 |
||
 |
|
|
 |
||
|
|
|
 |
 |
|||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
SubCat Studios is in the new issue of Interior Design Magazine! The studios are right next to a freight train and heavy traffic but with floated constructions, careful tuning of the interiors and close coordination with Fiedler Marciano Architecture, the studios sound and look great….If you would like to hear how it sounds, please check out the video on the homepage of SubCat Studios.
No, it’s not the sound of the air being let out of your tires!
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have just published a ground-breaking computational method for analyzing digital signals, including sounds and images.
The Fourier Transform is a way to break a complicated signal down into its most basic components, and it’s how computers manipulate things like acoustic and visual information—everything from your jpeg and mp3 files up to complicated acoustic measurement and analysis gear that consultants like ourselves use daily.
The last major improvement in the efficiency of the Fourier Transform came in the 1960s, with the advent of the “Fast” Fourier Transform (often denoted FFT). That was a long time ago, but the FFT is still the method of choice for on-the-fly number crunching in everything from cellphones to video games to high-end audio and graphics workstations.
The new algorithm that MIT has devised (a “nearly optimal sparse Fourier transform”) is substantially faster than the FFT for a large range of realistic and useful cases—up to 10 times faster. It isn’t hard to imagine that such a major leap in efficiency will lead to smaller, cheaper, and more powerful electronics, since the work they do under the hood just got a whole lot easier!
[via MIT News. Graphic: Christine Daniloff]
Everyone at lally acoustical consulting would like to wish our friends, clients, and colleagues a happy and healthy 2012! We are looking forward to a great year and hope that you are too.
Just in case you missed the August issue of Building Design + Construction Magazine, there was a very interesting article on Enhanced Acoustical Design on page 45. Truth be told we may be a bit biased as we helped with the article – but you can earn AIA/CES credit for reading it too!
We are happy to share that SubCat Music Studios in Syracuse NY is having an open house this coming weekend June 11th, from 12pm to 3pm. We had the pleasure of working on this project with all of the cool cats at SubCat and Fiedler Marciano Architecture. Come check it out!
The Acoustical Society of America, an international scientific society, has unveiled a new educational website aimed at kids (and their parents and teachers):
Aimed at developing an early interest in “the science of sound”, the Explore Sound site features information on the science of acoustics, online demonstrations, project ideas, and curriculum materials for teachers (including a free series of posters, available on request in any of six languages). The site even details some of the things that we acousticians do for a living, and what could be more interesting than that!
