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Determining a Reverberation TIme
Determining Reverberation time in large rooms. The layperson way
You have just spent close to a million dollars on a new multipurpose room for your church or school. You have your first dinner function to help pay for the room. It is so noisy in there that nobody can hear the person across the table. Everybody is talking louder to be heard. As a result the problem is compounded. Don't be discouraged.
You talk to an acoustical consultant or an acoustical material supplier, and the first thing they need to determine is "What is the reverb time (RT60) in the room?".
The easy way to determine the approximate reverb time in the room is to get (2 ) 16" long 2'x 4" blocks of wood, a stop watch and some hearing plugs. Next get yourself a helper that has pretty good reflexes and hearing.
You get about 15' away from one corner of the room, and get your helper about the same distance from the diagonal corner of the room. Next put in your hearing plugs and slap the (2) blocks together to create a loud, impact noise.
When you do this, your helper starts his stopwatch and stops it when they can no longer hear the noise. Your stopwatch reads 3.7 seconds. This is your reverb time in the room. Try it in several different locations in the room to determine the average.
At this point your acoustical supplier can use a formula to determine your acoustical needs based on size of room, what the reverb time should be based on usage and type of material based on budget, appearance and durability requirements.
