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Investigation into Background Noise Conditions During Music Performance


2013 International Symposium on Room Acoustics, Toronto, Canada
Written By
Lynn University Wold Perfrming Arts Center

Quiet background noise conditions are an essential feature of high quality performance spaces, and achieving quiet conditions is a central goal of the design of performance rooms.

Designers and professional organizations have adopted disparate background noise criteria for such spaces as high as NC-25 and as low as the threshold of hearing, and commonly used standardized metrics are not defined for levels below NC-15. This paper presents conclusions and further questions raised by a series of studies of the perceptual role of low levels of background noise in quiet spaces for music listening; these studies have been reported previously in greater detail.