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Massimo Garai - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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A virtual orchestra to qualify the acoustics of historical Opera Houses
Building Acoustics, 2020Co-Authors: Dario D'orazio, Giulia Fratoni, Anna Rovigatti, Massimo GaraiAbstract:Italian Historical Opera Houses are private or public spaces built around a cavea, with tiers of boxes on the surrounding walls. At the early age – from 16th to 18th century – boxes were private pr...
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A loudspeaker orchestra for Opera Houses studies
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2017Co-Authors: Dario D'orazio, Luca Barbaresi, Massimo GaraiAbstract:A “Loudspeaker Orchestra” is an array of loudspeakers with a well-defined setup and layout. Initially proposed by contemporary composers for innovative performances (e.g., the “Acousmonium” used by the Groupe de Recherches Musicales in the 1970s), in the last years, the Loudspeaker Orchestra has been used for MIMO acoustic measurements in concert halls. In the present work, a Loudspeaker Orchestra for measurements in Opera Houses is proposed, taking into account the acoustic differences between a concert hall and an Opera house. In fact, in a concert hall, the orchestra plays on the stage, while in an Opera house, the orchestra plays in the pit, with a different layout, a smaller instrumental ensemble, etc. In a concert hall, the soloists are placed near the conductor, while in an Opera house they move all over the stage, due to dramatic reasons. Basing on previous studies on room criteria and experiences with real orchestras, the authors proposed a Loudspeaker Orchestra layout for Opera Houses. In this w...
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Sound energy distribution in Italian Opera Houses
2016Co-Authors: Massimo Garai, Simona De Cesaris, Federica Morandi, Dario D'orazioAbstract:A typical Italian Opera house is a complex system of coupled volumes: fly tower, orchestra pit, cavea (the volume where the stalls are), boxes, loggione (gallery). The way of propagation of the sound energy between one volume and the others is still a subject of research. The present work gives a contribution to the discussion by applying the Barron’s revised theory to the analysis of recent measurements done in several Italian theatres. The averaged values of sound strength versus the distance from the sound source is plotted inserting in the Barron’s equation either the classical reverberation time or the early decay time and different volume values. The significance of the different choices and their agreement with the experimental values are discussed. It is concluded that the spatial distribution of sound strength depends on the sound source position.
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acoustic measurements in eleven italian Opera Houses correlations between room criteria and considerations on the local evolution of a typology
Building and Environment, 2015Co-Authors: Massimo Garai, Simona De Cesaris, Federica Morandi, Dario Dorazio, Lisa LoretiAbstract:Abstract Several studies focused on the acoustical characterisation of concert halls and Opera Houses analysing more or less homogeneous sets of halls and spotting reference criteria. This work presents the results of a detailed measurement campaign that was carried out over eleven small and mid-sized historical Opera Houses in the North of Italy with the aim of characterising this hall typology and to relate it to the reference literature. The cluster is intended to represent an adequate sample of case studies relative to different capacities and different design approaches that followed one another starting from the seventeenth century. The theatres were investigated using monaural and binaural techniques, performing impulse response measurements at each seat in the stalls and in each box. Seven ISO 3382 criteria are chosen to characterise these theatres and averaged over the three main listening areas denoted by the Italian Opera house typology, i.e. the stalls, the boxes and the gallery. The correlation coefficients between interrelated criteria are presented and commented in relation to the architectural features of the theatres and to the existing literature.
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extraction of the envelope from impulse responses using pre processed energy detection for early decay estimation
Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2015Co-Authors: Simona De Cesaris, Federica Morandi, Dario Dorazio, Massimo GaraiAbstract:The Schroeder's backward integration method and its applications have been widely studied in the literature; some papers analyze the performance of the method, some others suggest various enhancement techniques. In spite of these findings, there exist several cases where the energy decay curve extracted using the classical backward integration method and the parameters computed from it seem not always representative of the phenomenon under study. Among them, the cases where the early decay is dependent on strong, distinct reflections occurring just after the direct wave, as in most Italian Opera Houses. Other cases are measured impulse responses with a very low signal-to-noise ratio or missing the direct wave. In the literature, alternatives to the Schroeder's method have been proposed, ranging from Hilbert transform to non-linear processing techniques. In this work a method for the extraction of the envelope based on pre-processed energy detection for early decay estimation is proposed. It is shown that it returns an envelope well matching the first part of the decay even in non-linear cases, returning detailed information on the first part of the decay. The performance of the proposed method is presented and discussed for some exemplary impulse responses measured in historical Opera Houses. A preliminary study on the perceptive relevance of the method is finally presented.
Angela Besana - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Fundraising, social media and tourism in American symphony orchestras and Opera Houses
Business Economics, 2019Co-Authors: Angela Besana, Annamaria EspositoAbstract:The multiple segmentation of audiences and stakeholders is as essential to the survival of American symphony orchestras and Opera Houses as is revenue diversification. Fundraising remains the key source of revenue, but managers are now exploring new target audiences with the increased use of non-traditional social media. Marketing towards non-traditional audiences such as musical tourists is coming under increasing scrutiny. Using a normal mixture cluster analysis of revenues and expenses in 2015, and considering a cultural tourism ratio, economic performances and targets of social media, this paper will segment a sample of some of the largest symphony orchestras and Opera Houses in the United States.
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memory marketing and economic performances in usa symphony orchestras and Opera Houses
European Journal of Economics and Business Studies, 2017Co-Authors: Angela Besana, Annamaria EspositoAbstract:When resources are scarce at crisis times and when competition is intense with other creative supplies, USA symphony orchestras and Opera Houses memorize and perform their repertoires (or repertories), so that seasons are crucially bundled between tradition and innovation. Since the beginning of the latest financial and real crisis (2007), USA classical music has seen different levels of funding from the federal government and businesses have encouraged more nonconventional programming (Pompe, Tamburri, 2016; Turbide, Laurin, 2009; Ravanas, 2008; Rushton, 2008; Turrini, 2006; Smith, 2007). On one side, fundraisers have stressed bundles (contemporary music with tradition) to sponsors; on the other side, marketing officers have emphasized the repertoire memory to audiences who constantly love Traviata, Boheme and Don Giovanni with echo of famous regisseurs, scenographers, etc. This is quite the same worldwide (Cancellieri, Turini, 2016). Fundraising and marketing affect economic performances of classical music, also thanks to social media and networks. Consumers have access to information about ticketing, rehearsals, present and past performances, etc. Art organizations strive to manage communication via social media to create brand values. Social media support both fundraising and marketing, as they mediate to sponsors and audiences: values, advocacy, videos and photos of the repertoire and nonconventional programming, which continually increase trustworthy relationships and nurture memories.This paper investigates 200 USA symphony orchestras and Opera Houses according to repertoires, revenues, expenses and gains in 2008 and 2015. With cluster analysis, three profiles emerge with different strategies, performances and emphasis on memory or innovation.
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performing diva the willingness to pay and the willingness to donate for usa Opera Houses and symphony orchestras
AIMAC 2011, 2011Co-Authors: Angela BesanaAbstract:Engaging diversified audiences is a strenuous effort of USA Opera Houses and symphony orchestras, when the financial crisis and the competition with substitute entertainments on the demand side affect the survival of creative businesses. It implies the segmentation of stakeholders: from clients to donors, from citizens to communities, from trustees to investors. The ―willingness to pay‖ is exploited next to the ―willingness to donate‖. This research investigayes the revenue diversification of USA Opera Houses and symphony orchestras, emerging three main Profiles: the Fundraiser Profile who is relying on prevailing contributions, the willingness-to-donate the Price-Maker One who is relying on program service revenues, the willingness-to-pay and the Hybrid One, mixing both the previous ones, financial gains and ―other revenues‖ too. This research shows that donors and audiences remain the main target of fundraisers and marketing experts of the USA classical music. Other rent-holders can be a focus too.
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Hard Times of Opera Houses
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2010Co-Authors: Angela BesanaAbstract:Performances of Italian Opera Houses are today particularly affected by diminishing Government budgets, inhibited private grant making and the credit crunch. Performances of USA Opera Houses are not, similarly, flourishing though, if Government grants have always been modest, private contributions have stimulated the USA Opera industry for decades. Such results might be reconsidered if Opera Boards would concentrate on both paying customers, members, donors, sponsors, Government, other Administrations, etc. Willingness to pay is only one focus of Opera Boards. Marketing is as necessary as fundraising of both public and private resources. Reports of Italian Opera Houses and of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Affairs are checked through for comparable data with USA ones. These ones are investigated in their performances referring to 2008 USA 990 Forms. Cluster analysis – multivariate analysis with the Ward Method – will explore some trends in performances and revenue diversification of USA Opera Houses. This research will give evidence of USA and Italian trends: segmentation of paying consumers, segmentation of donors and hence, revenue diversification from multiple stakeholders could both support not-for-profit goals, gaining or consolidating a competitive advantage in the Not-For-Profit Market of Opera. If the Net Gain can be considered a performance estimate of Nonprofits, the Fundraiser Profile of both samples is successful and revenue diversification is limited and contradictory.
Annamaria Esposito - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Fundraising, social media and tourism in American symphony orchestras and Opera Houses
Business Economics, 2019Co-Authors: Angela Besana, Annamaria EspositoAbstract:The multiple segmentation of audiences and stakeholders is as essential to the survival of American symphony orchestras and Opera Houses as is revenue diversification. Fundraising remains the key source of revenue, but managers are now exploring new target audiences with the increased use of non-traditional social media. Marketing towards non-traditional audiences such as musical tourists is coming under increasing scrutiny. Using a normal mixture cluster analysis of revenues and expenses in 2015, and considering a cultural tourism ratio, economic performances and targets of social media, this paper will segment a sample of some of the largest symphony orchestras and Opera Houses in the United States.
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memory marketing and economic performances in usa symphony orchestras and Opera Houses
European Journal of Economics and Business Studies, 2017Co-Authors: Angela Besana, Annamaria EspositoAbstract:When resources are scarce at crisis times and when competition is intense with other creative supplies, USA symphony orchestras and Opera Houses memorize and perform their repertoires (or repertories), so that seasons are crucially bundled between tradition and innovation. Since the beginning of the latest financial and real crisis (2007), USA classical music has seen different levels of funding from the federal government and businesses have encouraged more nonconventional programming (Pompe, Tamburri, 2016; Turbide, Laurin, 2009; Ravanas, 2008; Rushton, 2008; Turrini, 2006; Smith, 2007). On one side, fundraisers have stressed bundles (contemporary music with tradition) to sponsors; on the other side, marketing officers have emphasized the repertoire memory to audiences who constantly love Traviata, Boheme and Don Giovanni with echo of famous regisseurs, scenographers, etc. This is quite the same worldwide (Cancellieri, Turini, 2016). Fundraising and marketing affect economic performances of classical music, also thanks to social media and networks. Consumers have access to information about ticketing, rehearsals, present and past performances, etc. Art organizations strive to manage communication via social media to create brand values. Social media support both fundraising and marketing, as they mediate to sponsors and audiences: values, advocacy, videos and photos of the repertoire and nonconventional programming, which continually increase trustworthy relationships and nurture memories.This paper investigates 200 USA symphony orchestras and Opera Houses according to repertoires, revenues, expenses and gains in 2008 and 2015. With cluster analysis, three profiles emerge with different strategies, performances and emphasis on memory or innovation.
Dario D'orazio - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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A virtual orchestra to qualify the acoustics of historical Opera Houses
Building Acoustics, 2020Co-Authors: Dario D'orazio, Giulia Fratoni, Anna Rovigatti, Massimo GaraiAbstract:Italian Historical Opera Houses are private or public spaces built around a cavea, with tiers of boxes on the surrounding walls. At the early age – from 16th to 18th century – boxes were private pr...
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Towards Italian Opera Houses: A Review of Acoustic Design in Pre-Sabine Scholars
Acoustics, 2019Co-Authors: Dario D'orazio, Sofia NanniniAbstract:The foundation of architectural acoustics as an independent science is generally referred to Sabine’s early studies and their application. Nevertheless, since the 16th Century, a great number of authors wrote essays and treatises on the design of acoustic spaces, with a growing attention to the newborn typology of the Opera house, whose evolution is strongly connected to the cultural background of the Italian peninsula. With roots in the Renaissance rediscovery of Vitruvius’s treatise and his acoustic theory, 16th- to 19th-Century Italian authors tackled several issues concerning the construction of theatres—among them, architectural and structural features, the choice of the materials, the social meanings of performances. Thanks to this literature, the consolidation of this body of knowledge led to a standardisation of the forms of the Italian Opera house throughout the 19th Century. Therefore, the scope of this review paper is to focus on the treatises, essays and publications regarding theatre design, written by pre-Sabinian Italian scholars. The analysis of such literature aims at highlighting the consistencies in some 19th-Century minor Italian Opera Houses, in order to understand to what extent this scientific and experimental background was part of the building tradition during the golden age of the Italian Opera.
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A loudspeaker orchestra for Opera Houses studies
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2017Co-Authors: Dario D'orazio, Luca Barbaresi, Massimo GaraiAbstract:A “Loudspeaker Orchestra” is an array of loudspeakers with a well-defined setup and layout. Initially proposed by contemporary composers for innovative performances (e.g., the “Acousmonium” used by the Groupe de Recherches Musicales in the 1970s), in the last years, the Loudspeaker Orchestra has been used for MIMO acoustic measurements in concert halls. In the present work, a Loudspeaker Orchestra for measurements in Opera Houses is proposed, taking into account the acoustic differences between a concert hall and an Opera house. In fact, in a concert hall, the orchestra plays on the stage, while in an Opera house, the orchestra plays in the pit, with a different layout, a smaller instrumental ensemble, etc. In a concert hall, the soloists are placed near the conductor, while in an Opera house they move all over the stage, due to dramatic reasons. Basing on previous studies on room criteria and experiences with real orchestras, the authors proposed a Loudspeaker Orchestra layout for Opera Houses. In this w...
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Sound energy distribution in Italian Opera Houses
2016Co-Authors: Massimo Garai, Simona De Cesaris, Federica Morandi, Dario D'orazioAbstract:A typical Italian Opera house is a complex system of coupled volumes: fly tower, orchestra pit, cavea (the volume where the stalls are), boxes, loggione (gallery). The way of propagation of the sound energy between one volume and the others is still a subject of research. The present work gives a contribution to the discussion by applying the Barron’s revised theory to the analysis of recent measurements done in several Italian theatres. The averaged values of sound strength versus the distance from the sound source is plotted inserting in the Barron’s equation either the classical reverberation time or the early decay time and different volume values. The significance of the different choices and their agreement with the experimental values are discussed. It is concluded that the spatial distribution of sound strength depends on the sound source position.
Nicola Prodi - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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from tangible to intangible heritage inside italian historical Opera Houses
Heritage, 2019Co-Authors: Nicola ProdiAbstract:Historical Opera Houses in Italy have been the place for the development of a relevant part of the National musical tradition and their design is paired with a peculiar acoustical fingerprint. Due to its relevance this can be regarded as an intangible heritage embedded in the tangible heritage constituted by the theatre building itself. In particular the presence of fairly deep lateral enclosures opened to the main hall volume, called the “boxes,” is of paramount importance for the implications it had on the listening experience perceived by the public. For instance, the positions in the box recess had a much less favourable sound field compared to the frontal ones located at the box opening towards the hall. In this work the need for the box design is briefly recalled from an historical perspective and then the sound field in the boxes is described as the combination of several sound reflections from specific interior surfaces. It is seen how the related listening experience can vary in a remarkable manner while moving from boxes at different tiers. This characteristic greatly differentiates historical Opera Houses from modern ones, where one of the most valuable attribute is a limited change in acoustics over large audiences. The acoustical environment of historical halls and inside boxes in particular was important in building up the ear of the Italian Opera goers, thus a close consideration of the peculiarities of the intangible heritage is necessary in case of restorations and cannot be overlooked.
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acoustics in the restoration of italian historical Opera Houses a review
Journal of Cultural Heritage, 2016Co-Authors: Nicola Prodi, Roberto PompoliAbstract:Abstract The cultural heritage of Italian historical Opera Houses is of paramount importance in terms of architecture, music and acoustics. Much is known about the development of their architectural design and the selection of materials that guided the construction of such Houses. In fact, traditional technologies are implemented as much as possible when refurbishments are required to ensure the halls maintain their original characteristics. Nevertheless, from an acoustic point of view, the correct approach to safeguard the heritage involves a number of issues which require great insight into the propagation of sound, the interaction with the boundary materials and the occurrence of structural vibrations. Unfortunately, the technical literature on acoustics in the restoration process consists of reports on case histories and provides only limited generalisations. This review develops a comprehensive approach to the topic, covering the most sensitive acoustical issues and their potential impact on the outcome. Together with previous results, fresh data have been added to support the discussion. Moreover, basic and special procedures have been presented to deal with acoustics in the restoration process and, finally, the most important aspects to-be-researched are addressed with special regard to the role of re-radiation from lightweight structures.
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Acoustics of Italian Historical Opera Houses.
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2015Co-Authors: Nicola Prodi, Roberto Pompoli, Francesco Martellotta, Shin-ichi SatoAbstract:Opera Houses represent a large group of performance spaces characterized by great complexity and, at the same time, versatility with respect to different usage (from Opera to symphonic music and ballet). This kind of building originated in Italy during the 17th century and later spread across the country and then Europe and the rest of the world, slowly evolving into modern theatre shapes. As a consequence of the changes undergone by the interior space, the original acoustic features, which likely influenced many composers, experienced important variations. Thanks to acoustic measurement campaigns inside Italian Historical Opera Houses, promoted by National and Regional Projects, the distinctive features of these spaces were investigated in comparison to modern spaces. In this work, the newly acquired data are merged with data in the literature in order to present and discuss some of the distinctive acoustic features of historical spaces as regards their original function. Moreover, specific issues such as listening in stalls and boxes and the criteria governing the preference judgment of listeners are considered. The concept and the crucial role of the balance between stage and pit sources are also discussed by means of previous literature studies.
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computer model investigations on the balance between stage and pit sources in Opera Houses
Applied Acoustics, 2007Co-Authors: Linda Parati, Nicola Prodi, Roberto PompoliAbstract:The acoustical balance between the singer on the stage and the orchestra in the pit is typically found inside an Opera house. The competition of the two sources is crucial, since in an Opera the singer and the orchestra are performing at the same time. This topic of balance is receiving increasing attention in recent years, but several aspects are still to be clarified. The aim of this work is twofold: firstly the procedure for the acoustical qualification of the balance between the singer and the orchestra is investigated and secondly the means of controlling the balance at the design stage or during renovations is considered. For both tasks the study was conducted in a group of Opera Houses modelled within an acoustical CAD program. As regards the qualification of the balance this investigation compares the directional characteristics of two loudspeakers and of a dodecahedron omnidirectional loudspeaker in the emulation of a soprano during simulated room acoustics measurements. It is shown that, in order to emulate a soprano singer, the directional characteristics of the source on the stage are quite important. The control of balance was also studied and the work reserves a special emphasis to the case of historical Opera Houses. In fact, when such theatres are refurbished, the range of possible architectural interventions is often limited to the orchestra pit only, due to the heritage nature of the hall which prevents from any substantial change in the area of the forestage. For this reason it is important to investigate the effectiveness of such limited interventions in the pit, and this is done here by a detailed study of the effects on balance of some major changes of the orchestra pit only.
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qualification of balance in Opera Houses comparing different sound sources
Forum Acusticum 2005 - 4th European Congress on Acustics, 2005Co-Authors: Nicola Prodi, Shin-ichi Sato, Andrea Farnetani, Gottfried Behler, Ingo B WitewAbstract:The balance between singer and orchestra in Opera Houses has been receiving increasing interest in the recent years. This characteristics is in fact at the core of the functionality of Opera Houses and its tuning deserves great attention both in the qualification and in the design process. Unfortunately, a standardized method for the measurement of balance is still not available in the technical norms. In this work a set of data is measured in the Municipal Theatre of Modena and the use of omnidirectional and different directional sound sources to study the balance is investigated. In particular an antropometric sound source and two directional loudspeakers are compared and also two different omnidirectional sound sources are employed. Several combinations are obtained and the merits and the limits of the different measurement chains are presented and discussed. It is seen that a severe scatter of data may occur depending on the measurement chain. The results are also discussed in relation with former computer simulations in other theatres in order to fix the best available measurement chain for the qualification of balance.