Abstract and background: The Musikverein in Vienna is often cited as the world’s best concert hall, in terms of not only aesthetic appreciation but also architectural acoustics. In this case study, we try to discuss how scientific design betters music and how it may be bettered from three approaches: shape, seating and material. This report presents the findings of our group, as well as additional ones of my own.
Part 1: “Shape” shapes the acoustics landscape
Musikverein has the general shape similar to a shoebox. The shoebox shape is considered as the most preferable design for a concert hall. Since its emergence in 19th century, other designs such as direct sound hall and fan-shaped hall have also been tried but considered inferior because
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Its ceiling and balcony fronts are made of plaster on wood; its walls thick plaster on brick; its doors, paneling as well as chairs wood. (Bucur, 2006) Wood mainly absorbs low frequencies, which partially come from mechanical noise and have longer reverberation time; hence it reduces reverberation time and brightens the timber of music. Plaster can be bent into various shapes and thus increasing sound reflection; hence audible music at every corner. In addition, thick plaster supports the strong bass sound. (Long, 2006) Carpets which are mainly used to cover the floor of the audience section (further discussion in next paragraph) are such powerful absorbers as the audience in the final performance, so they can mimic audience during rehearsals and ensure that the absorption level may not be too different from that of the final …show more content…
Therefore, it should do a good job in three significant but conflicting fields, namely, reverberation, reflection and absorption. Over-absorptive rooms ruin the music while over-reverberant ones are not auditory-sense-friendly for audience. (Watson, 1926) One method was to find a non-absorptive and non-reflective material that can co-vibrates with sound (Statham, 1910) but such material is difficult to develop. Musikverein poses another possible solution. The floor of its audience section is made of linoleum on wood with carpet, which is more absorptive, while that of its platform is wood over air space with steep, fixed risers, which is more reverberant. (Bucur, 2006) In other words, absorption and reverberation are arranged according to functions of different
The orchestra platform was lined also with fabric from wall to wall and across the ceiling, and a heavy fabric draw curtain was made to close off the front of the stage.
The true greatness of the building is in the main room, the atrium is a huge open area in a radial style with a central point being in the center of the room. The room is filled with a combination of circles and squares which illustrates the Romans fascination with geometric shapes. Along with geometric shapes the inside of this building full of brilliant shades of oranges, blues and purples. There are ionic style pillars around the base of the room as well as sculptures of different gods. Just above the main room there is a frieze of false windows that make a band around the midlevel of the room. Although the windows are false there ar...
Forney, Kristine, and Joseph Machlis. "The Enjoyment of Music, 11e Shorter: W. W. Norton Study Space." The Enjoyment of Music, 11e Shorter: W. W. Norton Study Space. W.W Norton Company, Inc., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2014.
Utzon, J. (2002). Sydney Opera House Design Principles (Publication). Retrieved October 1, 2011, from http://www.heritage.nsw.gov.au/docs/nominations/operahouse_designprinciples.pdf
The history of the Concert Band and Wind Ensemble will be reflected through a timeline of events, including an analysis of significant events, groups, composers, and advancements. When society envisions a Wind Ensemble, talented musicians, grand music halls, and difficult arrangements typically come to mind. However, a modern-day Wind Ensemble includes a variety of musicians, each with positive and negative aspects. In society today, music is greatly appreciated and accepted. It is considered an honor and a privilege to expose our ears to the music.
With the Pantheon being built over 1700 years ago, it’s amazing that architects are still using features and techniques from this work of architecture in modern creations. The use of this type of classical architecture will continue to be used in works for public space due to its remarkable exterior appearance and it’s long lasting structural durability. When both Jesse hall and the Pantheon are compared it is possible to see their similarities from the types of domes that top each, their external facades, and their interior plan. While they share many similarities, the differences that Bell and Binder used in their creation make this work of architecture unique to many other public spaces.
The book is divided into four chapters: 1) Humanly Organized Sound, 2) Music in Society and Culture, 3) Culture and Society in Music, and 4) Soundly Organized Humanity. In chapter one, Blacking discusses the analysis of sound. He begins by describing music as humanly organized sound. His overarching theme is that “the function of tones in relation to each other cannot be explained adequately as part of a closed system” (30). In other words, music can’t be analyzed simply by one set of rules. This is because every single culture has a different system that they use to structure and compose their music. In order to adequately analyze a society’s music we have to study their “system.” We must learn what music means to them. Then, and only then, can we accurately and completely analyze what a particular type or piece of music means to a particular society and culture.
In picture two you can see the different sections of this building. You can see how the sections help organize the library. For example, most of the people feel safe being on the outside edges because they don 't like being the center of attention. This shape of a building helps these people feel better by adding the amount of space there is on the outside. In this same picture, we see how the different rooms of the building have a rectangular geometric shape. This is because the architect wanted to be the most efficient with the space he had. Finally in this picture, we are able to see how the reading room has the most amount of volume because it’s the activity most people go to the library for. These are the few reasons why I determined that in this building the social activities created the volume and geometry of the
The Los Angeles Philharmonic Classical Music Concert Report. I attended the Los Angeles Philharmonic classical music concert at the Walt Disney Concert Hall on Friday 29 November 2013. The classical concert started at 8:00pm to the enjoyment of the huge audience that had been waiting for this amazing music extravaganza. Classical music concerts always offer magnificent entertainment and the audience in this concert was expectant to derive such entertainment or more. In attendance were Christian Zacharias, who was the conductor, and Martin Chalifour, who was the LA Phil commanding Principal Concertmaster and Bach violin player.
Exton, Peter, “The Room Acoustics of the Guangzhou Opera house”, Harold Marshall Group Consultant 2010, Marshall Day Acoustics
For this task the brief was to design the construction, soundproofing and acoustic treatment of a recording studio complex within a series of set constraints. The complex had to include a control room, living room, reception and bathroom, within an overall floor space of 15m x 15m. The main focus was to be on acoustic design with the use of scale drawings to make the studio clear and easy to understand. For this studio the idea was to design a space suitable for recording large ensemble groups such as orchestras and so the space was designed with this in mind when regarding the size, shape and layout of the space. Arguably two of the most important aspects when designing a studio complex are that the live and control rooms include a lot of natural light and that the communication between the artists and the studio team is free and easy. In the studio this has achieved this by creating a design similar to and inspired by ‘The Big Room’ at Real World Studios (Realworldstudios.com, 2013), where the ‘control room’ and ‘live room’ are actually all within the one space utilising the live end/dead end theory.
Music: the art of organized noise. The blend of pitch and rhythm combined in different mediums and enjoyed by our ears. A very interpretive art, music isn’t very clearly constricted or defined by one definition. With so many varieties of music, it’s difficult to say what aspect is really the most important. Some people think music’s history and the appreciation of music are the most important aspects to take into consideration. Some think complex in rhythms and melodies make the best music. Some people devote their whole lives to studying one genre of music in order to fully understand how that genre works. While all of these aspects of music are important, none of them can truly be compared with each other on a fair playing field. Music of different genres, eras, and geographic backgrounds were written for different purposes, different people, and different settings. Still, there is still one overarching theme that applies to all forms of music new or old: the way the composer presents his or her creation. The performance and presentation of a work of music is like the icing on the top of a cake. The cake may be the best you’ve ever tasted, but if the icing on the outside doesn’t look appealing or doesn’t taste good, chances are you’ll take a different piece of cake with better looking frosting next time. The performance of music is what appeals most to people. With live performance, an artist must “sell” his or her creation. They must put smile on their face and convey to the audience that this is their music and through the music explain why it’s awesome. They must persevere through whatever the stage, the audience, and their surroundings give them and put on a good show. In today’s popular music though, this aspect of showma...
Gropius has an idea using glass and steels in design and its the most interest part of the building is its glass wall. Hu claimed that most traditional architecture in European is dark. So, Gropius changes traditional windows position (2014). Gropius combines window from second to fourth floor (Figure 3). The design ensures light and ventilation. Also, it increases the whole building’s visual performance (Qing, 2014). Especially, Gropius uses hyaline glass as a wall instead of solid wall. It increased the design’s modern and funny senses.
Siegfried, T. "Many Curious Scientists Have Music on Their Minds.” Science News 14 Aug. 2010: Research Library, ProQuest. Web. 12 Apr. 2011.
Meijenfeldt, E. V., and Geluk, M. 2003. Below ground level: creating new spaces for contemporary architecture. Birkhauser