Toward better acoustics for concert halls

OCT 01, 1980

Full reverberation and good spectral balance are important, but recent experiments point also to the need for directional balance—“enveloping” the listener with sound.

DOI: 10.1063/1.2913787

Manfred R. Schroeder

Concert‐hall acoustics are governed by the meshing of two sets of problems: on the one hand the physical problems of wave propagation and attenuation in irregularly bounded spaces and, on the other hand, the psychological problems of how the human listener perceives the sounds impinging on his ears and what he prefers to hear.

This article is only available in PDF format

References

1. W. C. Sabine, Collected Papers on Acoustics, Harvard Press, Cambridge (1922);
reprinted by Dover, New York (1964).
2. W. B. Joyce, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 58, 643 (1975).https://doi.org/JASMAN
3. K. Schuster, E. Waetzmann, Ann. Phys. Leipzig 1, 671 (1929);
C. F. Eyring, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 1, 217 (1930).https://doi.org/JASMAN
4. L. L. Beranek, Music, Acoustics and Architecture, Wiley, New York (1962).
5. B. S. Atal, M. R. Schroeder, G. M. Sessler, J. E. West, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 40, 428 (1966); https://doi.org/JASMAN
M. R. Schroeder, B. S. Atal, G. M. Sessler, J. E. West, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 40, 434 (1966).https://doi.org/JASMAN
6. M. R. Schroeder, Am. J. Physics 41, 461 (1973).
7. H. Kuttruff, Acustica 35, 141 (1976); https://doi.org/ACUSAY
W. B. Joyce, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 64, 1429 (1978).https://doi.org/JASMAN
8. E. N. Gilbert, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. (to be published).
9. M. R. Schroeder, D. Hackman, Acustica 45, 269 (1980).https://doi.org/ACUSAY
10. M. R. Schroeder, D. Gottlob, K. F. Siebrasse, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 56, 1195 (1974).https://doi.org/JASMAN
11. J. D. Carroll, “Individual Differences and Multidimensional Scaling,” in Multidimensional Scaling: Theory and Applications in the Behavioral Sciences, Volume 1: Theory (R. N. Shepard, A. K. Romney, S. B. Nerlove, eds.) Seminar Press, New York (1972); pages 105–155.
12. D. Gottlob, A. Kohlrausch, M. R. Schroeder, in Fortschritte der Akustik (DAGA 78) VDE‐Verlag, Berlin (1978); page 575.
13. Y. Ando, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 62, 1436 (1977); https://doi.org/JASMAN
Y. Ando, D. Gottlob, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 65, 524 (1979).https://doi.org/JASMAN
14. A. H. Marshall, “Acoustical Determinants for the Architectural Design of Concert Halls,” Archit. Sci. Rev. (Australia) 11, 81 (1968);
reprinted in Benchmark Papers in Acoustics 10: Architectural Acoustics (T. D. Northwood, ed.) Dowden, Hutchinson and Ross, Stroudsburg, Pa (1977).
15. M. Barron, J. Sound Vib. 15, 475 (1971).
16. M. R. Schroeder, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 65, 958 (1979).
17. H. W. Strube, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 67, 446 and (1980).
18. M. R. Schroeder, Archiv f. Elektronik und Übertragungstechnik 34, 165 (1980).
19. A. H. Marshall, D. Gottlob, H. Alrutz, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 64, 1437 (1978).https://doi.org/JASMAN

More about the Authors

Manfred R. Schroeder. Drittes Physikalisches Institut, University of Göttingen, Germany; Acoustics Research Center at Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, N.J.; and the Institut de Recherche et de Coordination Acoustique-Musique, Paris.