Auditory Spatial Impression in Concert Halls

Abstract

This chapter discuss acoustics of concert halls, in particular from the viewpoint of binaural perception. The early reflections have a crucial role in the quality of sound, perceived dynamics, and timbre. In particular, the direction from which these reflections reach the listener is important due to the properties of human spatial hearing. The chapter has strong links to psychoacoustical phenomena, such as the precedence effect and binaural loudness. We discuss which aspects of a concert hall give listeners an impression of intimacy and a perception of proximity to the sound. Moreover, it is explained why a concert hall could change the perceived dynamics and spaciousness. Examples are presented with the measured data from real concert halls.

Evaluation of Acoustic Features after Refurbishment Works Inside Two Historical Opera Theatres Located in Italy

“…The EDT has been used by Gade in many binaural RIR measurements for performing arts spaces [35]; Since the EDT becomes lower by increasing the distance between the source and the receiver, it is considered the appropriate parameter to compare different positions in the same room [34]; The ITDG is defined as the time between the arrival of the direct sound and the early reflections of maximum amplitude [35]. It describes the overall characteristics of a hall, allowing also a potential recognition of the reflecting surfaces contributing to the early reflections [36].…”

“…lar, the image-source method (ISM) has been applied in combination with the analysis of EDT and ITDG parameters [31][32][33][34], methods employed for understanding the lateral and vertical reflections at the stalls and balconies areas [35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43].…”

“…The ITDG is defined as the time between the arrival of the direct sound and the early reflections of maximum amplitude [35]. It describes the overall characteristics of a hall, allowing also a potential recognition of the reflecting surfaces contributing to the early reflections [36].…”

Co-Immersion in Audio Augmented Virtuality: The Case Study of a Static and Approximated Late Reverberation Algorithm

“…their rendering was unaffected by the head movements. The rationale is that preserving dynamic spatial information in the ERs maintains sound source localization [17] and spatial impression [46,47], whereas directional information in the LR should have limited perceptual influence [21,44].…”