Surprising Ways Sound Shapes our Environment

There is no such thing as ‘perfect acoustics.’ Rather, there is no absolute ideal for acoustic environments, only a series of guidelines and a range of possible scenarios. The soundscape is something to be designed as much as any other aspect of a building. Buildings are like instruments that channel sound- an aspect of architectural design that is often overlooked in how it shapes our overall experience of space. This video explores the topic of building acoustics, from performance spaces-where we expect acoustics to be an important consideration- to the urban environment at large, to buildings that use sound creatively, all the way to buildings that operate like instruments in other unexpected and even more covert ways
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_About the Channel_
Architecture with Stewart is a KZbin journey exploring architecture’s deep and enduring stories in all their bewildering glory. Weekly videos and occasional live events breakdown a wide range of topics related to the built environment in order to increase their general understanding and advocate their importance in shaping the world we inhabit.
_About Me_
Stewart Hicks is an architectural design educator that leads studios and lecture courses as an Associate Professor in the School of Architecture at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He also serves as an Associate Dean in the College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts and is the co-founder of the practice Design With Company. His work has earned awards such as the Architecture Record Design Vanguard Award or the Young Architect’s Forum Award and has been featured in exhibitions such as the Chicago Architecture Biennial and Design Miami, as well as at the V&A Museum and Tate Modern in London. His writings can be found in the co-authored book Misguided Tactics for Propriety Calibration, published with the Graham Foundation, as well as essays in MONU magazine, the AIA Journal Manifest, Log, bracket, and the guest-edited issue of MAS Context on the topic of character architecture.
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FOLLOW me on instagram: @stewart_hicks & @designwithco
Design With Company: designwith.co
University of Illinois at Chicago School of Architecture: arch.uic.edu/

[@richardengelhardt582]

As a archaeologist, I am interested in the sub-field of archaeo-acoustics, which has various manifestations. For example, early religions that placed an emphasis on the oral recitation of texts such as Buddhism, usually chose caves for their meeting spaces, which the modified to amplify and broadcast the monks' recitations. Pitalkura in Maharaastra State in the Western Ghats of India is a spectacular example of this. Also the choice of habitation sites the soatial organization of various activities winthin these sites (early settlement planning, in the terms of the architecture profession) may be based on their acoustical properties. For example, the Taut Batu of Palawan Island in the Philippines have lived by preference for 35,000 years inside very large in area, circular, eroded sink holes in the ancient limestone karsts of their coastal mountain environment. Even today, members of this ancient tribal group clearly articulate that this geogical formation is the best location for settlements, due to a combination of acoustical considerations. Listening to the winds, the Taut Batu can predict snd gauge with a high degree of precision the timing, strength, trajectory and pattern of tropical typhoon storms, including tidal waves, which are some of the most common and potentially deadly natural disasters that threaten the community. They can also hear, with enough distinction and clarity, animals or humans who are approaching the settlement from kilometers away, and their approach trajectories, distinguishing between one or more humans, a wild boar, a troop of moneys, an iguana or a low-flying hornbill, etc. And, at a even more micro level they have set up a kind of telephone/telegraph system within the community using the acoustical properties of the hollow limestone outcrops, to the degree that a message as specific as: "Tell Johnny that his mother says to come home for dinner, and to check the bamboo rat trap along the way" can be broadcast throughout the community. Coming to traditional architecture, one good example is how the wooden floors of the corridors of ancient Chinese, Korean, and Japanese houses and palaces were constructed so as to squeak loudly if a shoeless person was trying to sneak up quietly on the occupants of a room. There are so many other good examples in traditional structures. And example is the way in which the curvature of the brick walls of the defensive gates of ancient Chinese forts that dotted the Great Wall along the western frontiers were designed to facilitate hearing the verbal orders shouted from the commanders on the lookout towers above, to the troops on the ground below.

[@Mr.Autodelete]

You are living the dream

[@9everagain]

From what I have read at some point, Jesus Christ also used the acoustics given by a physical place when talking to crowds from a shore, with the cliff walls behind Him. I can't reamember the source, just the information, partially. I thought to write this comment, maybe it helps somehow. :)

[@bjbjolley0]

Pauline Oliveros has an album called Deep Listening that explores this idea. You should listen when you have the chance it was pretty revolutionary in the world of experimental music.

[@chinmeysway]

@@9everagain except sound from a face is protruded forward.. but it maybe serves to block out other interfering sounds to have a back drop alcove. Geo-eaqualization ha.

[@chinmeysway]

Pre-intercom then, in short

[@Zieman_Grace]

As a UIC duel degree student for Music and Architectural Studies, I appreciate the interdisciplinary cross over 🙌

[@user-yk1cw8im4h]

what a flex

[@OntarioTrafficMan]

Which degree is winning the duel?

[@Zieman_Grace]

@@OntarioTrafficMan Lol, clearly my focus is all about sounds and how it can be contained or surrounded, not the spelled out words that describe them 😉 (Tbh though, Arch midterms kick hardest)

[@OntarioTrafficMan]

@@Zieman_Grace Haha sorry, it was just asking for a pun. Best of luck with both of them! I did an undergrad in Urban Planning while doing music on the side, but not ambitiously to enough to actually get a second degree.

[@sufferrng1717]

As neither of those things I agree

[@stunlord1419]

This is quite possibly the only comment section ive ever seen that has consistantly been filled with positive, intriguing, engaged thoughts. Well done.

[@ClarkABennett]

As much as I appreciate the built environment, my favorite acoustical spaces are forests where most sounds, except those made by animals who have evolved their vocalizations to be heard, are muted. A sizeable forested space in a city provides a welcome respite from the sounds of city life. That being said, the architecture you have presented in this video is inspirational!

[@brewskimckilgore6796]

only part of the northern US winter i can appreciate. closest experience ive ever had with "total silence" is a snow covered forest, and man is it tranquil

[@chinmeysway]

@@brewskimckilgore6796 good point; snow seems to absorb a lot of frequencies - even in the midst of city sounds.

[@IvoPavlik]

@@chinmeysway, water in general has this property. Whether in the form of snow (falling or laying) or in the form of mist/fog. It probably has something to do with the increased mass of air containing the water, leading to more energy needed for sound waves to propagate through the space. Also for fallen snow there is the property of porosity which increases absorption of the sound energy within the snow mass. It's actually a fascinating topic to think of 🙂

[@AngelOfTheMad]

Where I live seems to work almost as a natural auditorium for air shows. Pre COVID, the Air Force Thunderbirds would do air shows twice a year or so, and everyone knew that the best place to watch them was on the east side of the interstate a few miles away, because you can see all the stunts, and the noise of the engines reflects off the mountains back to you. There's nothing like watching a fighter kick on the afterburners, feel the thump in your chest from the engines, then as you're turning to watch them tear overhead your ears fill with the echo off the mountains behind you.

[@samuelgoldberg8260]

My favorite "sonic accident" in architecture is the whisper spot in the Old House Chamber in the US Capitol where, the story goes, John Quincy Adams could hear the other party strategizing from across the room.

[@rydercromar2516]

I'm actually studying here at IIT and every time I hear/see a reference out in the "wild" it's so jarring and kind of cool.

[@Stoneeeeemo]

There's a church in Brasilia (Brazil's capital) that has this huge, circular almost triangular-shaped wall, going from one side of the church to the other. If you whisper in one of the ends, people on the other end will be able to hear you loud and clear, even though they're 10 meters away. I have no clue why that's inside a church, but it's really cool.

[@christopherstephenjenksbsg4944]

Excellent video! This subject is too often neglected in architectural criticism unless the building is specifically intended for music. I am reminded of the travails of New York City's Philharmonic Hall, a.k.a. Avery Fisher Hall, a.k.a. David Geffen Hall. It has undergone numerous major and minor renovations because the acoustics are so bad for music. The first iteration was so bad that remodeling began immediately after it opened in 1962, but this and subsequent adjustments did little to correct the problem. The interior was completely rebuilt in 1976, using Boston's Symphony Hall as an acoustical model but on a much larger scale. Though there was a slight improvement, the results were still unsatisfactory and many guest conductors insisted on using Carnegie Hall for performances. Further renovations in 1992 didn't help much. It is now being completely rebuilt again, with the stage moved forward and audience seating extending across the back of the stage. This arrangement has been successful in some European concert halls, but again, they are smaller. This seems to be the hall's biggest problem. It is too big to have good acoustics for unamplified music. The rebuilt hall is reopening in October. I am interested in hearing the results. One of the most amazing yet problematic acoustical environments I've ever been in is NYC's Cathedral of St John the Divine. It is HUGE -- purportedly the largest Gothic-style cathedral in the world. The interior reverberation is 11 seconds! Some musicians, like the Paul Winter Consort, have used this feature very effectively. However I have been to large diocesan services there with the cathedral filled, and during hymns the congregation at the back of the cathedral ends up a measure or so behind those positioned up front. CHAOS!

[@VivekPatel-ze6jy]

As someone who's played that beginning piece (the Vivaldi) in an orchestra in a bad acoustic environment, this video has kinda opened my eyes

[@garethgriffiths1674]

I always tended to think that only acousticians would debate whether a concert hall had defective acoustics. Like others before me, I experienced it first hand when sitting in the "cheap seats" of Alvar Aalto's Finlandia Hall in Helsinki. Sat at the back, the balcony above stretches so far out that most classical music sounds muffled. Not being able to correct all its defects, by 2000 the city decided to build a new concert hall nextdoor.

[@julieisthatart]

Some years ago I attended a "Stomp!" concert in Guadalajara, Mexico at a modern theater. The exit stairs were around the outside of the auditorium and were metal and in a sort of scaffolding. As the crowd descended these stairs, a rhythm was set so that each person moved one step at a time landing hard and entirely in unison. Making a perfect encore for the performance we had all enjoyed. I do not know if this happened as the audience exited from other performances, but it was very fun to be in for me that evening.

[@arasharfa]

Autechre is a british electronic duo who actually used falling water on the cover of one of their records. they're music is the most architectural music i've ever heard. It's all about material and space.

[@brandonterrill3260]

those first two minutes were mind blowing. ty stew!

[@arsezxvi]

In thermen Vals by Zumthor he designed a lot of different rooms for different experiences. One is a small chamber that is only accessible through a almost claustrofobic passage. But inside the chamber you have a very clear and long echo (probably due to the hard materials and the height of this chamber). But experiencing a church like echo in such a small place felt very relaxing and enjoyable. Would definitely recommend!

[@admortor]

I hope you read my comment. Very interesting video. I'm from VENEZUELA and there's a building here famous for having excellent acoustics. Experts say it has the best acoustics in the country. It's called Aula Magna de la Universidad Central de Venezuela, you can check it out. What gives it its excellent acoustics is the "clouds" on the ceiling, which are particular structures that help the sound bounce in a very efficient way while making the interior of the building look beautiful. :)

[@elizabethreed5940]

Also, the clouds were made by alexander calder so they’re works of art

[@__-cd9ug]

I once took part in an artistic 'installation' I guess, in an old Chapel, where you could take a nap on the floor of the Chapel while people played music with weird instruments that I don't know the name of, I think mostly oriental instruments It was a nice moment and the building did feel like an instrument to me

[@youngstallionyt]

I literally was just commenting on how spot on the acoustics are at my local high school’s new auditorium…

[@christophercasey7388]

i think you've got the pacing now! Great video!

[@YanickFM]

I really enjoy your videos. I also used to live in Chicago and sometimes I miss it, so it's cool to me that you use examples around the city.

[@cantthinkofnameyeah7249]

That was a very interesting video, this helps because I'm trying to learn how to construct buildings that appeal to all senses.

[@Cubic5]

I love this video.

[@matts2581]

The Stonehenge replica along the Columbia River, in Washington state (USA) is pretty slick. :D

[@Yuomay]

Great video ! Your explanations and referneces are very clear and illustrative. In my opinion you should name silence (control of the background noise) as one of the most important acoustic qualities of a space.

[@willknowsright9615]

Thanks Stewart. this was good

[@DadCMusic]

The shower is a pretty good acoustical space, lol. Thanks for the cool video! Mind blown a little with the “Hymn music is for cathedrals” and “Bach Cathedral allowed different compositions” info.

[@roberttaylor9259]

How did you get Wes Anderson to direct the first 2 minutes of this video?

[@brettsuydam]

Phenomenology!!!

[@nonoluigi]

Well-rounded video. Growing up in the Chicago suburbs, I remember the whisper room in the Science and Industry Museum (I think) where separated parabolic plexiglass panels passed the sounds of whisperers across a distance, which was odd to hear. A mention and audio clip of hallway acoustical standing waves would have been a fitting addition as an example of the opposite of “perfect,” if not a short audio clip of the Cloud Gate underside resonance as well! The Koolhaus train stop audio effect was an interesting inclusion, I assume one he intended to make! One never knows with architects. Interestingly, I have never heard anyone talk about the Phillips Pavilion acoustics. I suspect the building materials were not especially reflective given how temporary the structure was and because it was to house over 40 speakers for making its own acoustics, per 1950’s technology. You should check out the book on the Pepsi-Cola Pavillion at the Osaka World’s Fair, some time in the 60’s. It had a spherical mirror enclosure and spherical speaker array for sound using about 50 speakers.

[@stevengalloway8052]

This "sounds" like a really good video on acoustical design. 😏 Thank you! 👍

[@joshstark1971]

I find my favorite spot for echo is the Belmont blue line

[@benmolitor1519]

Honestly figured we ruined your shot when we walked behind you at iit. Glad I could make it in the video hahaha

[@The_Smith]

Combining two of my favourite topics! Thanks for making this video Stewart.

[@gelmibson883]

Woo! Woo! Woo!

[@RuiCBGLima]

What is the name of the organ music piece used at 6:07? Thank you

[@lyonowens]

Stairwells

[@LeemeSeeYaJAZZhands]

The next time I’m threatened with legal action because a fan I designed is too loud at the neighboring building, I’m gonna tell them it’s just part of the city soundscape 😅

[@peehandshihtzu]

There's an old ghost town near my house and in it there is a building that used to be a vault at the heart of the town. The vault remains and has a very bass heavy amplification within it. Just talking normally inside it makes a person sound like an announcer, LOL. Cool video, Thank You! :)

[@troelspeterroland6998]

What is the music at the beginning?

[@stewarthicks]

Gloria

[@troelspeterroland6998]

Thanks a lot! By whom?

[@cobralyoner]

4:53 why is he so wide tho

[@rth0mas]

The audience is also an instrument to tune, I think. My brother does stand up, and I organize a speaking event in the same town, and we have the opposite acoustic preferences. His worst nightmare is that all the laughter gets swallowed by open air or absorbent walls before it can build into a self-reinforcing wave. He likes closed spaces with low ceilings to reflect audience noise back to them. My worst nightmare, on the other hand, is that chatter from the audience builds to the point where my presenters (often talking about more dry topics) don’t feel like anyone is listening to them. I prefer open air venues - which are of course terrible for stand up. Like you say, the best acoustics is a matter of what you’re trying to accomplish. Great video, thanks!

[@joekeller8936]

The audience is a HUGE factor in tuning. Im an orchestral musician and you dont realize hust how big a factor it is until your playing solos. I recently played a church gig for easter, and the sound of my playing changed very dramatically between the rehearsal and when the church was full

[@cafebrasileiro]

Just a commentary. (I'm a Physicist,): Light waves can also cancel out with reflection. It's not a phenomenon that only happens to sound. One example is the Morpho Blue Butterfly, that has no colour ( it has no pigmentation, it's actually white, and not blue). What happens is that all colours that bounce off it cancel the incoming ones, except for the blue colour. So you see blue, even though the butterfly is not really blue. It's a phenomenon called Iridescence, it's what gives soap bubbles their rainbow-ish colour, (in Physics we call these "thin films") and that bright colour on the holographic stickes on some credit cards. All that said, beautiful video, Stewart. Love your channel. Keep it up! Cheers from Brazil.

[@JoshuaBennettMusic]

I'm not a physicist, but it seems to me that lasers generate their beams by way of constructive interference, don't they? If I understand it correctly, you can have electromagnetic resonance just like you can have acoustic resonance: waves of a specific length being reflected in a way (an exact multiple of their wavelength?) that generates constructive interference, increasing the waves' amplitude.

[@pedrova8058]

yup, "structural coloration" occurs in a lot places in nature, including blue/green eyes in people (Tyndall effect)

[@scottcarr5014]

@@JoshuaBennettMusic They do! The space where the laser beam is generated has a specific length corresponding to the wavelength of the light being produced.

[@kloss213]

I design loudspeakers I created my home to have 3 rooms with varying degrees of refection absorption and sound leakage. I also designed this home to be passive solar and geothermal it doesn't go below 50f without heat in winter and if sunny can get up to 80f if it's below freezing out. I cool 2200sqft with 1 bedroom-sized AC unit.

[@yoted]

Which room(s) are your listening rooms?

[@charpnatl]

I really enjoyed this video being a musician who plays mostly acoustic instruments this all makes so much sense to me. Some of my favorite spaces are the Philharmonie in Berlin. I love the way it offers the ability to “ tune” the space by adjusting panels suspended from the ceiling to suite the type of performance taking place. Another Hall I’ve developed a fondness for is Hill Auditorium on the campus of University of Michigan the Shell design of the back wall of the stage really amplifies and distributes the most minute sounds around the entire Hall. I’ve loved the acoustic of every old European church and cathedral I’ve ever been in especially in regards to how the spaces work so well with the pipe organs in the spaces.

[@stewarthicks]

I played many concerts at Hill Auditorium while in my high school orchestra!

[@charpnatl]

@@stewarthicks Oh WOW! What an incredible experience to have in high school. I was in concert band and chorus. Our auditorium was less than ideal for music performance, honors band performances were always in gymnasiums. Extremes

[@Taramushi]

I'm nostalgic for the theaters I attended when I was younger. Not for the performances, but for the unique vibes they contained inside. You really felt it when you crossed through the threshold. It was otherworldly in the best way. Some museums have this going on too, and honestly that made it fun to be there even when nothing was going on. Stepping in or walking through, major soundscape changes can feel like magic. So it's incredible how we can plan for those moments through a building's design.

[@silverblue73]

I think it's the fabric everywhere, usually they have huge panels of it along the walls which absorb the sound so it doesn't echo or bleed from theater to theater, so it's very womb-like and meditative

[@stevevice9863]

Excellent video! One of the most acoustically pleasing spaces I've ever experienced is the "Volcano Room" inside Cumberland Caverns in Tennessee. This natural space is used for concerts and featured in a program carried by some PBS stations called Bluegrass Underground, ( they play all kinds of music, not just bluegrass). I estimate that the space can seat approximately 500-600 people and the natural rock formations make a great reflective surface for sound waves. If you are ever near Pelham,TN, check it out. There are you tube videos of concerts, but you have to experience it live to get the full effect.

[@pamelah6431]

I wonder how the sound changed based on how many people are present.

[@stevevice9863]

@@pamelah6431 I'm sure the crowd helps to soften the reverberations. It was packed when I was there so no way to compare the two. I would describe the space as very balanced acousticly

[@NathanSibs]

@@stevevice9863 the audience can make a difference but this is typically accounted for in the design of the space. All that padding on your chair in a movie theater or concert hall is to approximate the absorption provided by a seated person so the room performs the same empty vs full.

[@StephenCoorlas]

11:49 Glad to you included the Philips Pavilion designed by Iannis Xenakis (Feat. Le Corbusier). I studied Xenakis's research of using music theory as a form generator for architecture, and there were fascinating results that deserve more attention in the academic field. There are hidden relationships between geometry and waves of all types. His studies highlighted forms that revealed themselves when musical scales were compounded, harmonized, and syncopated. Nothing is new, just undiscovered.

[@shaggybreeks]

Always wanted to do architecture, but the education never happened. Now that I'm an old man, I'm getting the education. This is good stuff, keep up the good work, professor!

[@mattormatthew]

I'm an audio engineer and I approve this message. Excellent vid once again, Stewart!

[@Wyattporter]

Hi Stewart! I just wanted to comment and say I got served your videos by the algorithm a few months ago, and then Professor Jayne Kelley showed us your videos in her class. I’m excited to have you present to us!

[@ElAnvaBar]

Interesting topic. I'd love to also see one about acoustics in a more common and practical environment, like homes and office and how that affects people's experiences. I come across a lot of "modern" building, where I feel that acoustics have been forgotten/neglected to be incorporated in the design.

[@jaimegarch]

Having worked in the music industry for some years, the role of sound in daily life is made more obvious when you step in to a studio designed for almost zero reflections. The effect of zero sound is almost painful to the ears and you can feel the sound stop as soon as you make it. Your eardrums are used to the sound of pressure waves hitting so much so that the temporary absence is deafening. I love the idea of the train above the school. Integrating what might be a nuisance sound of the train into a closed space that might be usually designed to exclude outside sounds. Making the person inside the space forget they are inside and reminding them that there is an outside still going on without them. Again , great piece.

[@cprestia]

I love this! I often talk about the importance of soundscapes and people look at me like I’m crazy. I don’t buy a clock unless I like its tick and chime, I test whistling tea kettles and ringing kitchen timers whenever I can before purchasing. I went out of my way to find a microwave with a bell instead of a beep, and I’m incredibly fortunate that the dryer my house came with also has a bell signal. My first car had a physical bell instead of an electronic chime. I am a huge advocate for enclosing kitchens in walls with doors. Otherwise these ‘open concept’ designs make the entire house sound like a kitchen (with the fridge humming, the echo of a tile/hard floor, and cooking/washing sounds when somebody is busy). Windy days are magical (albeit chilly) with 19th century single pane windows. And who doesn’t love a good door creak on a stormy night? My “dream house” will be as passive in its design as possible to avoid unnecessary mechanical noise (the ugliest noise there is, imo). One of my ideas is to have an extremely reverberant central atrium with vents near the ceiling that let in natural sounds like birdsong and rustling leaves. It would be arranged so that direct sound does not reach floor level and so the occupant only hears these sounds after several reflections. I think the effect would be magical! Anyhow, thank you for validating my antics. 😅

[@Arlae_Nova]

Alright, I agree that sound is important, but it seems like for you it's the only factor 😂

[@cprestia]

I'm a musician... What can I say? 🤷‍♂️

[@BigBirdy100]

I had to move a small refrigerator out of my bedroom because i could hear it. It was very noticeable. I understand your viewpoints. An open-concept does make a living room sound like a kitchen. Notice how modern architecture disdains carpet and therefore the spaces echo.

[@cprestia]

@@BigBirdy100 heat transfer refrigerators (as opposed to condenser) are woefully inefficient, but completely silent. 😉

[@douglasmclean2802]

Another excellent episode, Stewart! Thanks for sharing unique and fascinating locations in Chicago.

[@maybeebabee1]

Great video! I agree the building/room is the instrument. In the city where I live, there are old grain silos that have been repurposed into performance venues. When they were built no one thought that they'd eventually hold concerts in the space so the sound experience is extraordinary and challenging, at best, to perform music in. The reverberation is disconcerting. I haven't performed there yet but hope to someday with the knowledge that the space IS the instrument and to "play" the room.

[@j.mieses8139]

I was a musician from middle school all the way through college (not doing much playing these days). As an architect, I always appreciated the correlation between Music and Architecture.

[@ryanburdeaux]

architecture is frozen music , music is liquid architecture

[@duggio666]

Wow; quite thought provoking, especially learning that music was/is often composed to be performed in specific buildings. I never knew that or anything about the science of acoustics with different genres of music.

[@thelorax9622]

Hi Stewart - that performance space was amazing. Simple materials but used in a way that is both functional and interesting. Thanks for a future trivia question - What do David Byrne, Weird Al Yankovic and Chris Lowe have in common?

[@ereceeme]

All very sound architecture.

[@hasty1117]

I am so happy to have stumbled across your channel. I love architecture never studied it but your channel is helping me understand and read the buildings. It would be great if you could do more videos on the terminology. Thank you so much learnt a lot already really appreciate what you do. Keep going. Xxx

[@Zeithri]

I don't understand much about acoustics except the bare minimum. Feels like I learned some new concepts here. Linked this video to my musical inclined friend

[@katiebethb9929]

I love thinking about this kind of stuff. I have been reading this book called Resonance: Essays on the Intersection of Music and Architecture Vol.1, and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about this. This stuff is so cool!!

[@g0d5m15t4k3]

Today I learned Weird Al has a degree in architecture. I had to read his Wiki to confirm:He graduated in 1975 and was valedictorian of his senior class. He attended California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, where he earned a bachelor's degree in architecture.

[@moses8910]

Awesome as always, not sure how I went so long without subscribing. I was wondering do you use your own drone footage or stock clips?

[@stewarthicks]

Both

[@griffinl6057]

Thanks for covering this topic! My favorite is probably red rocks amphitheater though it's more of a mix of natural/human made space.

[@cgduude]

Are you referring to the one in Southern Utah, I listened to a great bagpipe group there, or there may be another red rock that I'm not aware of. Edit. I got my names mixed up. Tuacahn was the one I went to. It just seems like everything in St. George is named Red Rock. Haha

[@cherch4625]

@@cgduude You should definitely check out Red Rocks out in Colorado if you get the chance. Super cool music/entertainment venue.

[@samb8414]

Hi Stewart! I thought this video was absolutely brilliant!!! Thanks for sharing.

[@bentz98125]

Can't complement enough this sorely needed understanding of acoustics in architecture. I say this with 30+ years' experience of sirens, radios, alarms, flatulence, belching, and snoring gratuitously amplified in badly designed fire stations. (Yes, badly designed common sleeping areas amplify the sound of nocturnal body functions. But not to worry, the people using them are only trying to sleep!) One day at work in a brand new fire station, the principle architect of its design firm showed up for a walk through. When I brought up an aspect of how sounds traveled in the brand spanking new building, he said it had never even occurred to him to consider acoustics. Then he said building design can't affect the sound characteristics of a building anyway. Good to know.

[@pamelah6431]

Music being made for a particular space reminds me of a nerdy article about beer and wine that was (is) crafted to be poured into a particular shaped glass. It impacts air, flavor, fizz, etc.

[@henriquemenezes8668]

that wasn't Nietsche, that was Goethe... ‘Music is liquid architecture; architecture is frozen music’

[@ferafa22]

woaooo I'm learning to speak English, and what an educational video I really enjoyed it thank you. I was missing out on so many things wow

[@archwaldo]

"perfect" implies that the space is suitable for all acoustic applications. Different sounds have different requirements to bring out their full acoustic potential, so it's technically not feasible to design a single space that has "everything". So yeah, i guess it's better to reframe what "perfect acoustics" means. Instead of referring to a "one-size-fits-all" solution, it would be better for "perfect acoustics" to refer to what's "most suitable" based on the requirements. "How to design the best square hole for the square block to fit through?" rather than "how to design the best hole that can fit everything?".

[@lsmft5178]

I’ve had the privilege of standing on the roof of one of the Marina City towers where, facing the opposite tower, a loud clap gets transformed into something wholly other and science fiction like. Favorite noise in Chicago.

[@Mare0912]

What a great video. It's always nice to get some different point of views on topics one is involved with. Keep on going!

[@justayoutuber1906]

I just learned Weird Al got his BA in Architecture at Cal Poly. Cool.

[@shintsu01]

i like the amsterdam concert building and Utrecht tivoli vredenburg Cloud nine

[@simon7762]

Not sure if this has been mentioned before, but your great videos is great advertising for your university :)

[@frederikriedel6431]

Just one correction that light has the same behaviour as sound regarding interference. Just think of all the colours on a thin layer of oil.

[@noodlenomnom6746]

All I want is to be able to hear what the attendants are saying at my airport terminal

[@rhysknight8681]

Well I finally clicked this with the new title. Great video

[@95GuitarMan13]

Pretty sure it was Goethe who said architecture is frozen music. This idea was taken particularly seriously by classical and renaissance architects like Palladio who tried to keep all building elements in harmony (a musical term) through the ratios of their proportions, similar to how the notes in an octave are defined by their ratios to one another.

[@stewarthicks]

For sure. Great example. Follow up video!!

[@syrah134]

Space shapes sound and sound shapes our experience of space.

[@alexanderlove6595]

i am so majoring in architecture from this channel

[@taylormartinlucas]

I’m getting this for free on yt? who do I owe

[@tangyorange6509]

Living in Chicago your videos are so fun

[@stepandavtyan7823]

It's very interesting, thank you

[@halokeeper]

Nice to see a shout-out for the Pet Shop Boys.

[@natetaggart2153]

Stewart, I have a career already, and your youtube channel has me wanting to go to architecture school. You put out amazing content.

[@stewarthicks]

Thank you!!

[@Me99999_]

congrats! this will be in fallen family forest! wowee! woohoo! hooray! hoopla! 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊 huzzah!

[@bruce-le-smith]

Very cool topic, thank you!

[@mocha-6957]

You deserve more subscribers my friend

[@markwick11]

mind blown. this is SO COOL!

[@brown-brettstgermain9166]

Stewart, 1880 Truro Cathedral was completed. It is HUGE. Architect literally build the Cathedral around the acoustic laws of the Organ. I experienced a perf there live. Most AMAZING sound EvEr!

[@jamespfp]

*AS A MUSICIAN,* who performs live and in public, assessing and choosing between acoustic environments for their ability to reflect and alter the experience is part and parcel with what I do almost every time I perform. Thanks for your video!

[@euroschmau]

Soundscapes in American cities are extraordinarily harsh, loud and unnerving; there's a good reason why I'm always blasting music in my ear while walking around town. Compare this to any European city where traffic is controlled and thus there is interplay between cars/loud and pedestrians/quiet. Not to mention most American cities are ugly as hell.

[@ChristopherOrth]

Now if we could just get modern architects and interior designers to give a good goddam at all about acoustics! Everything is made hard and reflective now. Take a space with hard surfaces, fill it with people and then play background music and you have a recipe for a horrible room full of people yelling at each other. Most restaurants and many shopping spaces are quite literally at what you could rate as "concert volumes". All us introverts (and anyone who cares about maintaining their hearing without damage) don't spend any time in these horrible spaces. I guess you could say that modern architecture and interior design will be directly responsible for the increasing success of the take out food industry and Amazon product delivery services!

[@ECNARSICIO]

The EMPAC building at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) is supposedly acoustically perfect.

[@luk4aaaa]

What is that building at 0:42, looks really nice

[@aodhanofailain]

I’m not 100% sure, but I think these are the biophilic towers in Milan, Italy, known as the Bosco Verticale.

[@JosephHuether]

Speaking of acoustics and Chicago…nothing beats listening to classic electrified “Chicago style” Delta blues in a packed club. Walls are generally brick while the floors and ceilings are wood or plaster on wood joist framing and bodies provide just the right amount of absorption. The rooms are long and tube-like. The bar along one side and furniture provide dispersion. The sound is truly rich and is rarely duplicated in a concert setting. Here in New Haven, CT, Yale Music School has a purpose-build hall that is perfect for unamplified chamber music. Sprague Hall. When one puts amplified ensembles in it there is too much energy and the reverberation creates too much distortion…as least IMO. Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead once said that New York's (much hated by architects) Madison Square Garden had the best acoustics in the world for what might be called "arena rock" and attributed it to its unique tensile roof structure and floor structure built over NYC's long-lost-and-missed Penn Station. Great subject for discussion.

[@vincentgoupil180]

Favorite industrial sound, working at Wal-Mart stacking metal grating (4"x4" grid with 4" flanges on two sides, 1/4" gauge). After sliding the top grating its vibrations, metal against metal, reverberated (or, resonated) through the other gratings. Sounded similiar to "music of the planets" on You Tube channels. An oriental person saying mung, as in mung bean. Sound reverberates in their mouth cavity. Okinawan Expo hall with a sloped wall and thin sheets of water rolling down it. Similiar to a large room of Pachinko machines. Ambulance siren echoing between tall buildings two in the morning. Distance subway train approaching station coupled with compressed air before it. One more, Tom Petty's line from "American Girl" " ... hear the cars roll out on 441 like waves crashing on the beach." Highway 441 runs though Paynes Prairie, a marsh. When the car tires roll on the asphalt the sound echos over the shallow water likes waves breaking in the humid night air. Primordial feeling.

[@gur262]

I'm German. Watch TV. Guy moves next to a main, 60mph road. Hip-high-, ugly fence. Goes on to complain about roadnoise in his garden instead of getting a hedge.