Notam invites you to two evenings in November with an introduction to acoustics.
If you want to get good sound in your studio or rehearsal room, or if you're just curious about acoustic principles, Notam's acoustics course could be for you. With knowledge of acoustics, you can build your own studio, rehearsal room or listening room, and if you want to know more about speaker placement and the construction of acoustic elements, this course is for you.
Acoustics can be difficult to understand for beginners, and the idea behind this course is to give participants an easy way to start working with acoustics. If the participants have questions and ideas of their own, we can solve this together. The course will enable you to continue working with acoustics after the course, so you can seek out more knowledge on your own.
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The aim of the course
The aim of the course is to provide a simple review of acoustic principles so that participants can start producing their own acoustic solutions after the course. The course requires no prior knowledge of acoustics.
The course provides basic training in both acoustic principles and the construction of acoustic elements. Participants will gain an understanding of working with acoustics, sound and music, which will be useful for people working with, for example, sound engineering, architecture, music and sound art.
If you want to improve the sound in a studio, rehearsal room or elsewhere, this is a good start. We will go through the construction of acoustic elements so that you can produce them yourself after completing the course. The course makes use of Notam's various studios and rehearsal rooms with demonstrations and a theoretical introduction to acoustic phenomena.
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About room acoustics
Whether you're creating a sound installation, playing concerts or building a studio, room acoustics is something you have to deal with. In this course, you will be introduced to phenomena such as absorption and reflection, near field and far field, with practical approaches.
The course aims to provide a basic understanding of concepts and phenomena in acoustics and psychoacoustics. When we talk about sound, we usually mean sound and sound propagation in air within the audible range. The study of acoustics deals with the physics behind it all and what affects our experience of the physical phenomenon of sound propagation.
Most people associate the term acoustics with sound in rooms and the experience of the soundscape, and it is often used for both room acoustics and building acoustics. Acoustics affects the sound and sound propagation between the sound source and the ear, and how sound affects us through our perception and interpretation of the soundscape.
Read more about acoustics here:
https://snl.no/akustikk
In English:
https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/studio-sos-making-small-room-sound-good
https://www.musiccityacoustics.com/our-blog/home-studio-acoustics-primer
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About the teacher
Bjørn Strand (b. 1950) holds a degree in civil engineering from the Norwegian Institute of Technology (NTH). He worked as a researcher at SINTEF's acoustics laboratory (1974-1976), and as an acoustician for NRK (1977-2015). He has also run his own acoustics company, 3D Akustikk AS, since 1988.
Strand has designed the acoustics in a large number of projects for the Oslo Philharmonic, Norwegian Film, Nordic Film, Inter Arts Centre in Malmö and NRK, among others. Notam worked with Strand for the first time in 2002, and he has done all the acoustic design of Notam's new premises, which were completed in 2024.
This course is a unique opportunity to learn about room acoustics from one of Norway's most skilled and experienced acousticians.
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Course schedule
Evening 1
Introduction to acoustics, hearing and perception
Construction of acoustic elements
Listening room and control room
Evening 2
Reflections, absorption and diffraction
Placement of speakers and listening position
Performance and rehearsal rooms
After the course, tips for further studies
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Practical information
Deadline for enrolment: 1 November 20245
Time: 13 - 14 November 2025, 18:00 - 21:00
Price: 1300 kroner
Language: Norwegian or English as required
Teacher: Bjørn Strand
Location: Notam, Oslo
Number of places: 12
There are a limited number of places. A place on the course is confirmed upon payment.
12 available seats
Norwegian Centre for
Technology, Art and Music