The Application of Auditoria Modelling to Some Projects

1n the past we carried out limited prediction on room acoustics, initial calculations then spreadsheet calculations, supplemented where time and research would allow by a geometric ray tracing scale model.An example is a new theatre, The Swan, at High Wycombe.The limited commissioning allowed by our consultancy agreement there did not highlight signi cant deviation 'om predictions In any case, the inclusion of an elecuoacoustics system with its ability to alter the natural acoustic by preset steps, permitted the music parameters to be achieved by other means.However, we found physical model prediction cumbersome, expensive and unable to change apace with the architectural design of the auditorium (for example, the seat rakes and rear wall radii were changed several times).Large-scale physical models at 1:10 scale and smaller ones at 1:50 remain the most accurate means of examining the most prestigious major halls, and research by Kleiner (1), Lam (2) and others has involved validation of physical and computer modelling against measured data.