CIP A 2003 XIX th International Symposium, 30 September - 04 October, 2003, Antalya, Turkey
234
has no influence in the auditorium or on the balance. The
influence of it is reflected on the equilibrium between singer-
conductor-orchestra. This side of the barrier is responsible for
the early reflections reaching the singer from the orchestra and
to the conductor from the singer. The tested materials combined
with different pit levels showed their influence. In the results
the difference can clearly be seen with a pit level of 1.5 m at the
singer’s receiver position. In this particular case the increasd
level of the orchestra at the singer’s ears is not strong enough to
disturb the singer. Stronger values could press the singer to
force his voice, because of the feedback he receives from the
orchestra, with bad results at the listener’s positions.
Parati, L. Otondo, F., 2003. Comparison of directional sources
in simulating a soprano voice. In: Proceedings of SMAC03,
Stockholm.
Prodi, N., Pompoli, R., 1999. Acoustics of opera houses: a
cultural heritage. In: Proceeding of Forum Acoustic, Berlin.
Prodi, N., Pompoli, R., 2000. Guidelines for acoustical
measurements inside historical opera houses: procedures and
validation. Journal of Sound and Vibration, Vol. 232-1.
Rindel, J.H., 2000. The use of computer modelling in room
acoustic. Journal of vibroengineering, Vol. 3, pp 219-224.
Royal Theatre of Copenhagen home page, http://www.kgl-
teater.dk .
Sundberg, J., 1977. The acoustics of the singing voice. Scient.
Amer. 236, pp 82.
5. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work has been financed by a Marie Curie Fellowship as a
part of the programme European Doctorate in Sound and
Vibration Studies.
The authors wish to thanks the Royal Theatre of Copenhagen
for the availability demonstrated.
Fig 5 Example of a reflection given by the back wall of the pit.
3. CONCLUSION
The new techniques seem to be useful to determine suitable
changes to improve the acoustical heritage of an historical opera
house without affecting important historical architectural
elements.
By means of the simulation it has been found that the Balance
between singer and orchestra can be controlled by the surfaces
of the pit. The pit level influences the sound pressure level in
the stalls, while changing the pit materials produces notable
effects throughout the hall.
The pit fence and the pit level can affect the equilibrium
between singer-conductor-orchestra and not the balance.
The stage’s slope has minor influence on the balance.
To date, the results presented in this study have been for one
model. Future work will include testing in additional models to
investigate the general validity of the techniques suggested in
this paper.
4. REFERENCES
IS03382: 1997, Acoustic - Measurement of the reverberation
time of rooms with reference to other acoustical parameters.
Lynge Christensen, C., 2001. Odeon - a design tool for
auditorium acoustics, noise control and loudspeaker system.
Proceedings of the Institute of Acoustics, Vol. 23, pp. 137-144.
Meyer, J., 1986. Some problems of opera house acoustics. In:
Proceedings of 12 th ICA, Vancouver.
Odeon home page, http://www.odeon.dk
