Audience Chamber Research Articles

Acoustics of La Grande Salle, Place des Arts, Montréal, P. Q., Canada

This multipurpose auditorium, designed by Affleck, Desbarats, Dimakopoulos, Lebensold, and Sise, was inaugurated 21 September 1963. About one-third of its 2980 seats are located on the main floor, with the balance distributed in three balconies and three tiers of boxes along the side walls. It is equipped with a mechanized concert enclosure of wood secured to a steel frame, as this hall was built to provide a home for the Montréal Symphony Orchestra, ballet, opera, and revues. The front third of the audience chamber is approximately 80 ft wide, but the balconies at the rear of the house were designed with much more width to accommodate the number of seats specified by the building owner. Most of the wall surfaces, including the rear walls, were constructed of plaster applied directly to concrete masonry units or poured concrete to obtain sufficient low-frequency reverberation. The small areas of wood paneling are securely cemented to heavy masonry walls for the same reason. To obtain sufficient reverberation for music, the upper boundary of the audience chamber was constructed approximately 80 ft above the main floor. Small sound-reflecting surfaces were installed below the “upper ceiling” to aid definition. These small surfaces were designed in the form of an interwoven grid, which conceals the air-supply ducts, the loudspeaker equipment, and theatrical and audience lighting equipment. The basic design of the auditorium was accomplished between September 1958 and January 1959. This paper reports the results of acoustical measurements performed in the hall since its completion and observations made during a wide range of speech and music performances.

THE BIFURCATION OF THE YELLOW TURBANS IN LATER HAN

During the waning years of the Later Han Dynasty, Heaven seemed to be withdrawing the mandate to rule which it had bestowed upon Emperor Ling-ti (see Hou Han-shu, Po-na edition [hereafter abbreviated as HHS], 8 for biographical details). Hens developed male characteristics (see HHS chih, 13. iob-iib; also 8. Ioa-b.), a reminder that the monarch was allowing eunuchs to meddle in the affairs of state. On July I, 178, a wreath of black vapor in the form of a dragon entered the imperial audience chamber (HHS, 8. iob; also consult ibid. chih, 17. 4b, IIb-I2a). Away from the capital an earthquake occurred, creating a fissure in the earth (HHS chih, 16. Ioa-b). These supernatural omens, as well as others recorded in HHS chih, 17. 5a-b, 7b-8a, 18.I7b, were accompanied by a recurrence of agrarian distress. Great epidemics occurred in 171, 173, 179, 182, 185 (HHS chih, 17. IIa.), which gave rise to a vigorous religious movement. This movement eventually led to resistance against the throne. The waves of rebellion which finally engulfed the Han Empire, including rebellions initiated in the west by the Yiieh-chih, were directed primarily by NeoTaoist adepts skilled in alchemy, herbalism, and faith-healing. These adepts promised their followers that the azure heaven of Han would perish, and be replaced by a yellow one, and the eastern Yellow Turban leader Chang Chiieh even called himself Yellow Heaven in 184, as reported in HHS, 8. 14b, and ibid. chih. 17. 7a: 8a-b. The Taoists declared that 184, the first year of a new cycle, would also usher in a new era. The characters chia-tzu, designating the first year of the new cycle, were written with white clay in anticipation of the coming overthrow of the dynasty. They were to be seen on official residences in the prefectures and on temple walls in the capital of Lo-yang (HHS, 61. Ia-4b). The clamor for a new dynasty to accompany the change in cycle

Remarks on the Carved Ceiling and Heraldic Shields of the Apartment in Holyrood House, commonly known as 'Queen Mary's Audience Chamber.'

The author discusses the importance of the carved oak ceiling in the Audience Chamber of Holyrood Palace in terms of its significance to both art and heraldry. The article concludes with a description of the heraldic shields on the Holyrood ceiling and an attempt to date when the ceiling was carved.