1. Acoustics at Rensselaer Outdoor Performance Spaces Architectural Acoustics II April 10, 2008

2. Acoustics at Rensselaer Design Challenges Large audience size  Sufficient level for all seats  Sightlines Lack of reflecting surfaces  Envelopment  Intimacy Noise control  Nearby noise sources  Disturbing the neighbors

3. Acoustics at Rensselaer Examples Koussevitzky Music Shed, Tanglewood, Lenox MA Benedict Music Tent, Aspen CO Seiji Ozawa Hall, Tanglewood, Lenox MA Pritzker Music Pavilion, Chicago IL

4. Acoustics at Rensselaer Koussevitzky Music Shed Opened in 1938, re-opened in 1959 after an acoustical renovation Design Team  Original Architects: Joseph Franz and Eliel Saarinen  Renovation Architect: Eero Saarinen and Associates  Renovation Acoustician: Bolt, Beranek, and Newman 5120 covered seats and lawn seating for an additional 10000 Construction  3/4” fiberboard walls  Packed dirt floor  0.5” plywood stage enclosure with “randomly and heavily braced”  0.5” plywood canopy  No padding on the seats

5. Acoustics at Rensselaer Koussevitzky Music Shed http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/images/upload/images/337_Tanglewood_1.jpg

6. Acoustics at Rensselaer Koussevitzky Music Shed L. Beranek, “Concert and Opera Halls: How They Sound”

7. Acoustics at Rensselaer Koussevitzky Music Shed http://www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com/bigmap/outoftown/massachusetts/berkshires/tanglewood/index.htm

8. Acoustics at Rensselaer Koussevitzky Music Shed http://haydnphil.org/images/newsletter/musicshed.jpg The canopy is 50% open to provide early reflections to the musicians and audience and to allow sufficient energy into the upper volume to develop reverberation.

9. Acoustics at Rensselaer Koussevitzky Music Shed F. Johnson et al., “Orchestra Enclosure and Canopy for the Tanglewood Music Shed,” JASA 33 (4), pp. 475 – 481, 1961.

10. Acoustics at Rensselaer Koussevitzky Music Shed L. Beranek, “Concert and Opera Halls: How They Sound”

11. Acoustics at Rensselaer Koussevitzky Music Shed L. Beranek, “Concert and Opera Halls: How They Sound”

12. Acoustics at Rensselaer Koussevitzky Music Shed F. Johnson et al., “Orchestra Enclosure and Canopy for the Tanglewood Music Shed,” JASA 33 (4), pp. 475 – 481, 1961.

13. Acoustics at Rensselaer Koussevitzky Music Shed “It is the only place that houses a very large audience, 5121 listeners, under acoustical conditions that rival the best in America.” “Even though the sides of the Shed are open to a height of about 15 feet, the reverberation behaves like that in a regular auditorium.” “It has been suggested that the optimum reverberation time, 1.9 sec at mid-frequencies, fully occupied, and the BR (1.45, ‘far greater than Boston’s 1.03’) so enhance the effectiveness of this type of canopy that lateral reflections are not necessary to give a feeling of spaciousness. L. Beranek, “Concert and Opera Halls: How They Sound”

14. Acoustics at Rensselaer Koussevitzky Music Shed F. Johnson et al., “Orchestra Enclosure and Canopy for the Tanglewood Music Shed,” JASA 33 (4), pp. 475 – 481, 1961. “The partially open lower side and rear walls are, acoustically, equivalent to people seated on stadium seats at the edge of the actual audience.” “One has to move almost 1500 feet from the Shed to lose the sense of the music” “Most people, on first hearing, are convinced that an elaborate system of electrical amplification has been installed, but in actual fact there is not a single speaker in the hall.” “… if one attempted to provide music for 6000 to 12000 listeners in a narrow rectangular hall, the visual problem and the decrease in loudness at the rear would be intolerable.”

15. Acoustics at Rensselaer Benedict Music Tent Opened Summer 2000 Design Team  Architect: Harry Teague Architects  Acoustician: Kirkegaard Associates  Theater Consultant: Auerbach + Associates 2050 covered seats + additional lawn seating Construction  Concert-hall-like stage enclosure  Tensioned membrane roof over most of the audience  Solid disc ceiling over the center of the audience  Canvas reflectors

16. Acoustics at Rensselaer Benedict Music Tent Images courtesy of Harry Teague Architects

17. Acoustics at Rensselaer Benedict Music Tent Image courtesy of Kirkegaard Associates

18. Acoustics at Rensselaer Benedict Music Tent Spray-coated canvas reflector with steel frame Retractable Fabrisorb banners Corridors Recording Studio Dressing Room Image courtesy of Kirkegaard Associates

19. Acoustics at Rensselaer Benedict Music Tent Stage-Area Construction  12-inch grout-filled masonry walls with wood finish directly applied  Resiliently supported plywood and tongue-and-groove wood floor over concrete  4-inch thick tongue-and-groove wood ceiling  Canvas reflectors Image courtesy of Kirkegaard Associates

20. Acoustics at Rensselaer Benedict Music Tent Stage-Area Construction  12-inch grout-filled masonry walls with wood finish directly applied  Resiliently supported plywood and tongue-and-groove wood floor over concrete  4-inch thick tongue-and-groove wood ceiling  Canvas reflectors Image courtesy of Kirkegaard Associates

21. Acoustics at Rensselaer Benedict Music Tent Canvas reflectors at rear and sides of audience area Retractable absorptive banners Operable louversClosedOpen Images courtesy of Kirkegaard Associates

22. Acoustics at Rensselaer Benedict Music Tent

23. Acoustics at Rensselaer Benedict Music Tent Image courtesy of Harry Teague Architects Data from Hoffman et al., “Halls for Music Performance,” and courtesy of Kirkegaard Assoc.

24. Acoustics at Rensselaer Benedict Music Tent http://www.aspenmusicfestival.com/images/uploads/Benedict_Music_Tent.jpg

25. Acoustics at Rensselaer Seiji Ozawa Hall Opened July 1994 Design Team  Architect: William Rawn Associates  Acoustician: Kirkegaard Associates  Theater Consultant: Theatre Projects Consultants 1180 seats inside, lawn seating for ~3000 Interesting audio system for lawn seats (details shortly)

26. Acoustics at Rensselaer Seiji Ozawa Hall Image courtesy of Kirkegaard AssociatesImage courtesy of Theatre Projects Consultants

27. Acoustics at Rensselaer Seiji Ozawa Hall http://www.kathymccurdy.com/DSCN6389.JPGhttp://www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com/bigmap/out oftown/massachusetts/berkshires/tanglewood/ind ex.htm

28. Acoustics at Rensselaer Seiji Ozawa Hall Image courtesy of Kirkegaard AssociatesImage courtesy of Theatre Projects Consultants

29. Acoustics at Rensselaer Seiji Ozawa Hall Quote from www.kirkegaard.com The rear wall of the facility opens to allow patrons seated on the lawn to experience performances through a state-of-the-art sound system. This system uses a sophisticated microphone array to pick up natural sound within the hall, then broadcasts this same sound through a digital delay to speaker columns located in corresponding locations on the main lawn. When combined with a precedence loudspeaker source mounted above the rear opening wall, the system gives a startlingly realistic effect. The natural sound of the concert hall is effortlessly extended to reach the 3000-plus patrons on the lawn.

30. Acoustics at Rensselaer Seiji Ozawa Hall Image courtesy of Kirkegaard Associates

31. Acoustics at Rensselaer A Few Others Koka Booth Amphitheatre at Regency Park Cary, NC (www.kirkegaard.com) Blockbuster Desert Sky Pavilion Phoenix, Arizona (www.jaffeholden.com) And now Pritzker…

32. Acoustics at Rensselaer A Few Others Saratoga Performing Arts Center Saratoga, NY (http://www.rlorelli.com/Project%2 0Photos/SaratogaPAC-1.jpg) And now Pritzker… http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/ 2005/06/24/arts/24sara.ready.html