Multiphysics at the concert room

Theatre of Epidaurus in Greece. Image courtesy of www.maxpixel.net.

Vertical sound propagation of Epidaurus theatre. T. Lokki, Acoustics of Epidaurus – Studies With Room Acoustics Modelling Methods.

Last week, I went to my local concert room to enjoy a great Chopin recital which inspired me to write this article. Most people enjoy the beautiful architecture of concert halls and the talent of professional artists from all fields without knowing the complex physics behind the building it take place. To make you understand the hard work of engineer and architects we made a list of the main goals behind a concert room design (in order of importance):

1. The shape of the concert room needs to ensure that the propagation of music, or sound waves, are not altered by other reflected waves or of reduced amplitudes. All spectators should enjoy the music in the way its intended, but also musicians on stage need to have a direct feedback to adjust their performance.
2. The walls need to be soundproof from exterior environmental noises and adjacent room’s concert sound.
3. Room occupants need to feel the indoor environment thermally comfortable. However, the challenge is into doing it for two different groups: calmly sited spectators and musicians under strong illumination.
4. HVAC systems have to distribute fresh air and keep the indoor at the required level of temperature, humidity, and oxygen. Since the rooms are large, air systems also must be large and they must be installed in such a way that their sounds are not altering the concert.

​For many years, music halls and assembly rooms (such as lecture halls or churches) have been designed in a shoe-box shape and with luck provided a wonderful experience to the guest. Nowadays, the architecture aesthetics and originality are the main driver to such constructions. Thus, to maintain the aesthetics and succeed in the above 4 goals is quite difficult without a advanced simulations. Such problems require the simulation of all the physical phenomenon to be able to understand and optimize a concert room. How to simulate the above physics and combine them would be discussed in futures articles.
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Also, it is important to mention that material selection is a major contributor to a well designed concert room since they can absorb or reflect sound waves.

Shoe-box shape concert room. T. Méndez, EDT, C 80 and G driven auditorium design.

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Recommended additional content:

• Short course about the physics of sound waves;
• Internationally recognized concert hall for their inspirational architecture;
• Soundproofing design prediction; and
• Designing concert halls with curves.