Speaker
Description
The orchestra rehearsal hall of the Finnish National Opera and Ballet is situated below the stalls of the main hall of the Opera. This space was originally intended to be use as a musical library, but it was realized in the late stage of design, that the orchestra also needed a rehearsal room. Because of this, the finished room was oddly shaped and had less than ideal height. This caused several problems and the hall was never considered to be well suited for its purpose. In this paper we describe the acoustic renovation of the rehearsal hall, and the way an electroacoustic system was integrated to the overall acoustical design. In spite off the challenging starting point, the project was a success, and the orchestra now has a rehearsal hall with lower sound level, longer reverberation time and overall, more favourable acoustic conditions.