GEOMETRICAL

DESIGN STUDIES
ACOUSTICS OF CONCERT HALLS
AND ROOMS
Handbook of Acoustics, Chapter 9
Long, Architectural Acoustics, Chapter 19
THE LISTENING ENVIRONMENT

STRONG LATERAL REFLECTIONS SO AUDIENCE FEELS ENVELOPED

A STRONG REVERBERANT FIELD

CLARITY AND DEFINITION FOR RAPID MUSICAL PASSAGES

ADEQUATE LOUDNESS THROUGHOUT THE HALL

ROOM MUST NOT COLOR THE NATURAL INSTRUMENT SPECTRA

LOW BACKGROUND NOISE (NC 20 OR LESS)

SMOOTH DECAY WITHOUT ECHOES

PERFORMERS SHOULD BE ABLE TO HEAR EACH OTHER (ENSEMBLE)



HALL SIZE
SEATING CAPACITY PAYS THE RENT

HOWEVER THE BEST LIKED CONCERT HALLS HAVE CAPACITIES OF
ABOUT 1800-1900 SEATS

LEAST LIKED HALLS AVERAGED 2800 SEATS
BASIC ROOM SHAPES
FAN-SHAPED
GREEK/ROMAN THEATER
CIRCUS OR ARENA
SIMPLE PLAN
FORMS FOR
CONCERT HALLS IN
NORMAL AND
SURROUND
CONFIGURATIONS

NORMAL SURROUND
DIRECTIONS
OF SIDE-WALL
REFLECTIONS
DEPENDING
ON ROOM
SHAPE
RECTANGULAR FAN-SHAPE
GRAZING INCIDENCE (LESS THAN 5
O
)
FOR REFLECTION AT A HARD SURFACE, REFLECTED WAVE
IS IN PHASE WITH INCIDENT WAVE AND PRODUCES AN
INCREASE (OR DECREASE) IN SOUND LEVEL

10-20 dB IN FOR REFLECTION AT A SOFT SURFACE (SUCH
AS THE HEADS OF THE AUDIENCE) REFLECTED WAVE IS
180
O
OUT OF PHASE WITH INCIDENT WAVE AND WAVE
INTERFERENCE CAN AMOUNT TO 10--20 dB IN THE
100--800 Hz RANGE (GADE, 2007)
SEATING ARRANGEMENT
GRAZING INCIDENCE ATTENUATES NOT ONLY THE
DIRECT SOUND BUT ALSO THE FIRST-ORDER
REFLECTIONS FROM THE SIDE WALLS. THIS RESULTS
IN WEAKER EARLY REFLECTIONS AND REDUCED
CLARITY, INTIMACY and WARMTH IN THE ORCHESTRA
SEATS (STALLS)

NORMALLY A CLEARANCE OF 8 cm WILL SUFFICE TO
AVOID GRAZING-INCIDENCE ATTENUATION, BUT SIGHT
LINES WILL STILL BE UNSATISFACTORY (UNLESS
SEATS ARE STAGGERED), INCREASING THE
CLEARANCE TO 12 cm WILL MAKE BOTH ACOUSTIC
AND VISUAL CONDITIONS SATISFACTORY, BUT THIS
IMPLIES A STEEPER FLOOR SLOPE.
CALCULATION OF A FLOOR SLOPE WITH CONSTANT
CLEARANCE
A CURVED FLOOR SLOPE WITH CONSTANT CLEARANCE MAY
PREVENT EXCESS CLEARANCE IN SEATS CLOSE TO THE SOURCE
SECTION OF A HALL WITH A REAR BALCONY AND
CONSTANT CLEARANCE. THE RESULT IS AN INCREASED
SLOPE FOR THE ELEVATED BALCONY
FOR SAFETY THE SLOPE SHOULD NOT EXCEED ABOUT 35
O

IMPORTANT PARAMETERS FOR MAINTAINING PROPER
SOUND IN SEATS OVERHUNG BY BALCONIES
FOR THEATERS, H>2D
FOR CONCERT HALLS H>D
(GADE, 2007)
UNDER BALCONY EARLY DECAY TIME EDT (Barron, 1993)
VOLUME AND CEILING HEIGHT
VOLUME INFLUENCES BOTH REVERBERANCE AND
LOUDNESS. FOR HALLS OF HIGH CAPACITY, A LOW
VOLUME PER SEAT HELPS PRESERVE ACOUSTICAL
ENERGY.
THOSE WHO PREFER THE MODEL OF BOSTON
SYMPHONY HALL PREFER AROUND 9 m
3
(320 cu ft) PER
SEAT. HALLS SUCH AS McDERMOTT AND BIRMINGHAM
(WITH OPENABLE REVERBERATION CHAMBERS) ARE
AT OR ABOVE 11 m
3
(400 cu ft). THESE HALLS INCLUDE
A LARGE MOVEABLE REFLECTOR ABOVE THE
ORCHESTRA WHICH OFFSETS SOME OF THE EFFECTS
OF A HIGH VOLUME (Long, 2006)
VOLUME PER SEAT FOR SEVERAL HALLS (Long)
ECHO ELIPSES DRAWN WITH SOURCE AND RECEIVER
POINTS AT THE FOCI, AND THE SUM OF DISTANCES FROM
THE FOCI EQUAL DISTANCE BETWEEN FOCI PLUS 17 m. IF
A SURFACE OUTSIDE AN ELLIPSE REFLECTS SOUND TO A
LISTENER, IT SHOULD BE MADE ABSORBING (Gade, 2007)
RESHAPING OF CEILING PROFILE TO AVOID
FOCUSING AND PROVIDE MORE EVEN SOUND
DISTRIBUTION
DIFFUSION BY GEOMETRIC SHAPES:

TRIANGULAR RECTANGULAR
PROTRUSIONS
SEMI-CYLINDRICAL
SURFACE
CROSS SECTION OF A PHASE GRATING
(QUADRATIC RESIDUE) SOUND DIFFUSER, AS
SUGGESTED BY SCHROEDER (1975)
MAXIMUM DEPTH OF THE WELLS DETERMINES THE LOW-FREQUENCY LIMIT OF
THE DIFFUSER. WELL DEPTH SHOULD BE 12 TIMES WAVELENGTH AT THE
LOWEST FREQUENCY.
THE HIGHEST FREQUENCY IS DETERMINED BY WELL WIDTH, WHICH IS A HALF
WAVELENGTH AT THE HIGHEST FREQUENCY.
SYMPHONYHALL
BOSTON
V =18,750 m
3


39 m x23.6 m x18.6 m

2625 seats

Furthest seat: 40.5 m

T60 = 1.85 s

V/N = 7.14 m
3



NEUES
GEWANDHAUS

LEIPZIG
CONCERTGEBAUW
AMSTERDAM
BERLIN PHILHARMONIC HALL
CHRISTCHURCH TOWN HALL, NEW ZEALAND BUILT 1972
2662 seats, V = 20,000m
3
, T = 2.4s
SEGERSTROM
HALL,
ORANGE
COUNTY

Seats 2900
Acoustic
Design,
Marshall, Hyde,
Paoletti
STANFORD
MEMORIAL CHURCH