A local concert hall with a capacity of about 1000 has complex baffles and excellent acoustics, except for a few seats to one side near the rear. From there, a percussion stroke tails off into a little bleat. Why does this happen and can it be fixed?
• In any room, a listener hears sound directly from the source, followed by many reflections from the walls, floor and ceiling. The unique pattern of reflections at each location determines the sound field there.
In a concert hall with good acoustics, the later a reflection arrives, the lower its intensity. The little bleat…
