Architectural acoustics is not purely functional. It combines the scientific with the artistic. It provides the architect with forms and treatment of high esthetic appeal. Today it is no longer necessary to copy buildings of reputedly good hearing conditions; it is no longer necessary to be tradition-bound. Great flexibility exists in achieving identical results by dissimilar methods, a flexibility which will become greater still as new acoustic materials are developed and novel methods of construction invented.

This book is directed to architects, engineers, contractors, and all those connected with the planning and the construction of buildings in which acoustics has been given preference. It is not a text-book for colleges. It is not fundamentally analytical. A handbook for the man in the field, it was kept practical, without, however, shunning important theoretical matters. In this book special attention is given to the acoustics of rooms in which sound is either recorded, such as motion picture studios or broadcasting stations, or is reproduced electrically, such as motion picture theaters or monitoring rooms.