senior thesis project... acoustics

[breakthesilence]

do you guys know a lot about studio acoustics? my senior thesis project involves capturing sound that reflects off a surface. i have to work on the set-up so i was just wondering if i might find anyone willing to bounce ideas around. chat or something. thx!

[zjf]

If you want to capture sound in a very directional manner, look into placing a microphone into a parabolic dish, much like a satellite dish on the roof grabs a very directional signal, then aim at a wall and capture the bounced sound.

[TerraSin]

Reverb greatly depends on the room and what's in it as well as the microphone. For instance, I have a mic that allows me to record both directional and omni-directional, picking up sound that is reflected off of surfaces much easier. Makes for some very interesting effects.

With room, walls and wood floors make for the best reflection. Carpet and other ridged surfaces help to deaden sound and drop reflection. This is one of the reason that studios use a lot of shaped foam on their walls. For things like recording vocals or listening to mixes, you want as flat a response as possible.

If you want to see some really interesting reflection, go to an arena and listen to things like drums being sound checked and how the sound wave from the audio system reflects off the back of the arena causing a delay when it hits and comes back.