Audio Communication Group

Room Acoustics and Musical Performance: New Predictors for Acoustical Conditions on Stage

In a previous project it was shown whether and in which way the acoustic conditions influence a musical performance in terms of tempo, dynamics and timbre. Some of these effects can be generalized, others depend on the musical instrument and the personality of the individual performer (Schaerer Kalkandjiev and Weinzierl 2013, Schaerer Kalkandjiev and Weinzierl 2015). This project also developed a Stage Acoustical Quality Inventory (STAQI), i.e., a consensus vocabulary for room acoustic qualities from the perspective of musicians (Schaerer Kalkandjiev and Weinzierl 2018).
The current project aims at identifying room acoustical parameters which can serve as predictors for these qualities. While the limited validity of the two parameters currently suggested in ISO 3382-1 for stage conditions is widely acknowledged, a variety of new parameters were suggested during the last two decades, none of which, however, has found its way into room acoustic planning so far. The present project aims to take a decisive step in this direction by creating a large stimulus pool for the assessment of stage acoustic conditions for different musical ensemble types (solo, chamber music, symphony orchestra) with different musicians and different musical repertoire on the basis of systematically varied acoustic conditions. These systematic variations will be realized with advanced room acoustic simulation and dynamic binaural synthesis, with particular attention to diffraction effects on stage, while the STAQI will be used as a measuring instrument for a differentiated assessment of the acoustic conditions. The analysis will use Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines aiming at selecting optimal predictors for each STAQI factor and estimating also non-linear effects and interactions. The best parameters identified will be cross-validated by analyzing the perceptual assessments of musicians immediately after their performance as well as the effect on their performance itself, both underlining the relevance of the stage acoustical features represented by these parameters.

Funding

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG WE 4057/9-2

Publications

Porcinai, E., & Weinzierl, S. (2023). Auralising Stage Environments in the Presence of the Orchestra. In Forum Acusticum, Turin, in print.

Kriz, J., Porcinai, E., Lepa, S., & Weinzierl, S. (2023). Effect of Early Reflections on Stage Acoustic Conditions for Solo Musicians. In Forum Acusticum, Turin, in print.

Luizard, P., Steffens, J., & Weinzierl, S. (2020). Singing in different rooms: Common or individual adaptation patterns to the acoustic conditions? J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 147(2), EL 132–137. https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0000715

Luizard, P., Brauer, E., & Weinzierl, S. (2019). Singing in physical and virtual environments: how performers adapt to room acoustical conditions. AES International Conference on Immersive and Interactive Audio, York, UK, Paper 88.

Luizard, P., Steffens, J., & Weinzierl, S. (2019). Adaptation of singers to physical and virtual room acoustics. Proceedings of theInternational Symposium on Room Acoustics (ISRA 2019), Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Luizard, P., Brauer, E., & Weinzierl, S., Bernardoni, N.H. (2018). How singers adapt to room acoustical conditions. Proceedings of the Institute of Acoustics 40(3).

Schärer Kalkandjiev, Z., & Weinzierl, S. (2018). An Instrument for Measuring the Perception of Room Acoustics from the Perspective of Musicians: The Stage Acoustic Quality Inventory (STAQI). Fortschritte der Akustik – DAGA München, 1747–1750. https://doi.org/10.14279/depositonce-8676

Böhm, C., Schärer Kalkandjiev, Z., & Weinzierl, S. (2016). Virtuelle Konzerträume als Versuchsumgebung für Musiker. Fortschritte der Akustik – DAGA Aachen, 833–835. https://doi.org/10.14279/depositonce-8809

Schaerer Kalkandjiev, Z., & Weinzierl, S. (2015). The Influence of Room Acoustics on Solo Music Performance: An Experimental Study. Psychomusicology: Music, Mind & Brain,25(3), 195–207. https://doi.org/10.1037/pmu0000065

Schärer Kalkandjiev, Z., & Weinzierl, S. (2015). Playing slow in reverberant rooms. Examination of a common concept based on empirical data. Proceedings of the Third Vienna Talk on Music Acoustics 16, 215–219.

Schaerer Kalkandjiev, Z., & Weinzierl, S. (2013). Room acoustics viewed from the stage. Solo performers' adjustments to the acoustical environment. International Symposium on Room Acoustics (ISRA), Toronto, Canada, 1–10.

Schaerer Kalkandjiev, Z., & Weinzierl, S. (2013). The Influence of Room Acoustics on Solo Music Performance: An Empirical Case Study. Acta Acustica united with Acustica,99(3), 433–441. https://doi.org/10.3813/AAA.918624

Schärer Kalkandjiev, Z., & Weinzierl, S. (2013). Der Raum als Instrument. Zusammenhänge zwischen der Qualität der Akustik und der Spielweise von Interpreten. In V. Busch, K. Schlemmer, C. Wöllner (Ed.), Wahrnehmung – Erkenntnis – Vermittlung. Musikalische Brückenschläge (pp. 167–178), Hildesheim et al.: Olms Verlag.