In 1898, Wallace Sabine turned concert hall design from art into science with one equation:
RT60 = 0.161 × (V/A)
Where RT60 = time for sound to decay 60 decibels, V = room volume, A = total absorption.
Before Sabine: trial and error, hoping for good acoustics
After Sabine: predictable design, calculated reverberation
Boston Symphony Hall (1900) was the first scientifically designed concert hall. Target RT: 2.0 seconds. Actual RT when built: 2.0 seconds.
It's still ranked top 3 in the world 125 years later, alongside Vienna and Amsterdam.
The best halls share a simple geometry: long, narrow, high "shoebox" shape. Parallel walls, sloped surfaces, optimal seat spacing.
You can't improve on fundamental geometry with gadgets. Avery Fisher Hall learned this the hard way: wrong shape → 5 failed fixes → 50M gut renovation.
RT60 = 0.161 × (V/A)
Where RT60 = time for sound to decay 60 decibels, V = room volume, A = total absorption.
Before Sabine: trial and error, hoping for good acoustics
After Sabine: predictable design, calculated reverberation
Boston Symphony Hall (1900) was the first scientifically designed concert hall. Target RT: 2.0 seconds. Actual RT when built: 2.0 seconds.
It's still ranked top 3 in the world 125 years later, alongside Vienna and Amsterdam.
The best halls share a simple geometry: long, narrow, high "shoebox" shape. Parallel walls, sloped surfaces, optimal seat spacing.
You can't improve on fundamental geometry with gadgets. Avery Fisher Hall learned this the hard way: wrong shape → 5 failed fixes → 50M gut renovation.