Episode 6: THE PSYCHOACOUSTICS OF SOUNDSCAPES - Wade Bray - HEAD acoustics, Inc. Artwork

The Quiet Mark Podcast

Welcome to The Quiet Mark Podcast. Hosted by Simon Gosling CMO at Quiet Mark, the global award programme associated with the UK Noise Abatement Society, this series uniquely explores the vital role acoustics will play in the future of global living, building and product design sharing conversations with thought-leading designers, architects, and sound experts. The World Health Organization (WHO) recognises environmental noise as the 2nd largest environmental health risk in Western Europe after air quality. Noise contributes to a range of physical and mental health problems, disturbed sleep, affects people’s hearing, communication and learning. And, in our smart-phone era, noise isn’t only about the big sounds of planes, traffic and construction sites, smaller sounds like someone FaceTiming on the bus or playing music loudly through their tinny headphones can cause stress, annoyance and impacts our mental health. During this time of Lockdown our world is much quieter than usual, every sound is more noticeable, quietness has never seemed more important or front of mind, where could this take us and how will we live, build, and work after this profound period of change? To help navigate the world-changes around us, these exclusive insights into pioneering projects and visions, explore the future on the other side of the crisis.

All Episodes

The Quiet Mark Podcast

Episode 6: THE PSYCHOACOUSTICS OF SOUNDSCAPES - Wade Bray - HEAD acoustics, Inc.

July 07, 2020 • Quiet Mark/ Wade Bray, Vice President, HEAD acoustics, Inc.

With the UK's hospitality industry opening its doors again, after over 100 days of lockdown, show host, Simon Gosling asks, "Have you ever been to a restaurant with a friend and found yourself having to talk loudly, just to be heard above the music, the kitchen noise and the other diners? Your friend then feels the need to talk even louder to be heard by you and before you know it, you’re both having to shout at one another, just to enjoy a friendly conversation!"

This is known as the Lombard Effect and studies have shown that whilst higher decibels in a restaurant might make someone eat more food during their visit, it may nevertheless put them off returning, making it a false economy.

Our guest on Episode 6, Wade Bray - Vice President or HEAD acoustics, Inc., imparts a lifetime of study and experience, not only with the acoustics of restaurants, but also with many other spheres including consumer technology, architecture, automotive, concert halls and more.

HEAD acoustics, Inc. is one of the world’s leading companies for integrated acoustics solutions as well as sound and vibration analysis. They offer a broad portfolio of products and services covering almost any application in the areas of sound design for technical products and the enhancement of speech and audio quality in the telecommunications industry. The company benefits from the combination of cutting-edge measurement technology with many years of practical experience in these industries.

When it comes to taste, Marmite’s advertising famously tells us that you either love it, or hate it. But is the same true of sound? Or do we all agree that a sound is either good or bad? In this episode Wade shares how they measure psychoacoustic metrics and the ways that humans respond to a variety of sounds. This includes interviewing individuals for their personal reactions, so that this information can then be applied to the sound design of products, to enhance the user’s perception.

We hope this episode sound good to you!

https://www.quietmark.com/podcast

People on this episode

Simon Gosling

Host