Anechoic chambers

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"Arny Krueger" <arnyk@hotpop.com> wrote in message
news:luKdnQlZaZJuKvvcRVn-qg@comcast.com...
> >>> Why would a person spend a lot of time in an anechoic chamber??
> >>
> >> The usual reason is that they are testing equipment in an anechoic
> >> chamber because that's the right way to run the test.
>
> > Obviously the person would be in and out for testing, but that
> > wouldn't be 10 minutes or more in silence.
>
> OTOH, if you want the quietest possible place to test equipment, you chase
> the people out. But, what if it takes 8 hours of work to set up the test?
Do
> people work in 10 minute shifts? Why? Trust me, 10 minutes or 3 hours in
a
> totally quiet room does not make most people go crazy.

From experience I can say that working in an anechoic chamber all day is no
problem. The simple reason is that the door will be open most of the time
while you are setting up, even if it's closed you are making your own noise
while working. You will be OUTSIDE the chamber while making measurements in
nearly all cases.
However every person who has never been in one always sits in it quietly for
10 minutes, just for the experience.

> > If they stayed in, I
> > would assume there to be a loud enough source to mask their own
> > bodily sounds.
> I know that it really doesn't matter to people who are acclimatized to
> working in such a place.

Agreed.

TonyP.

 

[gmc]

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On Sat, 09 Oct 2004 06:33:50 GMT, Bryson
<redbugg@mindNOSPAMspring.com> wrote:
>gmc wrote:
>> On 8 Oct 2004 08:27:40 -0400, kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
>>
>>>gmc <gmc@intlog.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>>>
>>>>I have heard that spending time in an anechoic chamber can be a very
>>>>disorientating experience - tales of people only being able to spend
>>>>eg 10 mins in that environment before having to get out & reorientate
>>>>themselves.
>>>
>>>Yes, it's very weird. I think being able to spend only ten minutes there
>>>seems a bit exaggerated, but it is a bit disconcerting. It helps if you
>>>try to imagine you're outdoors...
>>
>>
>> Yeah, 10 mins is perhaps an underestimate on my part - my pal who was
>> involved in the supervision of the construction of an anechoic chamber
>> told me that he tried sitting in it "for a while"..
>>
>> He said it freaked him - he *had* to get out...
>>
>> I'd imagine that one's perception of time might be warped in such an
>> environment - guess all your time-clues have gone - ??
>>
>> OK, up the ante - what about:
>>
>> In the chamber, blindfolded & free-floating naked in a
>> blood-temperature saline bath?
>
>With whomever I choose?
>

Yup - you'll just have to make do with your remaining senses ;-)


>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>

 

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On Sat, 09 Oct 2004 15:37:53 -0000, jpc@suespammers.org (J. Porter
Clark) wrote:

>We once had a visiting repairman who wandered into the quiet
>room (it was quiet, but not quite anechoic) out of curiosity.
>He didn't like it. He had claustrophobia, even though the room
>was 22 x 27 x 17 ft. It reminded him of a painful childhood
>experience of being locked in a coat closet.

Bless! Did he claim compensation?

CubaseFAQ www.laurencepayne.co.uk/CubaseFAQ.htm
"Possibly the world's least impressive web site": George Perfect

 

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Laurence Payne <l@laurenceDELETEpayne.freeserve.co.uk> writes:

>On Sat, 09 Oct 2004 15:37:53 -0000, jpc@suespammers.org (J. Porter
>Clark) wrote:

>>We once had a visiting repairman who wandered into the quiet
>>room (it was quiet, but not quite anechoic) out of curiosity.
>>He didn't like it. He had claustrophobia, even though the room
>>was 22 x 27 x 17 ft. It reminded him of a painful childhood
>>experience of being locked in a coat closet.

>Bless! Did he claim compensation?

No, but he did finish the job in a hurry. So I guess it was a
good thing.

--
J. Porter Clark <jpc@suespammers.org>

 

[mark]

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S O'Neill <nopsam@nospam.net> wrote in message news:<JYWdnfulFfUev_XcRVn-iA@omsoft.com>...
> Phil Allison wrote:
>
>
>
> > little Musak piped in would soon fix that !
>
>
>
> How could you possibly suggest such a thing? That's unmercifully cruel.


It's not so much the silence as the almost total lack of reverberation
that makes it so strange.

Mark

 

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On Fri, 08 Oct 2004 17:55:10 +0200, Arny Krueger wrote:

> What's so obvious? Often, the anechoic chamber is not chosen because it
> creates total silence, it is chosen because its a place where noisy
> equipment can be operated without causing other problems.

A anechoic chamber is a room where reflections of sound are reduced to a
minimum. Normally these rooms are well isolated from the outside sound
sources too. These rooms are used to measure sound without the effect of
reflections, e.g. polar characteristics of microphones.

This absence of reflections can be disturbing as we use our ears to detect
reflections and give an impression of the room we are in too. Almost the
same effect can be achieved with sound absorbers in your ears.

Normally a recording studio is a silent room. My freestanding studio has
an isolation of about 60dB. So especially at quiet times, e.g. in the
night, it should be considered as total silence. I never experienced
problems from that.

--
Chel van Gennip
Visit Serg van Gennip's site http/www.serg.vangennip.com

 

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Chel van Gennip <chel@vangennip.nl> wrote in
news:2stg4iF1p0h9uU1@uni-berlin.de:

> Normally a recording studio is a silent room. My freestanding studio
> has an isolation of about 60dB. So especially at quiet times, e.g. in
> the night, it should be considered as total silence. I never
> experienced problems from that.

But even in your studio you will make noises yourself that reflect off the
walls. Ever switch click and chair creak bounces off the walls. It gives
you a sense of the dimensions of the room. Anechoic chambers "sound" like
they are infinitely large.

 

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"Carey Carlan" <gulfjoe@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:Xns957ED52AD90FDgulfjoehotmailcom@207.69.189.191...
> Chel van Gennip <chel@vangennip.nl> wrote in
> news:2stg4iF1p0h9uU1@uni-berlin.de:
>
>> Normally a recording studio is a silent room. My freestanding studio
>> has an isolation of about 60dB. So especially at quiet times, e.g. in
>> the night, it should be considered as total silence. I never
>> experienced problems from that.
>
> But even in your studio you will make noises yourself that reflect off the
> walls. Ever switch click and chair creak bounces off the walls. It gives
> you a sense of the dimensions of the room. Anechoic chambers "sound" like
> they are infinitely large.
>
Back in the late fifties while I was working as an electronic technician at
the Columbia University Electronic Research Lab
on 125th street in NYC, I became a test subject in the sound lab. They were
trying to determined my threshold of hearing
at different frequencies. I would be put into the anechoic chamber and held
a push button that I would press when I could
no longer hear the diminishing tones. The tones were of varying duration and
frequency. One thing I did notice was
that I was able hear my own heart beat and the rustle of my clothes when I
moved in the chair once the door to the chamber was closed
before the test started.
The chamber had what looked like a very large horn type speaker at one end
of the chamber facing me that emitted the tones.
Just my recollections.

Geoley

 

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"J. Porter Clark" <jpc@suespammers.org> wrote in message
news:10miuu3nmnvp34c@corp.supernews.com...
> Laurence Payne <l@laurenceDELETEpayne.freeserve.co.uk> writes:
>
>>On Sat, 09 Oct 2004 15:37:53 -0000, jpc@suespammers.org (J. Porter
>>Clark) wrote:
>
>>>We once had a visiting repairman who wandered into the quiet
>>>room (it was quiet, but not quite anechoic) out of curiosity.
>>>He didn't like it. He had claustrophobia, even though the room
>>>was 22 x 27 x 17 ft. It reminded him of a painful childhood
>>>experience of being locked in a coat closet.
>
>>Bless! Did he claim compensation?
>
> No, but he did finish the job in a hurry. So I guess it was a
> good thing.
>
> --
> J. Porter Clark <jpc@suespammers.org>

 

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"J. Porter Clark" <jpc@suespammers.org> wrote in message
news:10miuu3nmnvp34c@corp.supernews.com...
> Laurence Payne <l@laurenceDELETEpayne.freeserve.co.uk> writes:
>
>>On Sat, 09 Oct 2004 15:37:53 -0000, jpc@suespammers.org (J. Porter
>>Clark) wrote:
>
>>>We once had a visiting repairman who wandered into the quiet
>>>room (it was quiet, but not quite anechoic) out of curiosity.
>>>He didn't like it. He had claustrophobia, even though the room
>>>was 22 x 27 x 17 ft. It reminded him of a painful childhood
>>>experience of being locked in a coat closet.
>
>>Bless! Did he claim compensation?
>
> No, but he did finish the job in a hurry. So I guess it was a
> good thing.

Note to self: when hiring contractors, make sure the room is anechoic.

Neil Henderson

 

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"Carey Carlan" <gulfjoe@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:Xns957ED52AD90FDgulfjoehotmailcom@207.69.189.191...
>Anechoic chambers "sound" like
> they are infinitely large.

Or would it be infinitely small? As in the space defined by your head
itself?

Neil Henderson

 

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"Neil Henderson" <neil.henderson@sbcglobal.netNOSPAM> wrote in message
news:T1lad.3795$Al3.63@newssvr30.news.prodigy.com...
>
> "Carey Carlan" <gulfjoe@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:Xns957ED52AD90FDgulfjoehotmailcom@207.69.189.191...
>>Anechoic chambers "sound" like
>> they are infinitely large.
>
> Or would it be infinitely small? As in the space defined by your head
> itself?

OK, i just realized that may have come across as meaning "your" head,
specifically... which i did not mean. lol

"One's head" is what i should have said.

Neil

 

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"Neil Henderson" <neil.henderson@sbcglobal.netNOSPAM> wrote in
news:T1lad.3795$Al3.63@newssvr30.news.prodigy.com:

>
> "Carey Carlan" <gulfjoe@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:Xns957ED52AD90FDgulfjoehotmailcom@207.69.189.191...
>>Anechoic chambers "sound" like
>> they are infinitely large.
>
> Or would it be infinitely small? As in the space defined by your head
> itself?

I meant that reflections define the dimensions of the space. Outdoors
there are no reflections. In an anechoic chamber there are no reflections.

 

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gmc <gmc@intlog.demon.co.uk> wrote:
: Experiences?

I spent about a half hour in an anechoic chamber once
about 10 years ago in Physics department of the university.
We walked on a net suspended in the air within the 6
padded walls. It was pretty cool, and indeed very "different".

The first thing I noticed was that my ears started hurting.
It was explained to me that the lack of ambient input had a minor
atrophying effect on the eardrum. The pain got slightly worse
the longer I spent in the chamber. Everyone sounded very
small, or very distant, even if they were right next to me.

Next we turned off the lights and lay down on our backs.
It was the closest I've come to a sensory-deprivation experience.
Yeah, I too could hear my heart beat and the pulsing of blood
through my ears. We also passed around a tiny flashlight
and shined it at each other. That was the closest thing I came
to getting "freaked out"... something about having no sensory
input and then suddenly having a light shining at unknown distance.
I found that strangely frightening.

I'd gladly visit again.

 

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"J. Porter Clark" <jpc@suespammers.org> wrote in message
news:10mg1eh6epauud5@corp.supernews.com

> It's a bit creepy, but you get over it, and it's not as bad as
> sitting through meetings.

LOL!

 

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"Mark"
>> Phil Allison wrote:

>> > little Musak piped in would soon fix that !
>>

>> How could you possibly suggest such a thing? That's unmercifully cruel.
>
>
> It's not so much the silence as the almost total lack of reverberation
> that makes it so strange.
>


** Same as the great outdoors has no reverb - so not strange at all.

I still think the weird nature if the architecture is the thing that
disorients.





............. Phil

 

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Phil Allison wrote:


> I still think the weird nature if the architecture is the thing that
> disorients.

They are usually Faraday cages too so I think it's the lack
of EM. You'd probably live longer in one of them too and
get less cancer.


Bob
--

"Things should be described as simply as possible, but no
simpler."

A. Einstein

 

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Phil Allison <philallison@tpg.com.au> wrote:
: ** Same as the great outdoors has no reverb - so not strange at all.

Hmm, I've been in both the great outdoors and in an anechoic chamber,
and there was a huge difference. My ears physically hurt in the anechoic
chamber. There must be some source of ambient reverb in nature, presumably
off of the ground. Also, there is a steady stream of ambient waves,
however quiet, from the earth and the atmosphere. These are significantly
reduced in the chamber.

Scott

 

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"Geoley" <geoley@covad.net> wrote in
news:d2426$416a2e07$44a4af74$2067@msgid.meganewsservers.com:

>> But even in your studio you will make noises yourself that reflect
>> off the walls. Ever switch click and chair creak bounces off the
>> walls. It gives you a sense of the dimensions of the room. Anechoic
>> chambers "sound" like they are infinitely large.
>>
> One thing I did notice was
> that I was able hear my own heart beat and the rustle of my clothes
> when I moved in the chair once the door to the chamber was closed
> before the test started.

You still make sounds. Those sounds still reach your ears. They just
don't bounce off the walls.

When in very quiet spaces, I am amazed at just how loud I am.

 

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"Carey Carlan" <gulfjoe@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:Xns957F6129DEE3Cgulfjoehotmailcom@207.69.189.191
> "Geoley" <geoley@covad.net> wrote in
> news:d2426$416a2e07$44a4af74$2067@msgid.meganewsservers.com:
>
>>> But even in your studio you will make noises yourself that reflect
>>> off the walls. Ever switch click and chair creak bounces off the
>>> walls. It gives you a sense of the dimensions of the room.
>>> Anechoic chambers "sound" like they are infinitely large.
>>>
>> One thing I did notice was
>> that I was able hear my own heart beat and the rustle of my clothes
>> when I moved in the chair once the door to the chamber was closed
>> before the test started.
>
> You still make sounds. Those sounds still reach your ears. They just
> don't bounce off the walls.
>
> When in very quiet spaces, I am amazed at just how loud I am.

Multiply you by about 100, add in a real world room, and that's why
recordings of orchestras have such relatively poor dynamic range.

Multiply you by about 2000, add in the same real world room, and that's why
Live recordings of orchestras have even poorer dynamic range.