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98 .EDWARD W. KELLOGG [j. s. M. P. E.
having as many as two hundred artists. Not only is the loudness increased through room reverberation, but the distribution throughout the room is equalized. Twenty feet from the source, the loudness is probably not greatly increased, but one hundred feet from the source, the loudness may be increased ten or twenty fold as compared with that of a similar source at the same distance out of doors. Thus the reverberation makes it possible to play satisfactorily for a larger audience.
The second effect of reverberation is a mixing of the various elements so that too sharp a discrimination in the direction from which the bass and treble parts come is avoided. Both the loudness and blending factors are even more important to the artists than to the audience. To produce adequately loud sound when desired is part of the pleasure of playing or singing. The satisfaction which comes from the power to produce plenty of sound is not confined to trained musicians, but is exhibited early in life by most of us. The blending of parts, which is helped by reflections from walls, gives the individual musicians a better appreciation of the effect produced by the entire orchestra, since his own instrument does not so completely drown out those fifteen or twenty feet away as would be the case out of doors. A soloist as a result of room reverberation and echoes probably experiences less sense of loneliness, and subconsciously feels the support and encouragement of other voices.
The third effect of room reverberation is the overlapping of sounds. It is hard to imagine that this is anything but detrimental, since it inevitably produces many discords. The effect is similar to that of pressing the loud pedal of a piano,* except that the foot may readily be removed from the pedal but reverberation cannot be stopped at will. We tolerate many discordant sounds in music provided their magnitude is not too great. But it is probably toleration rather than actual pleasure in such elements. The choice of reverberation time which gives the most pleasing over-all effect is evidently a compromise between the first two desirable factors and the undesirable factor of excessive overlapping.
When it comes to speech the preferred reverberation is entirely a question of compromise between a desirable reinforcement of volume
* The similarity applies only to the factor of overlapping. The loud pedal causes a change in tone quality by freeing all the strings so that those corresponding to harmonic overtones of the note struck are set into sympathetic vibration, while all of the strings are in some measure shock-excited.