I agree, except I would really hope an architect or acoustician spends
many, many hours in a hall listening to music (not a recording of the hall
and its infinite variations), before deciding on any alterations. Most
often complaints about a hall come from the patrons who attend concerts
there.

Of course, there is also the issue of what constitutes "good" or "better",
versus what one is used to.

Marcos

--On Friday, April 07, 2006 9:52 PM -0400 Steven Smolian
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Even as a non-profit, an orchestra has a financial responsibilty toward
> those supporting it if it wishes to survive. It can't be built along
> side a bottomless pit or it will fall into it during bad economic times
> when its supporters may be under pressure.
>
> The CSO owns the hall. On days when it is not performing, the hall is
> rented as a concert theater. That is a non-monopolistic booking
> situation in which it competes for attractions. Othe venues with air
> conditioning have a distinct advantage. Air conditioning is necessary.
>
> The true issue is how the need for a/c was met. I think it is safe to
> say that more concert hall alterations are unsuccessful than neutral,
> much less an improvement. This is particularly so for older buildings.
> A big cause of these failures is that rebuilding cancels some
> grandfathered in code violations. Different materials, with different
> acoustical properties- densisties, etc., replace older, more
> confligration-dangerous ones. Air conditioning removes cubic volume from
> resonant spaces. etc.
>
> The art is applying science to accomodate these changes. Even with the
> latest computer technology to assist the architect, most new and rebulit
> halls flunk.
>
> In addition, the audience's expectations are partially derived from
> listening to records on various levels of equipment, made by engineers
> who have to accomodate a conductor who often wants the record to sound
> more as he hears it from the podium rather from the audience's
> perspective. What recording does the architect use as a model?
>
> Complex is an understatement
>
> Steve Smolian
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Don Tait" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Friday, April 07, 2006 7:27 PM
> Subject: [ARSCLIST] Fwd: [ARSCLIST] Fwd: [ARSCLIST] The waltz (was Which
> U.S. orchestra recorded ...
>
>
>> Brenda is correct. It's true that air conditioning was added to
>> Orchestra Hall during the 1966 renovation, but the project was
>> undertaken for far bigger
>> reasons. The majority were calamities, above all the idea that the sound
>> of
>> the hall could be improved, whereas it was wrecked. But another was the
>> practical one of giving the CSO members a reasonably comfortable
>> backstage space for
>> themselves, which they'd never had. I remember standing on Michigan
>> Avenue during the summer of 1966 and looking through the glass on
>> Orchestra Hall's doors.
>> I could see traffic on Wabash Avenue, a block behind the building.
>> Everything
>> in Orchestra Hall, including its stage and back wall, was gone. All was
>> rebuilt and reconfigured during the renovation.
>>
>> Don Tait
>>
>
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> -------
>
>
> "A sad tale of greed" ?????? With all due respect, let's get real here.
> We're talking about a venue that seats over 2500 people and has over 100
> musicians on stage in suits under hot lights. Any modernization efforts
> would obviously include the installation of air conditioning.
>
> Brenda
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Marcos Sueiro
> Sent: Tuesday, April 04, 2006 9:30 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Fwd: [ARSCLIST] The waltz (was Which U.S. orchestra
> recorded first and Arthur...
>
> Chicago's Orchestra Hall when empty. The latter changed with the
>> disastrous renovation of 1966, which essentially wrecked Orchestra
> Hall
>> as a listening or recording venue.)
>
> I find it particularly poignant that they did it to add A/C so that they
>
> could extend their season. A sad tale of greed.
>
> Marcos
>
>
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> -------
>
>
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Marcos