Guitars and Opera Houses

[BlueBowman]

Do they have anything in common?

This is a cool video. The way they striate the wooden walls to mimic "middle C" wavelengths is amazing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_VBgFg4d4A

[Myopic Squirrel]

WOW!! In addition to that interior being - IMHO - absolutely breathtaking, considering the size of the edifice, the scale of the acoustics.

[Queequeg]

Thanks for posting this, BlueBowman.
Extraordinary. I had only seen it from the outside. Never entered the hall.
So beautiful.

[StringPicker6]

really interesting!!

[BlueBowman]

I think what's most interesting is how for years under the original design the sound for the audience just wasn't optimal. The high, chambered ceiling would eat up the acoustic instruments. Also, he mentions that by the time the sound reached the back of the audience, all clarity was lost, and it just didn't sound great. So they opted for a $350 million acoustic renovation. Must be money well-spent. All the little angles and wooden flaps that channel the sound towards the audience, no matter where the audience is seated...just super cool.

It got me thinking about designing a smaller auditorium for a small, or even solo, string band. Just acoustic. A wider, descending seating arrangement that gets narrower as you go down until the small stage is seen at the bottom. All that acoustic sound would travel straight up. I wonder if something like that already exists?

I also thought seeing the inside of the organ was interesting.

[StringPicker6]

I remember hearing a Paul McCartney interview, and he said that as a teenager, he used to play in the bathroom because of the good acoustics. That's currently my level as well. 

[BlueBowman]

I remember hearing a Paul McCartney interview, and he said that as a teenager, he used to play in the bathroom because of the good acoustics. That's currently my level as well. 

Oh, yes. I've done that. Even an average guitar will sound richer and more sustaining in the bathroom. Stairwells are good too.