Seat sublime: Focusing on the totality of the concertgoer experience - acoustical, visual, and physical

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A4 Artikkeli konferenssijulkaisussa

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en

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16

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Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, Volume 58, issue 1

Abstract

It is axiomatic that not all seats in a concert hall are created equal. The specific acoustical, visual, and physical conditions of seats within the hall will vary and will represent a set of compromises, yielding different experiences depending on where one is seated in the hall. The 3382 ISO standard for performance spaces identifies certain key acoustical metrics for a hall calculated by averaging. But these “average” acoustical measures do not describe the musical concert-going experience for the individual attendee, and do not capture the total experience in the hall. Individuals differ in their preferred acoustics, so acoustical variation in the hall could be a benefit if seat selection could be matched to individual preference. Research also shows that the emotional experience of attending a concert may be derived at least as much from the visual aspects of the performance as the acoustical. This paper suggests that the concertgoer experience could be improved if the acoustical, visual, and physical seating experiences in the hall are aligned to the individual concertgoer’s preferences, and describes a seat selection system implemented to achieve this objective. It also suggests the potential benefits to designers, arts organizations, and concertgoers of utilizing such a system.

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Publisher Copyright: © 2025 Author(s).

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Salesin, J, Lokki, T & Echenagucia, T M 2025, 'Seat sublime: Focusing on the totality of the concertgoer experience - acoustical, visual, and physical', Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, vol. 58, no. 1. https://doi.org/10.1121/2.0002066