All of the materials were selected to provide optimum reverberation characteristics
for symphonic music.
Reverberation is defined as the persistence of sound in a room after the
sound source has stopped.
Even the furnishings--the wood backed chairs--were chosen on the basis of
their acoustical properties.
An essential acoustical feature of a great concert hall is proper diffusion
of sound. Diffusion promotes the uniformity of sound throughout the hall and,
in addition, it beneficially influences the manner in which sound dies away
in the hall. Here, the required diffusion has been accomplished by the use of
a highly-articulated solid-plaster ceiling formed in cubical patterns, by splayed
panels along the side and rear walls, and by irregularly tiled surfaces on the
faces and undersides of the balconies.
FACTS ABOUT ORCHESTRA HALL
Site- Orchestra Hall is constructed on the site of the former Lyceum Theater,
where the Minnesota Orchestra performed from 1905 to 1930. Two terra cotta
lyres from the original building have been placed on the box office wall.
Building- Orchestra Hall is really two buildings: a brick and concrete
auditorium and a glass, steel and aluminum supporting structure, seperated
by a one-inch gap to free the concert hall from outside sound. Placed at a
ten-degree angle on the block, the rectangular shape of the inner building
is in the tradition of many famous European concert halls.
Seating- 2,573: 1,590 in the main floor and 983 in three balcony tiers.
Lobby- A fifty-foot high mixing chamber brings people together on three
half-level bridges as well as on the ground floor. The white radio-wave light
fixtures were originally designed as street lights. Exposed ductwork is brilliant
yellow, steel beams are green, the piping is blue.
The primary goal in working with architects was to achieve warmth and richness
of sound.
There is a one-inch gap separating the concert hall and the lobby, which
is filled with a material to protect the music-making part of orchestra hall
from extraneous noises from the offices and lobby ( like phones, computers,
fans, etc.).
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