# Designing a Small Concert Hall



## Tikoo Tuba (Oct 15, 2018)

When I was child we attended a church with a stained-glass dome . I'd focus on that natural light , it's imaginary angels , and especially as I got older and wished to avoid what I did not want to understand .

Concert hall design begins with seating for 300 . Hmm ... in the round ? Within a dome ? Painting and light and art all around ? A central raised stage ? Intelligently protective of mind and ear ; no matter what going on . Sometimes things get too exciting . We strive at least for very fine acoustics .

So , seating for 300 - within a shape . (let expense of construction be worry-free)

Would you prefer a festive downtown location or something else ?


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## Tikoo Tuba (Oct 15, 2018)

Dining area , theatre seating , mosh pit and center stage . Above the stage is a reflective disc gobo . Multiple vertical gobos around the dome may direct sound into the upper dome area that it may become heavenly diffused 21st century musical ambience .


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## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

Where are the toilets?


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## Tikoo Tuba (Oct 15, 2018)

Bring a diaper , friend . You'll be kindly directed to the changing room . Once that important business is done we hope you'll resume your place at the piano . How does the theatre sound ? It can be tuned just like an audiophile's listening room can be tuned .


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## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

I'm saving the 'diaper' (I suppose that's a nappy) for your contributions.


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## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

I would prefer that the performers come to my home.


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## Tikoo Tuba (Oct 15, 2018)

eugeneonagain said:


> I'm saving the 'diaper' (I suppose that's a nappy) for your contributions.


It goes to the composters . Thanks , evil genius .

Sonically , the floor of the mosh pit should not be resonate . Bare feet upon clay ? We need the mosh pit for modern music . Life is motion .


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## Guest (Apr 1, 2019)

It would be good to take a look at Pierre Boulez's ideas about designing performance spaces that can cater to a wide variety of performances. Boulezsaal in Berlin isn't exactly _as[\i] flexible as other stuff he envisioned (and things that actually came about like at IRCAM) but a good acoustic and seating in the round is probably going to be very very attractive to many musicians who are seeking performance opportunities._


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## Tikoo Tuba (Oct 15, 2018)

I may have drawn the piano with its lid open ... but that sort of proscenium projection device is wrong in the round . Close it . Anyway , massive volume will not be necessary for the completeness of modern music to be grand . I think the center stage is just 30' diameter .


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

eugeneonagain said:


> Where are the toilets?


A most incontinent consideration. Perhaps the concert hall seats are toilets so nobody has to miss anything or stand in a line. This would be especially valuable if they serve beer at the concert hall.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

In my dream world I would blissfully become the concert! (And would not have need for mundane things such as toilet breaks.)


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## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

Fritz Kobus said:


> A most incontinent consideration. Perhaps the concert hall seats are toilets so nobody has to miss anything or stand in a line. This would be especially valuable if they serve beer at the concert hall.


Considering the age of most concert-goers it may be a good option. I always avoid the complimentary drinks during the intermission.


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## Guest (Apr 1, 2019)

The audience is so old at my local venue that the seats are all like these, with a nice comfy cushion to get through those never ending Bruckner symphonies in reasonable comfort.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Root said:


> The audience is so old at my local venue that the seats are all like these, with a nice comfy cushion to get through those never ending Bruckner symphonies in reasonable comfort.


Also valuable if you just had hemorrhoid surgery.


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## Tikoo Tuba (Oct 15, 2018)

Yes , the concert toilet seat was an obvious solution . But first , I should not have erased the arched doorway that I'd drawn in the space under the seating/dining area .

Today I see a big problem with performance music in the round . The music is limited to Omni-directional , which it favors . A vocal soprano soloist would not be an Omni-directional instrument unless she dizzily spins . The dome theatre concept is for circle music - a circle of clarinets and violins and ukuleles perhaps , attending only to the center . The piano works , too , centered like a sun . And the big drum , a Blackfoot Warriors song - x x x x x x x x x x x x X X X X X x x x x ....


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## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

Root said:


> The audience is so old at my local venue that the seats are all like these, with a nice comfy cushion to get through those never ending Bruckner symphonies in reasonable comfort.


 Careful. If you're lucky, you'll end up old too.:tiphat:


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Tikoo Tuba said:


> Yes , the concert toilet seat was an obvious solution . But first , I should not have erased the arched doorway that I'd drawn in the space under the seating/dining area .
> 
> Today I see a big problem with performance music in the round . The music is limited to Omni-directional , which it favors . A vocal soprano soloist would not be an Omni-directional instrument unless she dizzily spins . The dome theatre concept is for circle music - a circle of clarinets and violins and ukuleles perhaps , attending only to the center . The piano works , too , centered like a sun . And the big drum , a Blackfoot Warriors song - x x x x x x x x x x x x X X X X X x x x x ....


Well I am afraid I didn't help keep this thread on track but as for 360 degree concert hall, what if we have the stage and the hall rotating at opposite directions so that... no, better yet we can have sound deflectors around the stage that will make all singing go straight up to a gigantic hemisphere which will reflect the sound in all directions in a unified manner.

What would it sound like to have a choir arranged in a circle around a listener. Oh, that's it. We put the audience in the middle and the performers around the perimeter.


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## Guest (Apr 2, 2019)

Larkenfield said:


> Careful. If you're lucky, you'll end up old too.:tiphat:


Sounds like you use one of those things. Do you enjoy it?


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Root said:


> Sounds like you use one of those things. Do you enjoy it?


Probably the most enjoyable part of that is getting off of it!


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## Guest (Apr 2, 2019)

Not for everyone else though. Pooeww!


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## Tikoo Tuba (Oct 15, 2018)

Fritz Kobus said:


> We put the audience in the middle and the performers around the perimeter.


Well , yes that is possible . And when a circle choir is holding an audience like a baby I hope the experience is pleasant .

Sound is reflected at right angles . A curvature is a sound-focusing structure . A sound going straight up into dome could bounce 90d to the other side of the dome then come straight down ... even a whisper .


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## KitMurkit (Apr 3, 2019)

I love the seats.  But to be serious, it is important to plan acoustic as well. It is good to speak with someone who knows sound engineering.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

KitMurkit said:


> I love the seats.  But to be serious, it is important to plan acoustic as well. It is good to speak with someone who knows sound engineering.


Acoustics yes, but I want more leg room. One thing I like about Hill Auditorium on the campus of University of Michigan is that, besides world-class acoustics, I can get back row seats in the mez or balcony and there is plenty of space to stand behind my seat so my legs don't get too cramped during the concert.


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## Tikoo Tuba (Oct 15, 2018)

shirime said:


> It would be good to take a look at Pierre Boulez's ideas about designing performance spaces that can cater to a wide variety of performances. Boulezsaal in Berlin isn't exactly _as[\i] flexible as other stuff he envisioned (and things that actually came about like at IRCAM) but a good acoustic and *seating in the round is probably going to be very very attractive to many musicians who are seeking performance opportunities*._


_

The why of this opportunity has yet to be explained . I think it is vital . I believe all respect to the musician is First Relation ._


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## Guest (Apr 3, 2019)

Tikoo Tuba said:


> The why of this opportunity has yet to be explained . I think it is vital . I believe all respect to the musician is First Relation .


If the chairs aren't fixed to the ground as well, there are more potential arrangements of musicians and audience in the room. This just allows for a wider range of different performances that require different setups, logistically.

Also, is this thread more a shitposting thread and not meant to be taken seriously? Looking at many of the comments makes me wonder....


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## Tikoo Tuba (Oct 15, 2018)

I think once the theatre is acoustically tuned to its center it becomes an instrument . It may be composed for with a mind to what it does best . Why would musicians like the circle ? The reason a string quartet relate together as circle may explain this . They have an intimate physical language together .


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## Tikoo Tuba (Oct 15, 2018)

......... anxiety relieved


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## Tikoo Tuba (Oct 15, 2018)

Our little farm town received a gift of $6 million for city beautification . Yesterday the committee director said she'd put a small concert hall on the list of proposals . It's relaxed . I think it'd be an investment in our future , when once again art spirit arises . Opera halls , for instance , were once common through-out small town culture - like on the second floor above a downtown drug store .


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Tikoo Tuba said:


> Our little farm town received a gift of $6 million for city beautification . Yesterday the committee director said she'd put a small concert hall on the list of proposals . It's relaxed . I think it'd be an investment in our future , when once again art spirit arises . Opera halls , for instance , were once common through-out small town culture - like on the second floor above a downtown drug store .


Opera should be required in all schools!


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## Tikoo Tuba (Oct 15, 2018)

A metro opera troupe came to our school recently for an afternoon class as well a public evening performance in the school auditorium . The auditorium acoustics were difficult , the lyric being unintelligibly squishy . Curiously , in the second half something improved . I think the singers had realized this old 500 seat theatre had a musical problem and intentionally thinned-out their full operatic tone . Perhaps from the beginning the audience quite hadn't known to laugh when a witty song was funny .

Afterwards , the children had fun mimicking the tra-la-la and dancing out the door .


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Root said:


> The audience is so old at my local venue that the seats are all like these, with a nice comfy cushion to get through those never ending Bruckner symphonies in reasonable comfort.


Ahhhh...... member left us already, perhaps designing a small concert hall .


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## Tikoo Tuba (Oct 15, 2018)

Rogerx said:


> Ahhhh...... member left us already, perhaps designing a small concert hall .












I am enjoying my interest in theatre acoustics . And here is the modern acoustic panel installed in our university's new 200 seat recital hall .










_

The acoustics in this forum ? perturbation ; harassment ; there's an annoying echo _


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## Tikoo Tuba (Oct 15, 2018)

_A new generation of noise prediction software for research, engineering and education_

I-Simpa is a graphical user interface (GUI) developed to host three-dimensional numerical codes for the modeling of sound propagation in complex geometrical domains. Although I-Simpa is well adapted for energetic models (ray-tracing, sound-particle tracing, theory of reverberation…), it can be extend to use ondulatory approaches.

http://i-simpa.ifsttar.fr/presentation/presentation/

This is one example of free software that analyzes or predicts the audio-qualities of a music space . (Seems it may apply to a personal listening room should one wonder if the acoustics of that room might be improved .)


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## Tikoo Tuba (Oct 15, 2018)

A concert hall design once established is composed for . Music plays to the medium . My most comfortable times have been at a community fire . We play in a circle . Within this circle are the dancers . Center of the dance is the good fire . Beyond us people stand , come and go freely . Among the people the flutes sing , and there are bells .

It is thought that a concert hall design established Italian opera . A concert hall design once established is composed for . A music will progress so , not necessarily from small theatre to large .


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Tikoo Tuba said:


> [
> 
> _
> 
> The acoustics in this forum ? perturbation ; harassment ; there's an annoying echo _


Could't agree more. :devil:


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## Tikoo Tuba (Oct 15, 2018)

Elderly castratos may sing like frogs in the night . It's ok .


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

delete post .......................


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## Tikoo Tuba (Oct 15, 2018)

Please try again .


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## DaveM (Jun 29, 2015)

Tikoo Tuba said:


> Elderly castratos may sing like frogs in the night . It's ok .


Yes particularly elderly: around 115 - 130 years old at least.


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## Krummhorn (Feb 18, 2007)

We have a university performance hall which houses a superb pipe organ. The performance hall can be used for a variety of events from music to drama. The hall has retractable curtains above the audience seating that can be lowered or raised depending on what the performance place is being used for. 

For organ concerts the curtains are raised creating a wonderful live room. With the curtains fully lowered the hall has a completely dry/dead acoustic.


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## Tikoo Tuba (Oct 15, 2018)

Ah , an inventively tuned theatre !


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Is the theatre design *bat proof*?


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## Tikoo Tuba (Oct 15, 2018)

I hope the phantom of the opera can live there in peace .


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Tikoo Tuba said:


> I hope the phantom of the opera can live there in peace .


As long as he stays in the basement and doesn't present himself on the stage.


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