From Reverberating Chaos to Concert Halls, Good Acoustics is Culturally Subjective

Friday, May 22, 2015 - 09:00 in Earth & Climate

Play a flute in Carnegie Hall, and the tone will resonate and fill the space. Play that same flute in the Grand Canyon, and the sound waves will crash against the rock walls, folding back in sonic chaos. The disparity is clear - to the modern listener, the instrument belongs in an auditorium. "Distinct echoes would be totally unforgivable in today's performance spaces," says Steven J. Waller, an archaeo-acoustician. "But, in the past, people sought echoes."

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