Acousticians - who are the best around?

by **The Tasmanian** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 12:45 am

Hey Turtlerockers
who would be the top 5 respected acousticians in Australia?
Needing some expert advice.

by **Mark Bassett** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 12:53 am

Priddle, Sayers...

by **rick** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 8:11 am

now i presume you meant guys that design build recording studios not the actual top 5 acousticians
( so that discounts the guys that sort the sound issues out for bridges and office blocks )

i have no idea how to make that studio acoustcian guys list out ..?
its very blurry field locally imo,
i have been hired to go out and "fix " stuff from the best of them and i am really surprised how "different"
the design ideals and cultures are !

our population is so small that you might have trouble getting to 5
change your scope a bit and you will get to twenty

but over all - respected well paid acousticians unfortunately do not design studios for a living in australian
because there is no living in it !

you pay you money and you take your turn building a studio ...

but there are a host of good guys to choose from in reality when you start digging ,
is a bit like asking for australian producers really ...
the next question will be "whats he done that i know and love "
followed by a cultural and date based cringe :(
which is not really fair on the actual talent pool , just a reflection on the jobs that they landed and the money that was presented and of course the years in which they did the jobs you know of

i do a stack of acoustic work , but i am not qualified in the true sense so i dont term myself
as an acoustician . (although i have have done some beauties)
and right now the plans for the new turtlerock are amazing .
( i have even surprised myself) .
but its not my "real" gig is it ?

best of luck on your quest chris - you have already had one big go at it , are you doing it again ?
why not DIY?

by **Senad** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 2:19 pm

just pick the brains of many of them that are around msg boards online...there's some great and really scientific stuff to learn from these people if you're prepared to put in time to research. DIY seems to be the way to go these days..I don't see anything that I would have done differently with my studio had I hired an acoustician and not designed and built it myself...well I do see many things done differently, but it would've been a totally different project and BUDGET. But still, i don't think it would've justified doubling (or trippling) of the cost...It might have cost me 6-7 years of after-midnight-www-reading, but it seems to have paid off..
Anyway...there's a guy called Peter Brown>>>I was told he designed the listening room at one of the stores I buy stuff from. Might wanna check him out..

by **The Tasmanian** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 9:50 pm

I'm with you Rick - its a bit of a black art
I can do it reasonably and know much more than the basics.
And I am designing a studio for my block in Tasmania - but that's easy when there is a blank template for size.
I'm looking at someone who can get our 3rd room sounding better in the bottom end. I could do my own tests and build my own traps/diffusers - but I would like to find a room witch doctor that does this sort of stuff and can help sort out a room that is limited in size 4m x 4m x3m.
This time I want an experienced pro - do it once and refine it.(as opposed to do it 3 times and refine it 3 times)
Any ideas welcome

by **The Tasmanian** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 11:35 pm

Mark - who is Sayers?

by **Chris H** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 11:51 pm

Graham Thirkle is someone who knows his stuff from many aspects of audio. Next time you are in Melbourne i can show you a studio he has designed and you can get an idea of his design approach. For a short summary, the walls are angled to reflect direct sound to a large diffuser built into the rear wall. Once the building is up, and walls done etc the reverb time across the frequency spectrum is even. He then shoots the room with pink noise and as the side walls have areas where Hermoltz resonators can be placed, these are now built in to tune out any remaining problem frequency's both in the control room and in the recording room. Both main rooms are built decoupled from the exterior building and are on separate concrete slabs. Even the common wall with the control room window is in fact two walls completely separated from each other and there are three thick glass panels making up the control room window. I have worked in this studio over the passed 12 years and have to say it's head and shoulders above any other recording space i have ever worked in.

Also you if you can get to organize a visit to ABC's Southbank studio you will see another example and implementation of this Thirkle approach to studio design work incorporating architectural and acoustic design principals.

by **The Tasmanian** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 11:58 pm

Chris - Mr Graham Thirkle again!!! sounds like an all round genius - Optro's and studio design - wow!

by **Chris H** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 12:22 am

Yes, an absolute genius.
He also designed the Editron video controll and mixing systems, Designed a series of monitor speakers , some of which are in the studio at the Vic College of the Arts,( Myles, you would have worked with those? ) Played a large part in the early days of PBS 106.7FM here. etc etc ad infinitum ...( you get the picture even if my spelling is troppo )

There is a bit of info about him on the web, here is one link:

http://www.retrotechnology.com/herbs_st ... itron.html

by **Chris H** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 12:29 am

Here is some info "opinion" i found on the link i posted above

Notes from Richard Thwaites

in a follow-up post in comp.os.cpm, Richard posted the following, here with permission. - Herb

I can confirm that Sontron was one of the brands used for professional sound studio equipment made in Melbourne, Australia by companies led by Graham Thirkell, an outstanding innovator in electro-accoustic fields from late sixties analog tape gear through to contemporary accoustics testing. Other brands he used were Editron and Optro. He still practices as an accoustics consultant. I understand he stopped building equipment as the market grew more crowded and imported from elsewhere.

Don't be surprised at the origin - the world's first digital sampling synthesizer was also Australian - the mid-70s Fairlight. Stevie Wonder bought one as his introduction to sampling, and set off the whole idea of sampling that is so prominent in progressive music. [Wikipedia has a discussion of the Fairlight.]

by **mylesgm** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 9:45 am

yep, Thirkell designed the VCA Sound Research studios including soffit mounted main monitors which are 2x12" drivers and a 1 inch horn in a wooden dispersion. Biamped with and active crossover and sound pretty fabulous. Also acoustic design of the studio and though its small and built around a very dead room, its a great sounding dead room. Control room sounds excellent and uses Cork bark as a diffusion surface. Very 70's and way cool as well as sounding great. Pity its hardly ever used...

by **TimS** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 10:15 am

The Tasmanian wrote:Mark - who is Sayers?

Chris,
John L Sayers
http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/index.php

by **DwaneHollands** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 4:00 pm

This is their Reference Area aswell...(probably could have easily found it anyway with TimS link)
http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2125

by **The Tasmanian** » Thu Sep 24, 2009 10:09 am

Thanks guys for the great advice
You Turtles Rock!

by **mal stanley** » Fri Sep 25, 2009 10:11 pm

Peter Brown designed our studios at ABC Southbank...

by **Senad** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 3:21 pm

hey Mal,
I'd be interested to see pics of the studios..can you link to a site or do you have any to post..AMinly I was just curious what was used mostly (asborption, diffusion etc...)

by **birdman** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 4:29 am

Graeme also designed my space. Hilarious, I can remember one of the design meetings where he fell asleep and his wife took notes in his place! Needless to say the end results were superb. Highly recommended.

Lindsay
Birdland

Acousticians - who are the best around?

Acousticians - who are the best around?

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