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[Joey Licklider]

I have disagreement over reflected sound and acoustic properties.
I work in a theatre and we have an acoustical orchestra shell the we put up when ever we have a band cocnert or choir concert.  The wall and ceiling pieces are made of a honeycomb fiber board covered with 1/4 plywood then covered with formica.  The wall pieces roll into place and the ceiling pieces hang on a batten and rotate into place when needed.  Heres the problem.  Some of the formica pieces have come off leaving the plywood exposed.  
My question is, will this affect the sound in any way?  I say it won't a hard surface is a hard surface.  The plywood has some of the glue left on it but I can sand it down smooth to resemble the formica smooth surface. I can paint the wood and no one would ever know the difference. Will that change anything.  I have a coleague saying the plywood and glue will adversly affect the sound an the formica needs to be put back on to have that smooth surface.      Who's right here, smooth plywood or formica?

Thanks for your input.

Joey

[Simon Lewis]

Joey,

the favourite watchword of the LAB is "It depends"...

So will it greatly affect the reflection of sound from the band into the auditorium? It's hard to be certain without seeing the set up, but I'd say it may have a small effect.

Why? well, the rougher the surface the greater the degree of specular reflection. Furthermore, the Formica layer will change the stiffness of the board, which may alter some of the characteristics of reflected sound.

Try listening to a bare and a covered panel and see if the difference is noticeable...

Simon

[Chuck McGregor]

Considering the complexity and size of an orchestra's "wavefront" and how a "lightweight" orchestral shell is supposed to work acoustically (yours would be so classified from your description), I doubt there will be ANY, significant, sonic difference with or without the formica or even whether or not you sand the plywood surface smooth (unless the glue is sticking up an inch or more high!!!).

However, aesthetics would dictate you sand and paint so "no one would ever know the difference."

Cheers,

[ProSoundWeb Community]