Bene Office Furniture

The sound of a box of chocolates

"Acoustic design must work. When the acoustic expectation of a product does not correspond with the product, the customer will be disappointed. Thus for instance, there are bags of chips that rustle nicely. But there is also packaging for chips that has a rather mushy, soft sound", explains Jan Dietrich, Partner at D’ Angelico Acoustic Consult: "What's important is the specific product design with overall complete quality. This can only develop from careful coordination of the graphic and formal arrangement, the haptic characteristics and the acoustic design of a product." This is an insight which up until now has only been used systematically in the automobile industry. Here, manufacturers have been involved with the effect of sound on the consumer since the late 1980s. At that time, the rattle of the VW Beetle was still clearly distinguishable from the screeching roar of a Porsche. In the early 1990s, large sums were invested in the development work to reduce engine noise more and more; the cars got continually quieter. In the meantime this concept has again been abandoned – on the contrary: Today, highly specialised experts busy themselves with the question of how a BMW or a Mercedes should sound like. The typical sound becomes a trademark.

In other sectors the systematic deployment of acoustic design still has the future sound of something yet to come. The targeted use of a product-specific sound is, however, increasingly gaining in significance. Thus for instance in the area of packaging acoustics: "This is a matter of the multi-sensual coupling of packaging and content", explains Dietrich about the formation process: "After target-specific analysis of the product, we search for realisable possibilities. Here we work like classical product designers – we test materials, try out different ways of construction and work with dummies and models. Subsequently, the sound is tested in the recording studio. We then reproduce and determine which sound best fits with which product." So which sound best fits with a box of chocolates? The cracking when splitting the chocolate, Dietrich is convinced.

Sound in architecture
How extensively Acoustic Design can be put into practice is demonstrated by another specialised area of D'Angelico Acoustic Consult. Here Jan Dietrich and his partner concern themselves with the connection of sound and architecture. "The atmosphere and the wellness factor of a room is by and large determined by its acoustic characteristics," explains the acoustic designer, "unfortunately the acoustic behaviour of a room is still not taken into consideration sufficiently in modern architecture" even though there are several developments in this area which help to acoustically upgrade individual spaces. Special window handles called Secustik (a combination of the words secure and acoustic) for instance, which emit a very individual sound: They imitate the sound of a safe and cause windows to ring out especially secure with the well known safe click.

But simple measures such as the use of an indoor fountain can also substantially improve the sound quality of a room. The rushing sound of the water is thereby specifically deployed as a masking noise. "Here the aim is not to moderate irritating sound such as the specific printer noise or the simultaneous ringing of several telephones in an open-plan office. On the contrary, a disturbance sound is deliberately used. Though this increases the noise level in the room, it does substantially improve the sound atmosphere of the room", explains Jan Dietrich. With this in mind: Good acoustics are not heard, they are felt.

further information:

D’Angelico Acoustic Consult
Wöhlertstraße 20
10115 Berlin
Tel: +49-(0)30-27908680
E-Mail: office@acoustic-consult.com
Internet: www.acoustic-consult.com