Flanking Paths

Paths by which sound travels around an element intended to impede it, usually some structural component that is continuous between rooms and rigid enough to transmit the sound. For example, a partition separating two rooms can be "flanked" by the floor, ceiling or walls surrounding the partition if they run uninterrupted from one room to the other. Ducts, conduits, openings, structural elements, rigid ties, etc., can be sound flanking paths. The acoustic effect of sound flanking paths is dependent on many factors.