Acoustic investigations of concert halls for rock music

Objective measurement data and subjective evaluations have been collected from 20 small-/medium-sized halls in Denmark used for amplified rhythmic music concerts (pop, rock, jazz). The purpose of the study was to obtain knowledge about optimum acoustic conditions for this type of hall. The study is motivated by the fact that most concert tickets sold in Denmark relate to concerts within these genres in this kind of venue.

The subjective evaluations were carried out by professional musicians and sound engineers who responded on the basis of their experiences working in these (and other) halls. From the relationships between the subjective evaluations and the objective data, recommended values for reverberation time across frequency are suggested.

For halls with volume between 50.000 ft3 and 160.000 ft3, the optimal range is 0.7 s to 1.0 s without audience (and chairs). T30 should be frequency independent, so that clarity remains high also at the lower frequencies. A lower limit for T30 was identified. The paper also proposes possible hall designs that seek to fulfill the demands of sound engineers and musicians, as found in the investigation.