A Study of Acoustics in Performance Spaces

Abstract

Music has been a part of worship rituals in temples and other places of worship. It has always been an inseparable part of dance . and#346;aand#772;rnand#775; gadeand#772;va in his Sanand#775;giand#772;ta Ratnaand#772;kara has mentioned that sanand#775;giand#772;ta is a combination of song, dance and instrument. Dance was performed as an offering to God in temples to the accompaniment of music until recent centuries. Music slowly gained status as a separate entity and music concerts began to be performed. One finds mention of music concerts in treatises such as Maand#772;nasoand#772;llaand#772;sa of King Soand#772; meand#772;sand#769;vara. Music concerts were mostly performed in temples and palaces, but with the decline of royal patronage and advent of British rule in India, concerts began to move out into other public spaces such as homes of landlords, concert halls, auditoria and later even studios. newlineToday, Indian classical music is performed in a wide variety of performance spaces. It not only provides entertainment, but is known to release stress and induce calmness. In the fastpaced life of the present day, music-lovers head out to concerts in order to soothe their frayed nerves and also to enjoy this form of art out of passion for the art itself. However, they often do not get to experience the bliss of listening to the concert in spite of the fine quality of music being performed. The performers, on the other hand, often end up feeling that there is a gap between what is being performed and what the audience is actually hearing. This could be attributed to the acoustics involved during the transmission of sound from performer to listener. Modern technology has made it possible for concerts to open out to large audiences. The usage of amplification enabled many more spaces to be used for concerts. While this came as a boon in some ways, it brought with it a new set of problems. This research is an effort to study the performances spaces of the past, the kind of performances and the dynamics involved in the hope to bring about a blend of ancient glory with modern advancement. It is also an effort to study the performance spaces of today and the dynamics of current day concerts with a vision of bringing about small changes that can go a long way in giving a rich acoustical experience to the performers as well as listeners of Indian classical music. newline