Acoustical nightmare in Miami
Take a look at this article from the Miami Herald about a disastrous evening in Miami's new Carnival Center with the Bergen Philharmonic, Andrew Litton and pianist Andre Watts. Apparently, the stage hands didn't know how to "adjust" the adjustable acoustics.
This is the trend in new concert halls -- to able to adjust the sound in various ways, such as with draperies or doors fronting resonating chambers, according to what type of group is playing in the hall.
Andrew Litton told MusicalAmerica.com that he was hearing the piano twice (apparently like an echo) and could see the winds playing, but couldn't hear them. Plus, the orchestra members could not hear each other.
Litton says he is sending the same letter to Artec, and "urging them never to turn over one of their magnificent halls to any venue not fully trained to manage it."
The acoustician, Artec, has yet to respond.
Artec, you recall, designed Music Hall's newest acoustical shell.
posted by Janelle Gelfand at 7:57 PM
5 Comments:
at 11/20/2007 09:47:00 PM 
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at 11/20/2007 11:28:00 PM 
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at 11/21/2007 05:44:00 AM 
Bill in Dallas said...
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at 11/21/2007 03:51:00 PM 
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at 11/21/2007 10:52:00 PM 
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Post a Comment*The Artec choice was not a good one. What is their success rate? Let's not blame the stage hands.
The article reads a lot like a classic case of a conductor sticking his nose into something he doesn't know anything about.
As a location recording engineer of classical music, I can certainly relay horror stories I've heard and experienced of musicians who freely tell me (or colleagues) that "you should place your mics here since it's the best seat in the hall", while being completely ignorant of the operating principles and physics of microphony, the effects of mic spacing and angle, the fact that their $20 Radio Shack mics don't exactly operate the same way my $4000 DPA mics do, etc etc etc. Good engineers have years of experience and know how to get good sound, even in difficult environments. These same folks would be aghast if I started telling them how to articulate some string passage, even though they know just about as much about the science of recording as I do string articulation.
It wouldn't surprise me at all if Litton was "tuning" the acoustic of an empty hall, completely ignorant of the fact that plopping 2000+ butts into the seats is going to change things a bit!
Not trying to assess blame here, but Mr Litton has just come from 10 or so years of conducting here in Dallas in an acoustically adjustable hall, by Artec; so he does have considerable experience with them.
Bill
The issue seems to be finding a workable acoustic set up for regular orchestra concerts. Recording usually requires changes understandably. But tweaking the stage for nearly every piece on a program should not be necessary. Echos along with on-stage hearing difficulties? Artec, we've got a problem! So many great European concert halls! They seem to have figured it out.
So true in Europe ... and non-adjustable to boot! There's a good recipe: just design a fixed acoustic well and leave it be. Boston has a great example of that.
Also, a side note: in my experience, many people use the terms "echo" and "reverberation" interchangeably, but they are most certainly not the same thing.
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