We are sometimes asked to provide courses for companies which do not employ qualified acousticians. Adrian James explains why we don’t do this.
Occasionally we receive requests for one-week training courses. Almost all of them request that on the first day we cover all of the basics of room acoustic theory. It is very flattering that people think we can teach them the contents of a four-year degree course in a single day, but sadly we have to explain to them that this is not possible. There are of course excellent courses in acoustics at several universities (search: “Acoustics degree”) and all of our technical staff have attended the Institute of Acoustics diploma course on acoustics and noise control.
When people ask “What is acoustics?” quite a good answer is “Everything that you have ever heard, and a lot more besides”. It is slightly worrying that some people outside our profession still think that a week’s training and a computer programme can turn you into an acoustics consultant, although it is also encouraging that we have recently been asked to help a university to design a course on acoustics for architects (not a moment too soon, some might think….). Meanwhile, we politely decline all requests for training course of the “make me into an acoustician in a week” variety.
