Conventionally, the study of sound radiation from vibrating boundaries refers to impervious boundaries. By allowing the surface to be pervious, we introduce into the problem an additional parameter that can be varied independently. Using the conventional radiation characteristics for piston sources as reference, we show by special examples that reductions, as well as gains in radiated power, can be obtained by such surface treatment. Therefore, this kind of “radiation control” might be of practical interest both in noise‐control and communication applications. [This work was supported in part by the U. S. Army Signal Corps, the U. S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the Office of Naval Research under Contract No. Nonr‐1841(42).]