Across Acoustics

Anybody who's been in a noisy restaurant can tell you how the acoustics of a built environment can impact individuals in the space. In particular, absorption and diffusion of sounds can greatly affect the acoustics. This episode, the editors of the Special Issue on Sound Absorption and Diffusion: Modeling, Measurement, and Application, Mélanie Nolan (Universidad Politecnica de Madrid), Peter D’Antonio (RPG Acoustical Systems), and Ning Xiang (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute), share current research in the field. 

Find all the articles in the special issue here!

Read more from The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (JASA).
Learn more about Acoustical Society of America Publications.

Music Credit: Min 2019 by minwbu from Pixabay.

The sport of pickleball has become more than a passing fad. The equipment involved in the game, which include a hollow plastic ball perforated with holes, create some pretty unique sounds. In this episode we talk with Kathleen Romito and Jamie Banks (Quiet Communities) about their research into how pickleball noise affects bystanders. 

Associated paper: Kathleen M. Romito and Jamie Banks. "A survey of the community impact of pickleball noise: A pilot study." Proc. Mtgs. Acoust. 60, 040001 (2025) https://doi.org/10.1121/2.0002238.

Read more from Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics (POMA).
Learn more about Acoustical Society of America Publications.
 
Music Credit: Min 2019 by minwbu from Pixabay.

As the study of acoustic metamaterials has progressed over the past couple of decades, research has shifted from focusing on the creation of materials with fixed structures to ones that are active or tunable. In this episode, we talk to the guest editors of the recent special issue on Active and Tunable Acoustic Metamaterials, Michael Haberman (University of Texas at Austin), Christina Naify (University of Texas at Austin), Bogdan Popa (University of Michigan), and Serife Tol (University of Michigan), about some of the latest research in the area. 

Find all the articles in the special issue here!

Read more from The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (JASA).
Learn more about Acoustical Society of America Publications.

Music Credit: Min 2019 by minwbu from Pixabay.

One of the key components of soundscape research is the focus on the perspective of the listener. However, that perspective may shift depending on the listener's personal characteristics, their cultural background, and other factors. In this episode, Katie Chatburn (Manchester Metropolitan University), Kirsten Van Den Bosch (University of Groningen), and Arezoo Talebzadeh (Ghent University) discuss perspectives that may be overlooked in standard soundscape research practice, as well as share ways to ensure that acousticians use more inclusive methodologies in their soundscape studies.

Associated paper: K. Chatburn, K. van den Bosch, and A. Talebzadeh.  "A critical perspective on inclusion and diversity in soundscape studies." JASA Express Lett. 6, 037201 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0042697.

Read more from JASA Express Letters.
Learn more about Acoustical Society of America Publications.
Music Credit: Min 2019 by minwbu from Pixabay.

You may have heard of deepfakes—AI clones of people used to create lifelike video and audio to manipulate an audience. AI cloning technology, however, has much broader applications than just subterfuge. In this episode, we talk with Patti Adank (University College London), who studied the intelligibility of voice clones compared to their natural counterparts and sheds light on some potential benefits of this technology.

Associated paper: Patti Adank and Han Wang. "Voice clones are easier to understand in noise than their human originals: The voice cloning intelligibility benefit." J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 159 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0043094.

Read more from The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (JASA).
Learn more about Acoustical Society of America Publications.

Music Credit: Min 2019 by minwbu from Pixabay.