Originally Posted by
Charlieshafer
Yeah, I didn't explain myself very well.. However, to be technically correct, the mandolin doesn't change it's sound regardless of distance or room. It sounds exactly what it sounds like, and can only sound exactly what it sounds like. It's physical sound-producing properties don;t change from room to room. What you hear are the reflections from other surfaces, so you're hearing the effects of the room, not the mandolin. A large room simply offers more diffractive (and reflective) surfaces as opposed to absorptive. So, the reflected sound you hear is different, the mandolin isn't. That's what I was trying to say. As I and others pointed out, play in a tiled bathroom; the mandolin takes on volume that you'd never think it had. It's not louder, the reflected sound waves are simply stronger.