Reflection control reduces reflected energy either by absorption or by scattering.

Evidence

Up to this point we have looked at some audible effects of single reflections when they appear in anechoic isolation and when they appear in the presence of room reflections. Obviously, hard flat surfaces are near perfect reflectors of sound, and in many situations, this is acceptable, even desirable. But some circumstances require controlling reflections, and there are two options for attenuating the energy in sound reflected from a surface: absorb the incident sound, or scatter it in many directions, sending only a fraction in the direction of the listener. — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 645

Categorization

• DEFINE: Frames the two fundamental mechanisms (absorption vs. scattering) that organize all later reflection-control discussion.
• XREF: connects to: Absorption coefficients reduce reflected intensity by their proportion; Higher absorption reduces the first-reflection energy that feeds the reverberant field — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1763; Surface absorption reduces total sound power, so reflections fall below inverse-square predictions. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1703 (+9 more)
• yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: Absorption coefficients reduce reflected intensity by their proportion; Higher absorption reduces the first-reflection energy that feeds the reverberant field — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1763; Surface absorption reduces total sound power, so reflections fall below inverse-square predictions. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1703 (+9 more)