Concert Halls and Opera Houses: Music, Acoustics, and Architecture

Book Description

This illustrated guide to 100 of the world's most important concert halls and opera houses examines their architecture and engineering and discusses their acoustical quality as judged by conductors and music critics. The descriptions and photographs will serve as a valuable guide for today's peripatetic performers and music lovers. With technical discussions relegated to appendices, the book can be read with pleasure by anyone interested in musical performance. The photographs (specially commissioned for this book) and architectural drawings (all to the same scale) together with modern acoustical data on each of the halls provide a rich and unmatched resource on the design of halls for presenting musical performances. Together with the technical appendices, the data and drawings will serve as an invaluable reference for architects and engineers involved in the design of spaces for the performance of music. Leo Beranek is an internationally recognized authority in acoustics who has consulted on the design of dozens of important auditoriums around the World. He has received the highest honors of the Acoustical Society of America and of the Audio Engineering Society and has just been awarded the US National Medal of Science at the White House (Oct. 2003). Advance praise for Leo Beranek's "Concert Halls and Opera Houses: Music, Acoustics, and Architecture" 2nd edition — PHILIP GOSSETT, PROFESSOR OF MUSIC, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO Given the many controversies surrounding the acoustical properties of concert halls and opera houses, it is a relief to be guided by someone who is both a scientist and a devoted listener. Here, the mysteries of acoustics seem less intimidating: we come to understand why music sounds the way it does in various performance spaces, and what we can do about it. It's a terrific book! I. M. PEI, ARCHITECT, NEW YORK[This book] provides an invaluable reference for the understanding and design of music facilities. JOHN WILLIAMS, COMPOSER AND CONDUCTOR, LOS ANGELESDr. Beranek has created a comprehensive and fascinating study of 100 of the world's halls for music. Visiting each of these venues would be a great delight and a marvelous adventure, but such being impractical, this great book is the next best thing. All lovers of music, acoustics, architecture, and travel will enjoy this unique work.

Customer Reviews:

Deeply interesting .......2006-09-29

The author of this book greets us with an endearing smile on the back flap of the dust cover, and has every reason to. Imagine spending a significant part of your life touring concert halls and opera houses all over the world, sitting in on concerts (often changing seats in the course of the program), in order to assess the acoustic properties of the venue at hand. Fortunately, dr. Beranek has been kind enough to lay down his findings in this scholarly yet enchanting book. It offers invaluable insights into the workings of acoustics and the many factors that determine a hall's aural properties. It does so by elucidating the general principles of acoustics, and by addressing topics like building materials, hall shapes, balconies, etc., separately. But the bulk of the book is taken up by a kind of gazetteer describing in detail 100 concert halls and opera houses from around the world. Each of the descriptions includes data on all significant hall properties, as well as plans, cross sections, and (black and white) photographs looking from the auditorium towards the stage and vice versa. Yet you need not fear a dry, scientific inventory; on the contrary: the writing is never anything less than engaging, and the author never forgets that in the end it is all about the joys of music, which he clearly savours himself. The text is strewn with anecdotal quotations from conductors, players and reviewers alike - the author is acutely aware that a hall's reputation rests as much on the writings of critics and the overall audience experience as it does on quantifiable acoustical qualities. For those who like hit parades, yes, there is a top 20, though dr. Beranek is too much of a scientist to present it without heaps of caveats (though it is clear throughout the book that Boston Symphony Hall is his acoustic Walhalla).
Of course, a book like this can never be quite complete, and though I encountered the two halls I'd expected to see from my own country (the Amsterdam Concertgebouw again featuring as one of the world's top three), I was inevitably slightly disappointed to see my own town's hall disregarded, even though it is generally acknowledged to surpass the Concertgebouw when it comes to classical and early romantic repertoire. In a more general sense, the question is how random the selection was. You will find all the great halls you would expect in a survey like this (though Russia is conspicuously absent), but like me many readers are bound to be aware of hidden gems undiscovered (or at least unaddressed) by Beranek. London and Japan seem to be disproportionately represented (no less than 9 Tokyo halls are listed!), nor did I find all the US entries equally compelling (one wonders also why all countries are listed alphabetically, but after the US?). It should be noted, too, that the images serve to give a general impression of a hall, but are mostly of moderate quality, and sometimes quite bad. Finally, and then I'll stop complaining and resume the praise, opera houses are very much underrepresented and almost seem like an afterthought; they might as well have been left out, the focus is clearly on symphonic concert spaces.
None of this detracts in any significant way from the wonders of this unique book, which is, by the way, beautifully produced, featuring smooth, glossy paper. Whether an acoustic scientist, a regular concert goer or an architecture buff, this book will be fascinating reading for you. It may, indeed, even help you select the best available seat when you're booking a ticket in a hall you've never visited before (avoid those three back rows on the Boston Symphony Hall middle balcony!).

great book.......2006-08-06

FYI - I just wrote a review of the book and it got lost in cyber space. So this is my abreviated second attempt.

1- This is more thorough than Auditoria by Forsyth. It is focused soley on acoustics of the spaces, not the architecture.
2- There are 18 to 21 acoustic metrics reported for each of the halls.
3- The last sections on acoustics of concert halls and opera halls is up to date and discusses key concepts & criteria in realtion to existing facilities.

The appendices are wonderful. Appendix #2 lists additional acoutical data that is availble on the concert halls reviewed in earlier chapters. Typically this additional data inlcudes RT by octave, and may include ITDG, G (strength) & IACC.

Classic Acoustical Reference.......2006-07-20

This is a classic reference for students and practitioners working in the field. It is the most complete compendium available of acoustical and architectural data on concert and opera halls throughout the world. Each building is meticulously detailed with photographs, line drawings and technical data.

Auditorium acoustics.(Book Reviews)(Concert Halls and Opera Houses--Music, Acoustics, and Architecture)(Book Review): An article from: Architectural Science Review

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Auditorium acoustics.(Book Reviews)(Concert Halls and Opera Houses--Music, Acoustics, and Architecture)(Book Review): An article from: Architectural Science Review

Manufacturer: University of Sydney, Faculty of Architecture
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Architectural Science Review, published by University of Sydney, Faculty of Architecture on September 1, 2004. The length of the article is 847 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Auditorium acoustics.(Book Reviews)(Concert Halls and Opera Houses--Music, Acoustics, and Architecture)(Book Review)
Publication: Architectural Science Review (Refereed)
Date: September 1, 2004
Publisher: University of Sydney, Faculty of Architecture
Volume: 47 Issue: 3 Page: 313(1)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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What a great book!

for scrappers not punch artists

Color Your Scrapbook Punch Art: Fun and Easy Ways to Add Realistic Detail (Memory Makers)

Manufacturer: Memory Makers Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
General | Papercrafts | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Scrapbooking | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
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Scrapbook Borders Corners & Titles: Fresh Techniques and Innovative Ideas for Designer Pages (Memory Makers)

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Book Description

Learn how to use glorious color in achieving realistic style with this step-by-step guide to enhancing punch art through coloration. Inside scrapbookers will find more than 50 brand new punch art pages, all in full-color. This "no fear and no experience needed" colorist approach adds texture and dimension to punch art through over 20 basic-level pen, pencil, ink, paint, and chalk techniques.

Easy-to-follow instruction and illustrations, tried and true color combinations, tips for mixing various colorants for unique results, fun and easy techniques for using color to render realistic details - it's all inside! Also included is guidance from some of the best punch colorists in the United States.

Customer Reviews:

What a great book!.......2005-12-18

After reading the other review of this book, I hesitated to buy it. However, my sister recommended it, so I took a chance and I'm so glad I did! I consider myself a knowledgeable paper crafter but I learned several good hints for using punches that I had not heard before on the first few pages I read. I have a drawers full of punches and I used them occasionally but I hadn't realized their potential until I saw this book. There are techniques that show how to turn simple punched shapes into works of art. Almost every sample amazed me with the creativity of the artists. I found the instructions clear and easy to follow, even for someone who can't draw.

While it's true this book is geared toward making scrapbook pages and that is something I do infrequently, these techniques can easily be applied to card making and other paper crafts. The ideas can be adapted to die cuts as well. I know that this book will not only help me get more and better use of my punches and die cuts but it will also improve the quality of my designs!

for scrappers not punch artists.......2005-05-23

This book has great photos of scrapbook layouts & the use of punch art in the layout, BUT.. the detail photos of the actual coloring of your punch art are only about the size of a quarter. I bought the book to see how to color my punch art & use it in various applications. The images are so small it makes it difficult to see where color was applied & how. The written descriptions are very brief & deal mostly with laying out the scrapbook page & not with the actual coloring steps used. I was disappointed. I expected more emphasis on the coloring of the punched items. A beter title might have been "Scapbook Layouts with Punch Art".

Customer Reviews:

One of the great photographic journals of our time.......2003-05-02

This remarkable book first caught my attention at the Australian Museum in Sydney one hot summer day. I was preparing my own expedition to Papua New Guinea in order to write a book on the rarely visited island provinces. I would be doing my own photography. As I leafed through these breathtaking portraits I experienced that shiver at the base of the neck that invariably indicates one is in the presence of great art. Only later came the gut-wrenching realisation that I would never be able to achieve such consummate skill myself (even with my old Nikon F2 and all the best old lenses).
Rainier has a passionate eye for composition, atmosphere and the eloquent possibilities of black and white texture. As you read the detailed and often poetic text accompanying the photographs, you will also find that Chris overcame incredible disasters in conquering this inhospitable environment to bring us these images. In the massive heat and humidity of Papua New Guinea, photographic equipment performs all sorts of horrible tricks at vital moments. Everything seems wet and clammy all the time. His canoe overturned and he lost all his valuable equipment and somehow replaced it to continue his expedition. To even get yourself into the remote areas where some were taken is an achievement in itself and then to emerge from the jungle with high art.......what can one say?
These photographs cross that difficult invisible line that separates art and photography.....very few have the genuis.....Brassai, Cartier Bresson, Eugene Atget and Salgado.....yes, these are Chris Rainier's peers. The images have the immortal immobility of an ancient and inaccessible past recaptured. The quality and sheer size of the prints is superb. All this lead me to convince my publishers to put one of his pictures on the jacket of my own Papua New Guinea book and one of my own more decorative photographs on the back.......a suitable place for this photographic Salieri. Sales are better than expected.
Buy his book as a tribute to a great photographic artist and in the process truly enrich your own cultural horizons.

Stunning!.......2003-02-27

This book surpassed my expectations! It could be seen as a documentary but transcends being pigeonholed in that way. It is, among other things, a breathtaking work of Art. The images have a crisp presence; at the same time there is a dreamlike undercurrent. The reproduction quality of the images is superb; they can hardly be distinguished from original silver prints! I also like the humble attitude of the Artist towards the people he portrays. Indeed, a masterpiece!

Visually stunning.......2000-04-08

This book brought back vivid and fond memories of the time I lived in Papua New Guinea in 1960 -1962. The use of black and white photography was especially effective in capturing the essense of simplicity that represents the people. If you truly wish to see human spirit at it's best, visit New Guinea. If you can't - buy this book!

masterpiece.......1999-03-12

A stunning exhibiton of humankind. A masterpiece that's worth, without any doubt, spending $40.

Carlos Costa

Rainier's images are transcendental........1998-02-02

I was first exposed to Rainer's work in Smithsonian Magazine (Oct. 97). I strongly urge anyone who has a desire to evolve toward embracing and celebrating the essential oneness of all humanity--from urban jungles to remote small-scale societies--to buy this book. As a documentary filmmaker researching shamanic rituals around the planet, I would hire him in a heartbeat to capture the beauty of the world's cultures with his otherworldly gifts of lighting, detail and penetrating the souls of the subject and the viewer. Mr. Rainer, do you shoot 16mm film? If you (or any of your representitives) read this, please contact me at pjoshua@makani.k12.hi.us. Many thanks.

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A Pokemon like Lapras, who looks like the Loch Ness Monster, tends to be lonely. He sees a little boy and his Pokemon having fun on a fishing trip. How can Lapras join the fun?

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Very cute!.......2000-09-13

This book focuses on Lapras, a Pokemon that looks kind of like the Loch Ness monster. Lapras wants to make friends with a boy and his Pokemon, but she's very shy, so it's hard for her to go up to the boy and just introduce herself. However, she soon finds a way to overcome her shyness and introduce herself to the boy and his Pokemon.

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H.L. Mencken, Jack Anderson, Rachel Carson, William F. Buckley, Karl Marx, Gloria Steinem, Tad Szulc and David Wise-just a few of the over 100 writers and editors profiled in this work. The writers' major works are the focus, but their overall careers and those who influenced them are also fully detailed.

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The Complete Story.......2005-05-24

Sir Charles Oman's comprehensive seven volume history of the Peninsular War is the yardstick by which any other history of this theatre must be measured. It is exhaustive in detail and in breadth of coverage. If it happened, it is in one of these volumes. Napoleon may have considered Spain a side show, but as results turned out it was a bleeding ulcer. French losses here, combined with the 1812 campaign, placed a strain on the Empire which could not be overcome by even the best generalship. Any true student of the Napoleonic Wars should find these books and read them. They are essential to a complete understanding of the conflict.

A History of the Peninsular War, Vol. 2 : January to September 1809: From the Battle of Corunna to the End of the Talavera Campaign

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A History of the Peninsular War, Vol. 2 : January to September 1809: From the Battle of Corunna to the End of the Talavera Campaign
Charles William Chadwick Oman
Manufacturer: Greenhill Books/Lionel Leventhal, Limited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MBRTMY

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Based on extensive historical research and fieldwork in Labrador over many years, A Way of Life that Does not Exist brings to light the scale of the tragedies that have overtaken the Innu, giving rise to international human rights concerns.

Colin Samson looks in detail at Innu relations with the Canadian state, developers, explorers, missionaries, educators, health-care professionals, and the justice system. Although the Innu have lost land and lives in the attempts to assimilate them, Samson demonstrates that many have also resisted the official state policy of "extinguishment" through both political channels and by maintaining a resilient belief in their distinctiveness and their attachment to the land.

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Drawing on interviews with participants and archival documents, W. Patrick McCray describes the ambitions and machinations of prominent astronomers, engineers, funding patrons, and politicians in their effort to construct a modern facility for cutting-edge science--and to establish a model for international cooperation in the coming era of "megascience." His account details the technological, institutional, cultural, and financial challenges that scientists faced while planning and building a new generation of giant telescopes. Besides exploring how and why scientists embraced the promise and potential of new technologies, he considers how these new tools affected what it means to be an astronomer. McCray's book should interest anyone who desires a deeper understanding of the science, technology, and politics behind finding our place in the universe.

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The post-war development of US astronomy.......2004-05-09

This is a very well-researched history of the twists and
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