Stage acoustics for chamber music ensembles: Architectural and acoustic predictors

The preferences of music ensembles for the architectural and acoustic features of the stages on which they perform have primarily been examined through field studies. Although these studies provide high ecological validity, they are limited in terms of the architectural variations that can be studied and by the confounding effects resulting from the unique features of the halls in which the experiments are conducted. This study took an experimental approach in which six typical architectural features of stage enclosures were first identified through discussions with concert hall design experts. These features were then systematically varied to produce a set of 256 virtual halls. Using latency-free dynamic binaural synthesis in an anechoic environment, chamber music ensembles of up to five musicians were able to perform simultaneously in the same virtual space. The results revealed the influence of architectural features such as stage width and height on perceived Support and Reverberance. Of the many stage acoustic parameters analyzed, only the top-to-horizontal and top-to-side energy ratios were significantly correlated with perceived quality, Transparency, Support, Brightness, and Bass on stage.