Chapter 4 Directional Characteristics 4.1 Foundations of Directional Sound Radiation 4.1.1 Directional Effects and Polar Diagrams In the previous chapter, individual tonal characteristics of musical instruments were considered without concer for possible influences by the room. Furthermore, the fact that most instruments do not radiate sound in all directions with equal intensity, but rather exhibit more or less pronounced directional effects, was not taken into consideration. This dependence of the rafiated soand pressure on direction is referred to as the directional characteristic. 1 the simplest case, like for example in dhe setting of @ spherical sound source which expands and contracts uniformly in all directions, the sound radiation is also equal in all directions. Therefore, for such a “breathing sphere” one speaks of sphere-like directional characteristics, or omnidirectional characteristics. This case also arises when the sound source is small in comparison to the wavelength of the radiated sound, ie., mostly for low frequencies. In Fig. 4.1, the frequency regions for which the respective orchestral instruments radiate the sound spherically are represented. As noted, mostly the fundamentals in the lowest octave of the relevant range are of interest, No spherical sound radiation is found above 500 Hz. The presence of two such spherical radiators with some separation already leads to very complicated sound field relationships which depend on the distance between the two sources, as well as the frequencies, phase relations, and strengths of the radiated vibrations. Preferred directions are found, for which the contributions of the two sources reinforce each other, and there are other directions for which they weaken each other, or possibly cancel entirely. For simple arrangements, these directional characteristics can be calculated (Lessig, 1965; Franz et al., 1969, 1970), in less obvious cases, such as vibrating plates in string instruments, a mathematical treatment becomes inordinately complex, and it also presupposes accurate measurements of vibration shapes. Consequently, the following assembled representations of directional characteristics for musical instruments were all de- termined experimentally, except for the tympani. The necessary measurements J. Meyer, Acoustics and the Performance of Music 129 DOI: 10.1007/978-0-387-09517-2_4, © Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2009130 4 Directional Characteristics Violin Viva Cello a Bass @ Flute ‘Oboe Clarinet Bassoon French homn| gy | ‘Trumpet Trombone | | Tuba | l | 20 50 100 200 500 2000 Hz 10000 Frequency Fig. 4.1. Frequency region for omnidirectional sound radiation by orchestral instruments were carried out in an anechoic chamber with a microphone distance of 3.5 m (also see Meyer, individual publications from 1964 to 1970). Asan example of such measurement results, the polar diagrams for an oboe at a number of frequencies are given in Fig. 4.2. In the individual pictures, the relative sound level in dB is represented in angular dependence. ‘The 0°-direction corres- ponds to the axis of the sound column, The indicated frequencies are not those of only the fundamentals of the played tone, but rather, they represent the relevant partial of the spectrum falling in the indicated region. In particular, the curves for higher frequencies naturally relate only to overtones. These few diagrams already show that not only the overall sound strength changes with direction, but also the spectrum and thus the tone color. 4.1.2 Evaluation and Representation ‘The relatively complicated curves of the many frequencies that must be included in order to characterize the directional effect of instruments, lead to the necessity of extracting the fundamental characteristics from the multitude of individual results, in order to represent them in a clear form. This opens the possibilities of determin- ing the level difference between the largest and smallest value in each diagram This “Dynamic” of the directional characteristics, however, it is of relatively minor importance in relation to the tonal effect in the room, because the deep structures ure mostly very narrow (see for example in the picture for 1,750 Hz at about 73 and 170°). For microphone recordings, on the other hand, such steep flanks of dips become uncomfortably noticeable, particularly when the performers are moving.4.1 Foundations of Directional Sound Radiation 13 % o o o 9B 250 Hz 500 Hz 750 Hz %0 o. 270 9° 2701 9" 270° 20" 4 wl 180° 120" 180" | 313 4B - Rogion 190° 511068 - Region Fig, 4.2 Polar diagrams of an oboe at different frequencies. The 0° direction corresponds to the axis of the instrument For the discussion of spatial effects, ithas been an advantage to determine those angular regions for which the sound level does not sink by more than 3 dB or more than 10 dB respectively, below the maximum of the curve, At the same time, it has to be remembered that a level difference of 3 dB represents cutting the energy in half — which corresponds to a sound-strength difference of one-half the numbers of performers — and a level difference of 10 dB is perceived as approximately one-half the loudness. The width of the 3 dB regions is designated as the half width. In the polar diagrams of Fig. 4.2, the boundaries of the regions are represented, and the regions of differential intensity are shaded. In the example of 250 Hz, it is clear that there is no angle for which the amplitude drops by more than 3 dB below the maximum. In practice, therefore, one can still speak of a directionally uniform or round characteristic. In contrast, pictures for higher frequencies exhibit pro- nounced preference regions of various width and angular locations. Another interesting quantity is the difference between the sound level radiated into the forward and backward directions. It is designated as the front/back ratio given in dB. This ratio indicates the effectiveness of the sound reflecting wall behind the performer. In order to obtain numbers of practical use from a highly structured diagram, forming the front — back ratio from an average of +10° for the two directions under consideration is recommended in each case. Occasionally, it is also an advantage to specify a certain front — side ratio in the appropriate format. For example, this can give useful information about different seating arrangements of wind players in opera or concert orchestras. Finally, a quantity called the statistical directivity factor is important for room acoustical considerations. It represents a relationship between sound pressures