Theatre in Round Problems

JULY 20 2005
Problems Presented by Theatre‐in‐the‐Round

Dariel Fitzroy
J Acoust Soc Am 37, 1202 (1965)

https://doi.org/10.1121/1.1939533
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Acoustics of the Civic Centre Theatre, San Diego, California
J Acoust Soc Am (July 2005)
Provision for Adequate Loudness in Recently Built Auditoria

Acoustical Design of Small Rooms

1202 69Ttt MEETING ß ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA
FreD^Y, 4 JUNE 1965 CHINESE ROOU AT 9:00 ^.M.
Session S. Auditorium Acoustics and Musical Acoustics
HERBERT M. NEUSTADT, Chairman
Contributed Papers (12 min)

S1. Acoustics of the Civic Centre Theatre, San Diego, quirement of sound reinforcement in the $2$0-seat auditorium
California. JACKB.C. PURCELL AND EWARTA. WETHERILL, for performance of plays and light opera was recognized and
Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc.--The new Civic Theatre stressedfrom the beginning of design. Successfulreinforce-
for the city of San Diego forms part of the new Civic ment must be carefully integrated with good acousticalde-
Centre complex, which also includes a 10000-seat conven- sign. A basic S-channel stereophonicsystem is used to pre-
tion hall and a high-rise city-administration building. The serve naturalhess, apparent source position and movement,
Theatre has an audiencecapacity of 3000, with seating ar- and apparent perspective on stage. Either nondirectional
ranged on a main floor and two balconies. The audtiorium microphonescan be used to preserve stage reverbance with
is designedto accommodatethe variety of speechand music musical ensembles,or cardioid-typemicrophonescan be used
Downloaded from http://pubs.aip.org/asa/jasa/article-pdf/37/6_Supplement/1202/12024076/1202_2_online.pdf

activities that normally comprisethe program requirements to accentuate intelligibility. Five loudspeakers are hidden in
for large multipurpose civic theatres. It has a volume of the proscenium arch. Microphones can be suspendedor
approximately 860000 ft a and a design reverberation time mounted invisibly in the floor. Data is presented to demon-
(for full occupancy) of 1.7 sec at the midfrequencies.An strate the degree of coverage over the stage area of a single
integral aspect of the acousticaldesign is the demountable set of microphones.Three channelsof additional loudspeakers
stage enclosurerequired for orchestral concerts.The paper are provided upstage for solo balance or for pit-orchestra
compares the predicted reverberation time for the auditorium transfer. Operation can be from the audience area or from
with measurementsobtained following completion of the the equipment room using CCTVand a binaural transfer. In
building. Tests prior to opening were conductedwith full the latter case, the operator has many other monitoring
concert orchestra for purposesof obtaining optimum per- facilities available. Data on available gain are also presented.
formance characteristics. A discussion of these tests and The successof natural reinforcement without visible appur-
some observations on multifunction use are included in this tenances has been verified.
paper. Architects for the project are Rosser, Kennedy, &
Ruocco of San Diego, California. S5. Provision for Adequate Loudness in Recently Built
Auditoria. LESLIE L. DOELLE,t•cole d',4rchitecture, Uni-
S2. Problems Presented by Theatre-in-the-Round. DARIEn versiti de Montrial, and School o[ ,4rchitecture, McGill
FITZROY,San Rafael, Caliiornia.--For Theatre-in-the-Round, University, Montrial, Quibec, Canada.--Provision for ade-
the stage is located in the center, with the audience seated quate loudnessis one of the five basic requirementsfor good
360ø around the presentation. Lighting, microphones, and hearing conditions in auditoria. It has been achieved in the
other similar accessoriesare suspendedabove the acting discussedand illustrated examples by the following means:
areas. This type of theatre originally started in relatively acoustically beneficial room shape, keeping floor area and
small rooms, where acoustical problems were much less room volume at a reasonable minimum, the use of suitably
complicated.When such a type of entertainmentis presented dimensionedand properly located sound-reflectivesurfaces,
in an auditorium intendedfor large audiences (2500-3000), supply of maximum amount of direct sound from source to
there are substantialproblems presented.This paper details audience, and strict reverberation control. Ceilings well-
expedientsemployedin solving these problems. integrated with mechanical, structural, and electrical com-
ponents constitute important elements in the provision for
S3. Acoustical Design of the Los Angeles Pavilion. adequate loudness.
PAUL S. VENEKLASEN,V. O. KNUDSEN, R. W. LEONARD,
AND JERRYP. CHRISTOFF.--Theacoustical design stresseda S6. Acoustical Design of Small Rooms. THEODOREJ.
balance between clarity, envelopment, and reverberance. Both SCHULTZAND J. J. FmWER, Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc.,
acousticaland optical modelingwere usedto verify the design Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138.•In the acoustical design
advice given to the architects. The hall is multipurpose,wide of small rooms, such as music practice and rehearsal rooms,
fanshaped,seats3250 persons.A versatile, movable, orchestra small broadcast studios, or monitoring facilities, two aspects
enclosure is used to convert to an orchestra hall and the of the low-frequency sound field pose special problems: one
stage is terraced to optimize sound projection and orchestral has to do with the "steady-state" transmission of sound
balance. Classical music does not need electroacoustic sound from one place to another in the room and is related to the
reinforcement; however, it was stressed that reinforcement sparsenessof normal modes at low frequencies; the other
would be required for light opera and stage plays. The ab- has to do with the decay of sound (i.e., the transient response
sorption versus frequency of the auditorium seats was speci- of the room) and is related to the inefficiencyof most sound-
fied. Elaborate precautionswere taken to exclude city noises absorbent materials at low frequencies. Both aspects of the
and noise from mechanicaland plumbing equipment.A per- problem lead to conditions that are described as "boomy,"
manent, but movable, acoustical canopy projects outward but for different reasons. Both problems can be dealt with
from the prosceniumarch to enhanceclarity. The side-wall by providing adequate absorption at low frequencies.Design
shapesare designedto promote early sideward reflectionsfor criteria, quite different for rehearsal rooms, speech studios,
envelopment. The reverberation time is adjustable between and monitoring facilities, are presented; and recommenda-
nominal values of 1.6-2.5 sec. Performers approvethe play- tions are made for meeting these criteria.
ing ease and musiciansand critics commentfavorably, with
reservations that emphasize the challenges of the future. S7. Spectrum-Envelope Method for Synthesis of Oboe
Tones. WILLIAM J. STRONG,173 14•ater Row, $udbury,
S4. Sound Reinforcement for the Los Angeles Pavilion. Massachusetts 01776.--Oboe tones ranging in fundamental
PAUL S. VENEKLASEN,Los ,4ngeles, Cali[ornia.--The re- frequency from 232 to 931 cps were synthesized with an

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JULY 20 2005

Problems Presented by Theatre‐in‐the‐Round

J Acoust Soc Am 37, 1202 (1965)

Downloaded from http://pubs.aip.org/asa/jasa/article-pdf/37/6_Supplement/1202/12024076/1202_2_online.pdf

Provision for Adequate Loudness in Recently Built Auditoria

Acoustical Design of Small Rooms

FreD^Y, 4 JUNE 1965 CHINESE ROOU AT 9:00 ^.M.

Session S. Auditorium Acoustics and Musical Acoustics

HERBERT M. NEUSTADT, Chairman

Contributed Papers (12 min)

Downloaded from http://pubs.aip.org/asa/jasa/article-pdf/37/6_Supplement/1202/12024076/1202_2_online.pdf

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