Recital Hall Research Articles

Acoustical design of Sumida Triphony Hall

The Sumida Triphony Hall was opened near Kinshityo JR station, located in the eastern part of Tokyo, in October 1997. The building contains two concert halls, the Main Hall, with 1801 seats, as the home of the New Japan Philharmonic, and the Recital Hall, with 252 seats. The Main Hall has a rectangular shape with the sloped ceiling rising at 12.5 degrees toward the back of the hall in parallel to the main floor and with two balconies around the main audience area. The reflecting panels were hung over the stage to help the ensemble for players. The shape was basically checked with the technique of computer simulation and the detail of the ceiling and the wall was studied by use of a 1/10th-scale model. An organ with 66 stops was installed at the front of the hall. The Recital Hall is a typical ‘‘shoebox’’ hall. In order to attenuate the vibration caused by railroad tracks, the vibration isolating barriers were embedded around a part of the outer walls of the building, and also the vibration insulating structure was adopted at the Main Hall partly and the Recital Hall entirely. The outline of acoustical design will be reported.

Owner/builder perspective of the impact of trains on performance halls for Benaroya Hall, Seattle

The Seattle Symphony began planning for a new concert hall in early 1987 at a location near their existing venue, the Seattle Opera House. During funding negotiations with The City of Seattle in 1992, the City made it clear that they wished to have the new facility located in their downtown core area. They offered a site that had many added challenges. These included being in the flight path of Sea-Tac International Airport; being alongside the Metro transit tunnel which is to accommodate light rail; being located in the heart of a very active city; and finally being located directly above the twin track railroad tunnel that runs north to south through the city center. In order to achieve the desired acoustical quality for the 2 500-seat main auditorium and 540-seat recital hall, not only for performances, but also for digital recording, a number of innovative design and construction techniques were required. These ranged from a massive foundation slab above the tunnel, to construction of a vibration isolated building within a building, which is supported on natural rubber isolation bearings. The challenges of designing and constructing this unique building will be presented.

Concert hall design: A consultant’s perspective and retrospective

Architectural environments for symphonic performances can perhaps be described as one of the most complex problems in physical acoustics due to the multiplicity of sound source–path–receiver systems present in listening spaces. On the other hand, people performed and enjoyed listening to music in architectural and outdoor spaces long before the development of architectural acoustics as a scientific discipline and well before there were acoustical consultants. This paper describes one practitioner’s historical perspective and analysis of the problem as it relates to public concert hall design and musical performance over the last several centuries and how the interrelationship between the two has actually fashioned the traditional symphonic environment. Based on this analysis, a methodology will be discussed to successfully replicate traditional symphonic environments utilizing psychoacoustic rather than geometric guidelines. The results of applying this methodology in a variety of building types over a period of 40 years, e.g., concert halls, recital halls, music pavillions, multiuse halls, etc., will be discussed. Both physical and electroacoustical solutions will be presented to support the author’s original analytic premise.

Apologizing for God: Apologetic Preaching to a Postmodern World

Recorded in Heeren Recital Hall, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, on January 31, 1996.

Boris Pasternak: A Literary Biography. Vol. I, 1890-1928 , and: Four Contemporary Russian Writers , and: Soviet Literature in the 1980s: Decade of Transition (review)

Reviewed by: Boris Pasternak: A Literary Biography. Vol. I, 1890-1928, and: Four Contemporary Russian Writers, and: Soviet Literature in the 1980s: Decade of Transition Walter F. Kolonosky Christopher Barnes . Boris Pasternak: A Literary Biography. Vol. I, 1890-1928. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1989. 507 pp. $69.50. Robert Porter . Four Contemporary Russian Writers. Oxford: Berg, 1989. 184 pp. $42.50. N. N. Shneidman . Soviet Literature in the 1980s: Decade of Transition. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1989. 250 pp. $40.00. Pasternak: A Literary Biography is a major contribution; in the gallery of Pasternak scholarship it draws our attention by its scope, its forceful details, and its stamp of careful preparation. In this first volume Barnes presents Pasternak's childhood, boyhood, and youth in almost pointillist fashion, after which he picks up a larger brush, working his way through poetry, prose, and criticism to what he describes as "an arbitrary and unclean break" in 1928 when Pasternak was thirty-eight and the first five-year plan was a reality. Pasternak's insistence on the bond between life and art may be traced namely to his formative years under the watchful eyes of his parents, Leonid Osipovich, a well-known painter, and Rozalia Osipovna, and accomplished concert pianist. To Boris "home" was linked to studios, galleries, recital halls, theatres, and salons. What better preparation for the artistic movements of a new century and the literary debates of a new society? From the very beginning, therefore, Boris's experiences were rarely free from art, rarely free from the smell of paint, the sound of the keyboard and the discourse of the intelligentsia. In the Pasternak home Tolstoy and Scriabin were not merely household words, but house guests. Culture was a given. From Barnes's reconstruction of Pasternak's early years, one gets two distinct impressions: that Boris was born into a privileged milieu, and that beginning with Boris's student years there was a personal struggle at almost every level of existence. It is not that Boris faced a new wave of anti-Semitism or fell out of political favor. On the contrary, through connections he managed to find work, get published, obtain visas, enroll at the university and secure living space. But as Barnes summerizes, "Pasternak's biography consisted significantly of non-meetings, rejections and renunciations: the abandonment of music and philosophy, the suppression of romantic artistry, unrequited love, discovery of Tsvetaeva as a soul-mate in absentia, his loss of Rilke through silence and death, and his deprivation of Europe and the civilization in which his personality was rooted." A literary biography predicates a detailed analysis of all major works in the context of their inception and reception. Barnes devotes ample space to Pasternak's works, including newly discovered fragments. He takes every opportunity to identify patterns (contiguity), show relationships (nature/the behavior of man), and discuss images (movement of inanimate world), clarifying Pasternak's position vis à vis symbolism, futurism, and realism. Moreover, he relates prose sketches such as "The Death of Reliquimini," "Suboctive Story," and what are called Dramatic Fragments to Pasternak's major works. Most important, Barnes carries on an open [End Page 325] discussion, admitting to the gaps in Pasternak's life, for example, the Berlin years, as well as to the many lost manuscripts and letters. Barnes reinforces the image of Pasternak as a shy, sensitive, serious, and somewhat stubborn man. But he also presents him as someone driven, someone torn and always about to turn a corner. Reading about Pasternak's relationship with Ol'ga Freidenburg, Shura Shtikh, Ida Vysotskaya, or even Mayakovsky, more than one Pasternak follower will feel uneasy. And more than one literary critic will be puzzled over Pasternak's early imagery as well as the ideological constructs of The Year 1905 and Lieutenant Shmidt in view of Pasternak's afterthoughts. Such afterthoughts, indeed, misgivings, and confessions, come forward in Pasternak's letters, the sum of which adds up to Barnes's reconstruction of Pasternak's epistolary voice. What gives Barnes's study a large measure of authority is not the synthesis of the growing body of research on Pasternak, but the careful mining of the recent load of Pasternak materials (namely...

What Should One Expect from a Philosophy of Music Education?

There is a puzzle about music. On the one hand, whether we are performers or members of an audience, whether in the rarified atmosphere of a recital hall or in the confines of the shower stall, whether our interest is in Mozart or in the blues, whether we study music in the structured context of a university classroom or chance upon it on a car radio, whether we have years of concert performance behind us or have difficulty carrying a tune, hardly a day goes by when we are not engaged by some sort of musical experience. Music is our constant companion. Moreover, music seems to be a source of genuine enrichment without which our lives would be considerably diminished. For some, this enrichment comes through the composition of music. For others, musical performance is the chief source of musical delight. Others take pleasure in some of the ancillary aspects of music making, such as musical instrument design or working as a musical engineer. Still others write about music. Most of us enjoy listening to music. And for many, music provides enjoyment through some combination of these activities.

The acoustic design of recital halls for educational facilities

A recital hall for an educational facility requires a close appraisal of anticipated teaching, rehearsal, and performance use. In most cases, a modified set of acoustic criteria is required for these spaces in contrast to those associated with the design of professional recital halls such as Weill Hall, Town Hall, or the 92nd Street YMHA. This paper discusses the special requirements of recital halls in educational facilities, recognizes the work of Rein Pirn in this area, and develops a revised scale for volume‐to‐seating area ratios for these rooms. Qualitative subjective judgments related to the ratio of direct‐to‐reverberant energy are reviewed and measurements taken in some representative recital halls are analyzed.

Acoustical design of the Chiang Kai Shek Cultural Centre in Taipei

This paper presents construction and acoustical data of the new National Theatre (1522 seats), the Concert Hall (2077 seats) and the Recital Hall (365 seats) which were opened in 1987 in Taipei, ROC. Additionally, it describes the acoustical design considerations and design procedures, including tests on 1:20 models of the National Theatre and of the Concert Hall.

Acoustical design for the Merkin Concert Hall and the Hebrew Arts School

Sound control issues were critical in the design of the multistory building that required relatively light‐weight construction. The Anne Goodman Recital Hall was located directly above the Merkin Concert Hall. Dance studios were adjacent to Piano Classrooms, which were adjacent to Practice Rooms. Comparison is made between the techniques used on this building and those for the neighboring Juilliard School.

最近建設されたコンサート・リサイタルホール ( 最近のホール音響)

最近建設されたコンサート・リサイタルホール ( 最近のホール音響)

Architectural acoustics for the organ

Organs are used in many settings: churches, concert halls, recital halls, and even practice rooms. An organ may be used as a solo instrument, as accompaniment to a chorus, or as part of an orchestral ensemble. There is a wide range of appropriate acoustics for the auditorium as well as placement of the instrument and performer with relation to the audience and to the other performers. These matters will be discussed.

Acoustical support for small performing groups in “surround” concert halls

When a small musical group, such as a string quartet, performs on a large stage, it is usually placed downstage center, in order to achieve close contact with the audience. In this location there are no nearby sound reflecting surfaces to give acoustical support. If the audience is seated “out in front,” as in a proscenium theater the musicians can be helped by surrounding them at the sides and rear with a temporary folding screen, to provide close-in sound reflections and reinforcement of their music. At the same time, it provides a suitable visual background to prevent their appearing lost on the large stage. So long as the height of the screen exceeds about six feet, the acoustical requirements are satisfied and the exact height is a matter only of visual concern. However, when the audience surrounds the stage, as in a number of new concert and recital halls, this approach does not work because the musicians are hidded from view for the audience around the stage. This paper discusses a recital screen for use in surround halls whose height is very much less than is customary. Examples are presented and the acoustical performance is discussed.

Performing arts building for a small liberal arts college

The Michael and Margaret McCarthy Arts Center on the campus of St. Michael's College, Winooski, VT, was occupied and in use for the fall semester of 1975. Its 400-seat theater, 300-seat recital hall, faculty offices, studios, classrooms, individual and group rehearsal rooms serve the performing arts needs of this 1400 student campus. The building was long in the planning stages and several original proposals for the building were discarded primarily for budget reasons. The design and construction of the building in just under 12 calendar Pizzagalli Construction Company undertook the complete design and construction of the building in just under 12 calendar months. This paper reviews the acoustical design considerations and the solutions to the myriad room acoustics, sound isolation, and building noise control problems inherent in a building of this type. Measurements of background ambient noise levels, room-to-room noise reduction, and reverberation times in the completed spaces are given and compared with the design objectives and generally accepted criteria.

Music building for a small liberal arts college

Lebanon Valley College, Annville, PA has had a strong music program for many years. Recently it felt the need for new facilities to complement the program. The new building was occupied in the fall of 1975. It contains a 400-seat recital hall, band room, organ-choral room, faculty offices and studios, classrooms, and individual and group practice rooms. The building was designed by Bogar and Bink, Lemoyne, PA. The acoustical consultant was engaged early in the planning process. This made possible a high degree of interaction between the architect and consultant throughout the planning, design, and construction process. This paper reviews the acoustical design considerations and solutions to the many room acoustics, sound isolation, and mechanical system noise control problems typical of a music building. Measured data on ambient noise and room-to-room noise reduction will be shown, in comparison with the design criteria. One unusual feature of the recital hall is the methodology of varying easily the hall reverberation time for small and large group performances. Measured reverberation times versus calculated will be shown.

Recent experience with spaces for musical performance and rehearsal

Posters, drawings, and photos will show acoustical design details of the auditorium organ installation and of the orchestra rehearsal studio at Cincinnati Music Hall; of the Corbett Auditorium, Watson Recital Hall, and associated rehearsal studios of the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music; and of the recital, rehearsal, and practice studios of the Miami (Ohio) University Center for the Performing Arts.

Directional Exploration of Two Reverberant Sound Fields

The reverberant sound fields of two comparably sized but acoustically dissimilar halls (recital hall and theatre) were excited by means of a steady-state random noise source, located on stage. Using a specially constructed directional microphone with known directivity, octave-band sound-pressure measurements were made near the center of each audience area. A total of nine directions, covering the hemisphere of exposure to the sound field, were explored in each hall. It is shown that the loudness disparity between the two halls, which stands in good agreement with the measured reverberation times, is attributable to nonfrontal sound only. Typically, the level of nonfrontal sound in the theatre was found to be 4 dB below the level of nonfrontal sound in the recital hall, while frontal sound levels in the two halls were essentially equal. The measurement data are discussed with reference to subjective impressions of acoustical “envelopment.”

Acoustical Performance of Two Music Buildings

Music buildings at Washington State University and Central Washington State College, completed 2 and 4 yr ago, respectively, were the subject of an acoustical study involving measurements and user judgments. Although the two buildings are similar in size and facilities, the acoustical performances are not the same. Each building contains a 400-seat recital hall, but the acoustics of the two are quite different (one is almost twice the volume of the other, 171 000 vs 93 000 cu ft). Data are presented on reverberation time, sound-transmission loss, and background-noise measurements made throughout each building. The teaching staff of both buildings were asked to rate their impressions of the acoustics by completing brief questionnaires. On the basis of questionnaire responses, the original design criteria are examined and some proposals offered.

Acoustical Design of the Jewett Fine Arts Center—Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts

The music-theater wing of the Mary Cooper Jewett Fine Arts Center at Wellesley College was completed and occupied in the fall of 1958. The building contains a 350-seat auditorium which functions as a music recital hall, lecture hall and, with a portable stage wagon that is moved on tracks from an adjacent drama-workshop, as a small theater. In addition, there are the usual music teaching spaces, including theory classrooms, teaching studios, individual instrumental practice rooms, record-listening rooms and a music library. The room acoustics and sound isolation designs are discussed and the results of some measurements in the completed building are presented. The architects for the building were Paul Rudolph, New Haven, Connecticut, in association with Anderson, Beckwith and Haible of Boston.

Acoustic Requirements of Music School Buildings

Acoustic measurements are presented on the recital halls, ensemble rooms, teaching studios, and practice rooms of several music buildings located in the Southwest. Minimum acceptable values for attenuation between the various types of rooms are suggested.