The Sound of Quality in Monolithic Domes

October 13, 2002

by Freda Parker
photos by Porter Falcon

Porter Falcon, owner and president of Falcon Audio-Video headquartered in Oklahoma City, OK, describes domes as "speakers or sounding boards." He should know. Porter has 36 years of experience in the audio industry and has been researching and designing audio and acoustics systems for domes since the early 1980s.

Acoustics in Domes: Bad News, Good News

According to Porter, it's because of their curved or parabolic surface that domes can and do act as speakers or sounding boards. He says, "You can liken a dome to a satellite dish, and a satellite dish is a collector. It collects these tiny signals that come fragmented from space and focuses them into a certain area. Domes do exactly the same thing."

The Good News

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But in designing a dome's sound system and acoustics, those characteristics, Porter argues, can be used in a positive way. He says, "All curved surfaces, including domes, become focal devices. What we learned to do is use that to our advantage. Certain areas on the curved surface are exposed, so we use some of the building's curvature to focus energy into specific areas."

Making A Dome Sound The Way You Want It To

How a dome will be used usually determines the design of its sound system. In other words, all domes do not and should not sound alike. For example, operators of a gymnasium or sports arena may actually want echoes in their dome. But places, such as schools and churches in which people listen to speakers, would not. Still other domes, such as concert halls, primarily want outstanding musical sound.

Porter contends that in designing a dome's acoustical environment everything in that dome should be considered a separate device or element. He says, "We use the ceiling as one device, some exposed wall as another and so on. Each must be considered in devising a method or formula that will produce the sound that's wanted."

To what is already part of the dome, certain materials are added. Some of these materials are put in specifically to absorb echoes or certain frequencies while allowing others to be reflected back into the atmosphere. The materials vary. Some are sprayed on. Others, such as cloth-covered, perforated materials, are installed using standard construction.

Proven Methods Through Research

Porter's first Monolithic Dome project was the city complex of three domes in Price, Utah, built in 1981. Since then he's been fascinated by domes and believes he has researched them more than any other person in America.

Porter says that his goal has always been to find "effective means for providing domes with good acoustical environments. That may not be important in a bulk storage dome, but it's very critical to schools and churches.

"Quality sound is vital to the success of domes," he concludes. "And we have proven methods now, so we can sell a product -- such as a Monolithic Dome -- fully confident that we can make it sound good."

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