Rooms with characteristic acoustics 211 The modally controlled range of a room is bounded by the large-room frequency and the pressure zone. Much orchestral music has been composed with live performance as the principal objective. Modern studios do not always conform to the expectations of the composers. Much orchestral recording is therefore carried out outside of conventional studios. Lateral reflexions can be important, both for the recordings and the musical performance. The optimum RT 60 for orchestral recording tends to be from 1.6 to 2.5 s at mid frequencies. Many psychoacoustic factors need to be taken into account when designing spaces for orchestral recording. Recording personnel should be attentive to the needs of musicians if the best overall results are to be achieved. Lack of thought can lead them to break up the acoustic character of a room solely from the point of view of the recording techniques, which can make the job of the musicians much more difficult. Foley rooms, for the recording of incidental sound effects for cinema and video sound tracks, need to be acoustically dead so that the recordings can be artificially matched to the sound required by the picture. References 1 Morfey, Christopher L., Dictionary of Acoustics, Academic Press, London and San Diego