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A glossary of new terms as exciting as some jive jargon has come into existence at Lakewood High School in the last few months. Enriching vocabularies are such mysterious addictions as sonic sieves, sound transparencies, echo breakers, floating ceilings and inverted ocean waves.
The terms have close affinity to "hi fi," now an almost universal abbreviation for high fidelity sound transmission, particularly where music is concerned.
All the word combination's above described one way or another
the acoustical design and properties of the new million dollar Lakewood
Civic Auditorium at Lakewood High School.
Irregular Bricks in Plans
An observer scanning the interior of the auditorium night be inclined
to believe the bricklayers had been imbibing. Here and there bricks protrude
and in other places they are depressed out of line. But it was all
part of the original plan by Bolt, Beranek & Newman of Boston, acoustical
consultants, who believe they have produced one of the finest acoustical
structures in the country.
In order to hold electrical loud-speaking devices to the minimum, a
hard plaster ceiling form was adopted, similar to an inverted ocean wave
and its angle was computed to accord with the slope of the auditorium floor.
The irregular surface patter of the brick interior side walls break up
reflected sound. Adjacent to the proscenium opening are hard plywood reflectors
with directional wood fins to force sound directly into the audience.
Ceiling "Floats"
The ceiling "floats" between recessed panels surfaced with acoustical
absorbing material. Just away from the stage the ceiling has a sound absorbing
chamber the entire width of the auditorium, a feature repeated along the
rear wall. The chambers are composed of hard plaster recesses covered with
wood fins to direct reflected sound into spun glass pads. These chambers
eliminate echo and off cycle reverberations.
Although the projections into the audience of spoken lines is considered
relatively simple, special additions had to be made to provide for music.
Before projecting music the tones must be completely intermixed to eliminate
sound lag. This is accomplished by the erection of a plywood enclosure
around the musicians and the suspension of a canopy above them.
Reflectors Blend Tones
The enclosing panels are placed at controlled angles with relation
to the musicians and are subdivided into random sized sections to correspond
with the various tone frequencies. These reflectors thus completely intermix
and blend the tones before they are projected to the audience. Even the
seats have entered into the acoustical act. Their backs are to be upholstered
in a fabric of such density that the empty ones will have the same sound
absorbing values as the occupied ones.
Divided by Curtain
Of particular interest is a dividing curtain that cuts the auditorium
into two provide for small audiences. Since the auditorium is constructed
to operate as a unit the curtain blocks sight but does not block sound,
thus the name "sonic sieve" or "sound transparency." The curtain permits
sound to move through it to be absorbed by the rear control chambers and
chair back in the same manner as if the auditorium were fully occupied.
Architects for the auditorium are Hays & Ruth of Cleveland, who
have followed the modern dictum of "form follows function," their guide
in designing the hall.