William Spallino with David Kazdan

Informing Architectural-Acoustical Design with Musical Details

Music performance spaces are currently subject to vague design guidelines and long calibrations after their completion. However, the field of architectural acoustics is developing many new, more precise means of testing proposed designs; those new processes are best complemented by more specific guidelines regarding musical performances and what acoustical factors are helpful to them (as opposed to impeding musical expression in some way). This study seeks to begin the process of formulating said guidelines by testing for correlations between rooms’ characteristic acoustical parameters and the qualitative experiences of musicians performing in those rooms. We believe that trends will emerge and prove the viability of using our methods to create musical standards for acoustical design.