soundproofingforum.co.uk/