Contribution to Books

This is the first time that the perception of acoustics has been studied during live jazz concerts. The subjective evaluation experiments were conducted in two venues, in Athens and in London, with typical audiences in each city. From the Factor Analysis of the experimental data, three independent factors emerged, specifically CLARITY (‘dark – bright’, ‘clear – dull’), TONAL QUALITY (‘gentle – harsh’, ‘smooth – rough’), and PROXIMITY (‘near – distant’, ‘live – dead’). Furthermore, comparison with earlier related studies led to the conclusion that there are common factors in the perception of acoustics, i) between live and recorded jazz concerts, and ii) between concerts of different musical genres (classical music and jazz).

The chapter presents the use of digital modeling and simulation as a modern tool for the acoustic design of auditoriums. By creating a virtual model of a space, including geometry and material properties, sound propagation and acoustic behavior can be predicted with high accuracy. Auralisation allows listening to the simulated sound, providing insight into potential problems such as echoes, focusing, or acoustic shadows. An example is given for a 100-seat music hall, where interventions such as ceiling diffusion, seating absorption, and wall treatment were proposed to improve reverberation and overall acoustic performance.