(November 13, 2025 @ 6pm ET) 40 Minutes of Competence PPD Study Session: The Geometry of Sound Diffusion - How Your Walls Talk Back

This week's Amber Book: 40 Minutes of Competence program is titled, “The Geometry of Sound Diffusion: How Your Walls Talk Back”

 

Relevant Exam Division: Project Planning & Design (PPD)

 

These study sessions are free and open to all, not just Amber Book subscribers, so join us this Thursday at 6pm ET: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83922907346

 

You’ll take the first five minutes of class to answer this week's question alone, but if you would like to get a head-start on that, here is the assignment:

 

An architect is designing a 150-foot-long concert hall for a university music department. During a rehearsal in a similar existing facility on campus, musicians reported hearing distinct echoes when playing from the stage. The university determined the echo was caused by sound reflecting off the rear wall back to the stage area.

Which rear-wall surface shape, shown in plan, would most effectively remedy this echo?