Contribution
On the perception of room acoustics from the perspective of musicians: an empirical field study
* Presenting author
Abstract:
The acoustics at the musicians' places on stage has a strong influence on their sense of playing, their own and each other's hearing, and their perception of the acoustics of the hall as a whole. It has also been shown that these factors have a considerable influence on musical interpretation and the individual adaptation of playing to the particular spatial environment. The present study investigates how these conditions, as described by room acoustic parameters, influence the perception of musicians in the respective stage situation. In an extensive empirical field study, musical ensembles have been asked to rate their perception of the acoustic conditions after a performance using an online questionnaire. At the same time, all relevant transmission paths on the stage have been acoustically measured. The resulting data pool covers different stage shapes and sizes as well as different instrumentations and ensemble sizes, from solo performances to large symphony orchestras, in some cases also in different orchestral set-ups. The presentation will introduce the concept of the long-term study and the first results.