The Science of Acoustics

Why Sound Sounds Like Sound

Since the conception and construction of the National Arts Centre in 1969, the understanding and knowledge of acoustic properties have greatly advanced. There are many factors that are taken into consideration when talking about acoustics such as the shape of the hall, materials used in construction, and the size and shape of the space. All of these elements can be tools used to manipulate the sound in a more desirable way.

“Southam Hall was designed when a soundscape was an art not a science.”

-The Ottawa Citizen 

Probably the most important element of acoustics in a concert hall is reverberation, which is challenging to control in a multi-purpose space. Reverberation is defined as “[t]he sound that remains in a room after the source is turned off. It is characterized by the reverberation time” (Long, 2014). The amount of reverberation that a concert hall produces is very important: as an inadequate amount creates a dry or “dead” sound, while too much reverberation can affect the clarity of the music including blurring pauses or rhythmical elements (Meyer, 203). Spoken performances, such as theatre, require a dryer space so that narration and dialogue can be clearly heard and understood. Music on the other hand, requires a reverberant space as it adds to the beauty and “the melting of the individual voices of the orchestra into a closed overall sound and lends a uniform flow to melodic phrases” (Meyer, 203). 

Acoustics are not just important for shaping how an audience hears a performance, but they are also integral to the performers' interpretation on stage. A space that allows musicians to better hear the subtle nuances of their own playing as well as that of their fellow performers on stage, can greatly improve their music-making. Performing in a very dry space means that you as a musician are getting very little feedback on volume and pitch which has obvious implications on the overall performance.