The good life

Happiness in life means different things to different people.

To me, “the good life” is being healthy, enjoying the company of the people I love, and having the time to indulge in my hobbies. Certainly, getting together with my family and friends for great food, exceptional wine and entertaining banter, with wonderful music playing in the background, is one of the hallmarks of a dream life for me.

Wherever we gather — at home or in a restaurant — music plays an important role in creating a cozy and relaxing atmosphere for us. Music sets the mood, enhances the ambiance and keeps your pulse rate at a relaxing pace. At home, the background music would not be a problem. But in a restaurant, the music selection and volume and the acoustics would not be within our control. 

I believe that a restaurant should exert as much effort in making sure that it has the right background music and acoustics as it selects the best ingredients for its dishes. Unfortunately, not all restaurants can boast of having a seamless mix of excellent service, incomparable food, perfect ambiance and remarkable design that will make me experience the good life.

Take the case of labor lawyer Hermie Liwanag who sought out your AudioFile’s advice. Hermie and his family co-own Bawai’s Vietnamese Kitchen in Katipunan, White Plains, Quezon City, with Virgilio and Yong Tatlonghari. The acoustics in Bawai’s dining area leaves much to be desired. Customers complain that they could hardly hear each other, especially at peak hours when the restaurant is full and the cacophony of voices, plates and cutlery drown out the piped-in music.

Fortunately, Bawai’s outstanding menu is enough to keep customers coming back for more. I was not a fan of Vietnamese food, but Bawai’s has made me a convert. I have tried their Goi Cuon (fresh spring rolls), Com Suong Cha (grilled pork belly) and Bun Bo Hue (southern Hue pork and beef noodle soup), and am raring to try out their other dishes.

Of course, like a true restaurateur, Hermie is not content on seeing his resto always full to capacity. A music-lover himself, he wants to give in to his diners’ wishes. So, my business partner and good friend John Alegre and acoustician Noel Deslate paid him a visit last week. Immediately, we were able to pinpoint the problem: the place is full of reflecting surfaces. The glass windows, the glass tabletops and ceiling with sound traps act as amplifying agents. The sound is reflected up and down many times over.

Unregulated sound reflections are the main source of listening nuances such as peaks (those piercing high frequencies) and distortions. Fortunately all these can be reined in. When handled correctly, these reflections can be dealt with and the quest for the “good life” is not far behind.

Want to know if your room is reflective?  Get into an empty room and clap your hands. Listen well, and you’ll hear a series of intimately spaced echoes. With these echoes come recognizable musical pitches, called ringing, particularly if the room is small. Sound striking the walls is what produces these echoes. Aside from this palpable interference, the ringing also causes certain frequencies to be emphasized.

Bawai’s features spectacular interiors, but the architect was not able to factor in the acoustics. This is typical, though, because it’s only recently that establishments, condominiums and residential projects are taking notice at how good acoustics could further enhance marketability. Who would want to stay in a place when your echoes keep on repeating what you say?

With Bawai’s we hope to let the music be heard, set the mood and create the perfect dining atmosphere for its guests.

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For comments or questions, please e-mail me at audioglow@yahoo.com. You can also visit www.wiredstate.com for quick answers to your audio concerns.