ABSTRACT
Probably the most characteristic acoustical phenomenon in a closed room is reverberation: i.e. the fact that sound produced in the room will not disappear immediately after the sound source is shut off but remains audible for a certain period of time afterwards, although with steadily decreasing loudness. For this reason, reverberation-or sound decay as it is also called-as yet yields the least controversial criterion for the judgement of the acoustical qualities of a room. It is this fact which justifies devoting the major part of a chapter to reverberation and to the laws which govern it.
