Organic Rice—Designing a recital hall for the king of instruments

Abstract

The Edythe Bates Old Recital Hall at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music is a purpose-built organ performance hall, seating approximately 200. It houses a 75-stop French-style organ built by C. B. Fisk from tonal design by Manuel Rosales. The bare room was completed in 1991; a wood floor, loose chairs, and retractable acoustic banner system were added in 1995; the organ itself was installed in 1996; and diffusive elements were added to the rear wall in 1997 as voicing was completed. At each of these intermediate conditions reverberation times were measured and the acoustics of the room subjectively evaluated. The gradual fit-up of the room provides an interesting look at the incremental effect of each modification. The extensive adjustable acoustic banner system also provides a dramatic degree of variability inthe room’s acoustic environment. This paper compares the acousticians’ design intent for the room to the completed room and presents data and observations about the effects on the recital hall of the architectural modifications and acoustic banners.