Room treatment on a large scale

[John Gallup]

Designing and fine-tuning the acoustics of Philharmonia  Avery Fisher  Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center. Interesting to me that psychoacoustics ("the study of how mood, color, sense of place, and other emotional factors affect the way people perceive and understand music" ) are now considered at least as important as measurements.

If anybody wants to read this and can't get past the New Yorker's paywall, let me know.

[ldejong]

On 10/15/2022 at 12:57 AM, John Gallup said:

Designing and fine-tuning the acoustics of Philharmonia  Avery Fisher  Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center. Interesting to me that psychoacoustics ("the study of how mood, color, sense of place, and other emotional factors affect the way people perceive and understand music" ) are now considered at least as important as measurements.

If anybody wants to read this and can't get past the New Yorker's paywall, let me know.

I would love to read it! 

I still think those old concert venues (1800s) did pretty well regarding psychoacoustics, just looke at this beauty: 

The best places are actually behind the orchestra (as you can see in the picture), because of the acoustics you can hear it as a grand 'mono' recording and at the same time see the muscician in it's full glory. 
And all this was build before they even had a grasp at the science behind acoustics. I find this so intrigueing. 

[John Gallup]

3 hours ago, ldejong said:

just look at this beauty: 

Where is it? It's interesting that the best acoustics, for orchestral music at least,  are achieved these days in using so-called "vineyard"-style seating, where the performers are in the middle and the seats are all around. This of course limits the facility for other uses, such as drama, movies or public lectures. 

Boettcher Concert Hall in Denver, where I happened to be living when it opened in 1978, gave the audience fits until the acousticians fine-tuned it with the reflective disks you can see in the picture. I believe it was the first such facility in the US.

[Richard Vandersteen]

8 hours ago, ldejong said:

I would love to read it! 

I still think those old concert venues (1800s) did pretty well regarding psychoacoustics, just looke at this beauty: 

The best places are actually behind the orchestra (as you can see in the picture), because of the acoustics you can hear it as a grand 'mono' recording and at the same time see the muscician in it's full glory. 
And all this was build before they even had a grasp at the science behind acoustics. I find this so intriguing. 

Note the many random surfaces on the ceiling and walls!  My sound room (Great room) is tuned by the shape and textures of the materials.  Back then if the sound was too soft or bad the building was worthless and would have been destroyed or rebuilt.  This kind of workmanship is too costly these days, so band aids are used like reflectors or diffusers.  RV

[bkeske]

@John Gallup

I believe this is the famous Concertgebouw Amsterdam 

[bkeske]

A modern beauty I am very familiar with, as I purchase a season ticket online, is the Berliner Philharmoniker. Completed in 1963. Funny though, Karajan didn’t usually record there with the orchestra, but instead, a church. Similar to Szell in my hometown Cleveland. Szell rarely recorded the Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall, but instead the downtown Masonic Temple.

Berlin:

 

Edited October 18, 2022 by bkeske

[John Gallup]

Here's Disney Hall in Los Angeles, also vineyard style. 

Oddly, I don't think the exterior shape has much to do with the interior (as the Philharmoniker seems to, although I've only been there once and wasn't paying close attention. The sound where we were sitting was pretty good.  Frank Gehry, of course, was the architect. The stainless steel exterior was originally  so shiny that people in adjacent buildings couldn't stand the glare, and they had to rough it up a bit.

[bkeske]

@John Gallup Frank Gehry is quite incredible. He has made tremendous strides in his work since starting, out and making a name for himself.
 

I got to review the plans for his Peter B. Lewis  Weatherhead  School at Case Western here in Cleveland. An amazing set of drawing 100’s of huge pages thick. Basically ‘slices’ through the building from top to bottom. He did not use an Architectural AutoCad program, but instead one used for drawing/designing aircraft. Quite amazing that a General Contractor could figure it out when sifting through the drawings. My head would spin creating a bid for a structure like that 😁

Edited October 18, 2022 by bkeske

[Holmz]

I think Melodyland in Anaheim was also an early vineyard style seating before it was reborn serving the wine and crackers?