DESIGN GUIDE: MUSIC AND DRAMA CENTERS
DG 1110.3.120
C H A P T E R 3: ROOM CHARACTERISTICS
JANUARY 1981
performers to deliver, and audiences to appre-
ponent. Since, for the most part, cast quarters
ciate, the full content and embellishment of the
are minimal-well below professional stand-
literature. Because many works are written with
ards-no reduction can be looked for in Back-
a specific theater configuration or acoustic char-
stage area.
acter in mind, directors for a given Room may
have to select or modify productions to suit it,
Cutting the recommended seating capacities in
or modify the Room itself.
half (150,300 and 500 seats according to whether
Music or Drama programs are involved) would
Between Drama and Music there are broad dif-
bring all but the Large Music facility within the
ferences in the way quality is described. As long
current DOD criteria but essentially perpetuate
as the actors' speech can be clearly understood,
existing inadequte conditions. It is expected pub-
vision qualities are the most important measures
lication of this Design Guide will bring about a
of Drama Rooms. For Music, the quality of sound
review and adjustment of space allowance criteria.
is the dominant consideration. Good vision is
easier to define in objective terms; the spatial
D. ROOM QUALITIES
relationships governing vision are relatively di-
rect and geometrical. Good sound is a far more
Performance is communication and Drama
subjective impression. Human hearing com-
bines direct and indirect sources, responds to
Rooms differ from Music Rooms according to
the medium of communication between per-
pitch and intensity in a non-linear fashion, and
formers and audience. Drama works with visual
is affected acutely by the additional dimension
illusion, movement, gesture and the articulation
of time.
of spoken words. Music works with aural illu-
sion, rhythmic patterns, tonal variations and sub-
Analogies between the behavior of light and
tle interactions of sound. In live performances,
sound have been made to help describe subjec-
tive impressions, but these are inadequate for
the give-and-take of communication relies on
determining acoustic criteria and design guid-
both vision and hearing, but each art form em-
phasizes one or the other. Desirable Room qual-
ance. The many similar terms that are used to
ities vary accordingly. When these desired char-
describe both phenomena-color, warmth, clar-
ity, tone, intensity, brilliance, intimacy-need
acteristics are followed out to their physical and
examination and redefinition. This is the acous-
functional implications, they describe different
Rooms.
tician's specialty, no less a craft than stage and
lighting design, involving variations of technique
The following two sections discuss the qualities
and conceptual inclination as well as science.
of Drama Rooms and Music Rooms sought by
audiences, performers, writers and composers.
An overview of important considerations is fur-
nished next. It begins to suggest the functional
Naturally, descriptive language tends to reflect
their separate viewpoints. The Room must assist
priorities inherent in Drama and Music.
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