“Transition loss” From the practice room to the concert hall

Abstract

The acoustical characteristics of music practice facilities are compared with those of some performance halls available at a university campus. Glaring quantifiable differences are observed between the practice spaces and performance spaces in terms of size, shape, reverberation, and interior construction schemes. Furthermore, the Perceived acoustical qualities of three performance spaces studied also vary greatly from each other, one being popularly referred to as “very reverberant and muddy,” another “dead,” and a third, “good.” The physical differences observed are presented, and their effect on the performance of music rehearsed in the small practice facilities and performed in the larger auditoria considered via subjective reports made by performers and listeners. These observations are further supplemented by an account of strategies employed by performers in adapting production to suit the different spaces, to compensate for the “transition loss” incurred in going from the practice room to the concert hall.