Acoustical engineering is the branch of engineering concerned with sound and vibration: noise control, architectural and room acoustics, loudspeaker and microphone design, and the vibration analysis of mechanical and structural systems, applying the physics of wave propagation to spaces, materials and electronic equipment alike. Acoustical engineers work across recognized subdisciplines such as aeroacoustics, audio signal processing and architectural acoustics, and in most Commonwealth countries the profession certifies its practitioners as Chartered Engineers after a certified degree program. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Origin YearMarks Wallace Sabine's reverberation-time research at Harvard, which turned room acoustics from guesswork into a measurable, designable science and founded architectural acoustics as a discipline. Core ConcernThe physics of sound and vibration applied to rooms, materials, structures and electronic systems, from concert-hall reverberation to loudspeaker design and industrial noise control. 1 Core PrincipleMeasure how sound and vibration propagate, reflect and absorb in a room, a material or an electronic circuit, then shape that path deliberately, whether the goal is a concert hall's reverberation time, a wall's sound isolation, or a loudspeaker's frequency response. 1 Connections
Associated With
Includes
Source Harvey Fletcher (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors
Source Wallace Clement Sabine (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors
Open Questions
Source Phonautograph (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Acoustic Engineering (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia FoundationLead section
Acoustical engineering (also known as acoustic engineering) is the branch of engineering dealing with sound and vibration.
Acoustic engineer (professional) section, certification sentence
Once certified, the engineer is designated the title of Chartered Engineer (in most Commonwealth countries).
View the Source Wallace Clement Sabine (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: Wallace Clement SabineView the Source Harvey Fletcher (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: Harvey FletcherView the Source Open Questions (1 open question)
Scott de Martinville or Edison: who really invented sound recording?
Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville patented the phonautograph in 1857 and recorded the human voice as early as 1857-1860, nearly two decades before Thomas Edison's 1877 phonograph, but Scott's device could not play back what it recorded, while Edison's could both record and reproduce sound, so historians differ on whether true invention of sound recording belongs to the first to capture sound at all or the first to make it audible again.
What would resolve this A settled definition of sound recording from the acoustical engineering discipline itself, stating whether playback capability is a defining requirement, would resolve which of the two deserves the title.
History of acoustical engineeringPhonautograph (Wikipedia)
Frequently Asked Questions
Is acoustical engineering the same as audio engineering?
No. Acoustical engineering is the branch of mechanical and civil engineering that studies how sound and vibration propagate through air, structures and materials, covering noise control, room acoustics and vibration isolation in buildings, vehicles and machinery. Audio engineering is a separate discipline concerned with the electronic capture, processing, mixing and reproduction of sound for recording and broadcast. The two overlap where a concert hall's acoustics meet its sound reinforcement system, but acoustical engineering itself is a physics and structures discipline, not an electronics or media production one.
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