Thoughts on the ideal concert hall Book "Polishing the Sound" - the work of acoustic designer Yasuhisa Toyoda (Suntory Hall)

2023年05月29日

「響きをみがく」―音響設計家豊田泰久の仕事　- 私たちは山梨県に音楽ホールを作ろうと計画している。いわゆる立派な建物の音楽ホールではなく、自然の環境を生かした音楽の場を「ホール」と考えている。まず既存の音楽ホールを参考にしようと考えた。「音楽ホール」は当然音楽を奏でる専用の空間だ。そこには歴史の中で培ってきた音楽の場としての効果や意義などが蓄積されている。(English) Book "Polishing the Sound" - the work of acoustic designer Yasuhisa Toyoda - We are planning to build a music hall in Yamanashi Prefecture. I think of the "hall" as a place for music that takes advantage of the natural environment rather than a music hall in a splendid building. First, I decided to use an existing music hall as a reference. A music hall is, of course, a place dedicated to music performance. It is there that the effects and meaning of music are accumulated as a place cultivated throughout history.

Thoughts on the ideal concert hall

Book "Polishing the Sound" - the work of acoustic designer Yasuhisa Toyoda (Suntory Hall)

//Summary -Level-C2//

"Polishing the Sound" explores Yasuhisa Toyoda's acoustic design in music halls. Planning a music hall in Yamanashi Prefecture, the author references Toyoda's "vineyard" designs that encompass the audience, creating intimacy and optimising sound quality. The author recounts experiencing performances at Toyoda's Muza Kawasaki Symphony Hall and Suntory Hall, where the architecture facilitated a deep connection between performer and audience. The author concludes that an ideal concert hall is a transparent, peculiarity-free vessel fostering an intimate performer-listener bond and optimising acoustics.

Introduction)

We are planning to build a music hall in Yamanashi Prefecture. I think of the "hall" as a place for music that takes advantage of the natural environment rather than a music hall in a splendid building. First, I decided to use an existing music hall as a reference. A music hall is, of course, a place dedicated to music performance. It is there that the effects and meaning of music are accumulated as a place cultivated throughout history.

We want to incorporate these effects into our halls. Many things are still uncertain about what kind of space will work well. How will a gallery dedicated to music handle sound and create a theatre with good sound? We became interested in music hall design. In the meantime, I came across this book.

This book describes the work of Yasuhisa Toyoda, who specialises in the acoustic design of music halls. He has designed many projects in Japan, such as Suntory Hall, Muza Kawasaki Symphony Hall, Sapporo Concert Hall and Kyoto Concert Hall, and overseas, his Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and his Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg.

In the book, many world-famous conductors talk about the hall designed by Mr Toyoda. For example, British conductor Simon Rattle says of the "Muza Kawasaki Symphony Hall" that it is "almost perfect among possible possibilities". World-famous conductor Herbert von Karajan, who advised on the construction, praised the sound, saying, "It's like a jewel box of sound".

I wanted to experience such a "perfect hall". So I decided to share "Muza Kawasaki Symphony Hall (Kanagawa)" and "Suntory Hall (Tokyo)", designed by sound designer Yasuhisa Toyoda.

A Sense of intimacy brought by a vineyard hall: Intimacy

Mr Toyoda has designed many galleries that are said to be of the vineyard type. A vineyard is a field of vines. It's a form of mortar-shaped audience seating that surrounds the stage, like terraced fields along the surface of a mountain.

That day, I could listen to a performance by about 300 choirs and orchestras and four vocalists at the Muza Kawasaki Symphony Hall (Kanagawa).

My seat was in the back, in the middle of the second floor. The vineyard-like effect made the performance seem closer than the actual distance. I felt that the asymmetrical structure of the hall had something to do with the sound.

It has a structure that rises in the shape of a mortar and is installed so that a large echo board behind the audience seats covers it. This device effectively transfers the direct reflection from the stage to the audience.

What I found strange was that when the sound got louder, the reverberation of the instrument seemed to shorten, and the sound of the device could be heard without being buried in the echo. It seemed

Of course, I think it's because of the performance's ingenuity, but the fact that the sound is not peculiar is also a significant factor.

Because it is shaped like a mortar, it is a position where you can see the stage from above. However, I felt that each instrument was lined up in front of me, and I could also hear the volume of the mid-bass and the separation of each instrument's sound.

I was also interested in the sound, but what impressed me most was the situation where more than 300 people, including the orchestra and choir, were playing a piece of music with great concentration.

It was the first time I had heard of a large ensemble in a long time, and it felt luxurious. One of the reasons why Mr Toyoda sticks to the vineyard type is that he can feel a sense of intimacy.

Perhaps what I felt most about the performance that day was the intimacy that united the performers with the hall.

The hall as an extension of the musical instruments felt in Suntory Hall: Resonance Point of Space

The second project, Tokyo Suntory Hall, was the first project in which Mr Toyoda was responsible for sound design. This is the first full-scale vineyard-style hall in Japan.

On that day, he heard Mischa Maisky, a cellist from Latvia. About 2,000 seats were almost complete. I sat in the 17th row in the middle of the first floor, probably about 20-25 metres from the stage.

I was curious to see how much sound a single cello could fill this vast hall. But, in the end, it sounded loud enough. It wasn't just that the sound was significantly audible. Here I could deeply understand the meaning of "a hall is an instrument".

This experience reminded me of a performance by the sound artist Akio Suzuki more than ten years ago. The concert took place in a small gallery that could hold about 20 people. Akio had a pebble in both hands and struck it once, twice, three times to make a sound. When the second and third sounds were played, the third sound differed from the second, and the whole room seemed to resonate slightly.

It wasn't that the sound of the stones hitting each other became louder. Instead, it was a sound that hit the resonance point of the room with a lingering sound.

Mischa Maisky's cello sounded the same. I didn't notice it in the first half because my ears weren't used to it, but I could hear the whole Hall reverberating in the second half.

It was as if he was putting a string right into the Hall and plucking it with a bow. I felt he was resonating not only with the sound but also with the thoughts and feelings of the audience. The audience's concentration was heightened. And every movement of Mischa Maisky moved the emotions of everyone in the audience.

Mischa Maisky seems acutely aware of the sound of the Hall and returns it to the Hall. I don't play an instrument. But I have often experienced that the same instrument sounds different to different people. I felt the awareness of playing the whole room, an extension of the device. I seem to be a master of listening rather than a master of playing.

The Ideal Hall is a transparent container

An ideal hall should not be just a container. Instead, it should be a transparent vessel without any peculiarities. The Hall itself should not magically transform any performance into a good sound.

The most important thing is to create an intimate connection between the performer and the listener. Naturally, that takes precedence over everything else; of course, the sound is subordinate to that. In other words, it is y the ideal acoustic space looking for sound without peculiarities.

This is how I experienced the Hall designed by Mr Toyoda. It gave me the courage to go on.