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[Bill Kessinger]

Hi Everyone-
I am a member of a Task Force within my organization to explore visionary views of a Performance Hall.  The entire committee is comprised of 5 Task Forces, each assigned a specific objective.  My task force is to examine the Performance Hall of the future.  What does it look like?  What does it offer?  The other task forces are charged with the political, governmental, and economic impacts, as well as audience and community involvement.

If anyone has time to answer a few questions, I'd greatly appreciate it,  (if the questions seem vague, they are meant to be).  No right or wrong answers here, and no names will be used in the data collection.  And your answers do not necessarily need to regard audio.  Any and all aspects of venues should be considered.

1- What performance halls today would you consider exemplary?

2- What makes them exemplary?

3- What is missing from performance halls today that you'd like to see?

4- What physical limitations in today's performance halls get in the way of you accomplishing the work you'd like to achieve and that you'd like to see eliminated or transformed?

5-  Let's do some science fiction.  Imagine a performance hall on a college campus 20 years from now.        What should it look like?  How would it be different from today's halls?

6-  Let your imagination run wild.  What could this performance hall of the future look like?


Thanks everyone!

Bill




     

[Ivan Beaver]

I see the performance halls fo the future being acoustically dead.

Then one of various "enhancement systems" (like Lares-VRAS etc) being used to give the hall a "sound" that is right for the type of performance that is being done in there.

It is not cheap-but opens up the hall to a wider variety of uses.

Obiously plenty of power-lots of rig locations-cable paths and plenty of truck parking/loading facilities is always wanted.

[John Roberts {JR}]

5-  Let's do some science fiction.  Imagine a performance hall on a college campus 20 years from now.        What should it look like?  How would it be different from today's halls?

6-  Let your imagination run wild.  What could this performance hall of the future look like?


Thanks everyone!

Bill




   

Some say I spend too much time in the future... 

The college campus 20 years from now may resemble shopping malls, as in ghost towns, as future students get their edumacation via the internets.

I expect performance halls to resemble bars or cafeterias, with sound and images transmitted wirelessly to the personal A/V platform du jour (like google glass or whatever smart phone technology).

We don't need no stinkin speakers (sorry Ivan).  Perhaps some butt shakers for impact.

JR

[Doug Fowler]

Hi Everyone-
I am a member of a Task Force within my organization to explore visionary views of a Performance Hall.  The entire committee is comprised of 5 Task Forces, each assigned a specific objective.  My task force is to examine the Performance Hall of the future.  What does it look like?  What does it offer?  The other task forces are charged with the political, governmental, and economic impacts, as well as audience and community involvement.

If anyone has time to answer a few questions, I'd greatly appreciate it,  (if the questions seem vague, they are meant to be).  No right or wrong answers here, and no names will be used in the data collection.  And your answers do not necessarily need to regard audio.  Any and all aspects of venues should be considered.

1- What performance halls today would you consider exemplary?

2- What makes them exemplary?

3- What is missing from performance halls today that you'd like to see?

4- What physical limitations in today's performance halls get in the way of you accomplishing the work you'd like to achieve and that you'd like to see eliminated or transformed?

5-  Let's do some science fiction.  Imagine a performance hall on a college campus 20 years from now.        What should it look like?  How would it be different from today's halls?

6-  Let your imagination run wild.  What could this performance hall of the future look like?


Thanks everyone!

Bill




   

Well, I would like to the space designed around a proper sound system, not the other way around.

Death to balcony shading, PA hung out over the audience's head, no place for subs, etc.

The problems occur when aesthetics trump audio. Your average architect knows nothing about audio.

Here's an idea:

Hire an audio consultant that actually understands the issues.  Then, submit RFPs to loudspeaker manufacturers, asking for an EASE model that predicts performance based on total capacity, balcony yes/no, maybe a couple of other parameters.

Now, you will get different dimensions BUT I promise someone will present something that makes perfect sense.  The winner will most likely be the simplest design, and therefore probably the least expensive.

Present the winning design to the architect and demand the space design accommodate the sound system design. 

[Mark McFarlane]

How far in the future?  10 years? 50 years? 100 years?

I am hopeful that people will still occasionally gather together for live performances because there is magic there, but I'm with John in thinking that colleges and performance halls will both go the way of bookstores.  Few and far between.

In some senses that is bad, in others it is good.

I live in an area with limited educational opportunities and eCollege is already fairly normal here. I know a dozen people working on advanced degrees remotely.  eEducation is an agent for global change, its greatest impact originally outside countries with good educational systems in place.

[Jonathan Johnson]

5-  Let's do some science fiction.  Imagine a performance hall on a college campus 20 years from now.        What should it look like?  How would it be different from today's halls?

So there is some pessimism with regards to the future of performance halls on college campuses. As a big, expensive box that doesn't see constant use, there may be less desire to build them as colleges become less campus-centric. Construction costs will increase while attendance and events decrease.

The big-draw concerts (popular music) have already left the performance hall in favor of the sports arena and outdoor festival grounds or for smaller shows, the bar scene.

Reflecting these realities, I see performance halls of the future shrinking and becoming more intimate. Smaller spaces will be easier to design for acoustics and the sound systems serving them will be less expansive and less expensive. We already see this where some performing arts venues are repurposing excess space as "studio theaters" to accommodate smaller audiences for lower-budget productions. No longer will you see 3,000- or even 2,000-seat theaters; I would expect to see more in the 500-1000 seat range.

There will be fewer independent theaters all around, due to increasing difficulty finding philanthropic patrons of the arts. Instead, you will see more churches being built with the performing arts in mind, with a wider variety than just traditional choirs and contemporary praise/worship bands. They will be equipped with better sound systems and more comprehensive and flexible stage lighting, rivaling even the most renowned performance halls. Churches won't just be for Sunday morning anymore.

Even as colleges become decentralized, public primary and secondary (elementary, junior high/middle, and high) schools will remain largely as we see them today. Larger districts will build schools with auditoriums that compare favorably with traditional performing arts centers. Many will become the performing arts centers for their communities.

[Mark McFarlane]

So there is some pessimism with regards to the future of performance halls on college campuses.

An interesting, and reasonable view, me thinks.  I hope you are right about more Christian churches being built.  Looking at attendance over the last 50 years shows nearly a 50% decrease in absolute Sunday attendance. Accounting for population growth makes the statistic worse.

[Tim Perry]

I forsee concert halls as having a significantly larger roll in coming years do to climate change. Outdoor concerts will become almost entirely unviable due to increased frequency and intensity of storms.

[Bill Kessinger]

Really interesting thoughts guys...keep them coming please. 
Allow me to pose a few follow up questions..
Rather than focus the discussion on if or if not they will exist in the future...let's say for argument's sake that some form of a concert hall will exist 20yrs from now. 

How big are they?

What would YOU or your ARTISTS like to see in them. 

What would you like that you aren't getting/seeing now. 

Or even from a patron's point of view..Have we broken down all of the barriers between the artist and the patron?

Is it some form of technology, or some experience that will be different in the future? 

Again guys, thanks for all the input, please keep it coming.  Not trying to spark a debate on anything, just a friendly 'what if' discussion.

[Jonathan Johnson]

I hope you are right about more Christian churches being built.  Looking at attendance over the last 50 years shows nearly a 50% decrease in absolute Sunday attendance. Accounting for population growth makes the statistic worse.

I certainly get the statistics. But what I predict is not necessarily an increase in the number of churches being built, but an increase in the percentage of churches being built with proper acoustics and performance space in mind. The ability to rent the facility to other organizations for different events -- even secular events -- will become an important part of the church's revenue stream as membership dwindles and is less able to pay for the construction and upkeep from free-will offerings and member donors.

The simple prayer house and the ornate cathedral do not necessarily lend themselves to a diversity of performances.

[Jonathan Johnson]

Or even from a patron's point of view..Have we broken down all of the barriers between the artist and the patron?

Is it some form of technology, or some experience that will be different in the future? 

Just a little brainstorming... how can we integrate mobile technology into the performance space? So far, the integration has consisted of a message at the beginning of the show, "please turn off your mobile devices."

Instead of IMAG on the big screen, maybe stream live video to the audience and let them choose the camera angle they want to see on their own devices?

Closed captioning? Program notes?

Somehow leverage mobile devices for audience participation?

Of course, the danger becomes that no one is looking at the stage: the performer looks out on the audience and (if not blinded by the stage lights) sees only the tops of the heads of people looking down.

[Stephen Swaffer]

I don't have a lot of hands on experience in concert halls-but listening to a lot of different thoughts here is an out-of the box thought.

Attendance may decrease for individual events-but that may be because there are more-and more specialized in appeal.

With digital consoles much of the performance is already in the digital domain.

Some threads talk of managing stage volume so the PA does "all the work."

IMAG and virtual reality are becoming accepted.

If I am going to watch a concert mainly on IMAG and hear mainly a PA, then why does the artist need to physically be in the same venue.  No one (ok virtually no one) has a concert quality PA or IMAG in their living room.

A network of smaller venues connected by hi speed data links might allow niche artists the opportunity to play to bigger crowds real time while affording more people the opportunity to hear a concert by their favorite artist.  You would still need all the A/V people and logistics so no one gets cut out of their livlihood.

[Bill McIntosh]

No one (ok virtually no one) has a concert quality PA or IMAG in their living room.

A network of smaller venues connected by hi speed data links might allow niche artists the opportunity to play to bigger crowds real time while affording more people the opportunity to hear a concert by their favorite artist.  You would still need all the A/V people and logistics so no one gets cut out of their livlihood.

Good points.  The losers will be the up and coming musicians.  Would more people come to the 100-200 cap bar for "Locals You Never Heard Of" or (U-2, Bob Dylan, Pit Bull, Aerosmith, etc.).  Economics won't let those A-list stars play a 200 cap bar, but it might work to play 1,000 200 cap bars at once.

Pay-per-view indeed, with life size performers and incredible sound, all for the same median price as arena show tickets with few problems about accessibility, parking, or crowds.  Bar owners would pay for the infrastructure and have a pretty good assurance of decent ROI.  And they might even have to fulfill a tech rider to get the 'show'.

Personally I would rather see the live locals, but I am often out of step with the rest of the world.

[Cailen Waddell]

I'll bite

I spend a lot of time doing the theatrical systems project management for capital projects in our municipality, so I'm pretty current on trends, but I'm not an expert. 

As Ivan said, adjustable acoustics - for me an essential.

Energy efficient - LEDs, and perhaps something equivalent in the audio domain (we are looking 20 years into the future).

Data connectivity - fiber and copper. Everywhere and in multiples. And I mean everywhere, grid, mid rails, floor pockets, everywhere that gets power should also get data connectivity.  It should all be dry lines to patch bays.  And then a strong network backbone. APs with multiple ssids and Vlans so you can blanket a facility in one network with different ssids for different networks.

Piggybacking on that, extra conduit. 2 or 3 extra ronevery

Safety, rigging should be motorized, load sensitive, and programmable for both movement and non movement but still allow appear tours an analog feel if needed for visiting productions.

Monitoring the space should be easy for staff, cameras security etc. So should communication and intercom.

Doug's comments on space design in the audio domain.

Power - some people are looking at bus duct type products - basically a raceway of buss bars, and disconnects can be added anywhere along the bar at points where needed.   You need a 30a 3 phase no problem, need a couple 120v nema 5-15r? No problem. 

The entire house- above any acoustic panels or whatnot, should be tension grid, easily accessible to crews for both maintenance but also easy access for non conventional uses of the space.

Speaking of non traditional spaces, when I was on tour, I played a number of houses in Germany (and the paramount in Seattle) where the house could be leveled and seats removed, allowing banquets serous and such.

Any facility in the future will need maximum flexibility to stay busy, and staying busy will be essential to turning a profit or breaking even or whatever the expectation is.

I read somewhere that some airlines are adding in seat thermostats, I would love to see this extended to theater seats...  There is just no way I am going to want to have the same temp as the   90 year old grandma next to me.

Sustainable labor practices.  Staff the venue appropriately and professionally.  This goes back to safety's and efficiency.  I'm sure other ideas will come....

[Mike Caldwell]

PLENTY of work / task lighting!!!

I can't think of any new or somewhat new theater or auditorium I have been in that had enough work lighting. All of them have to fire up the main stage lighting just to see to work.
Architects seem to think that a couple of 100 watt wall light cans in the stage wings that point straight up into the black oblivion along with a couple of florescent lights 80 feet above the stage deck (not to mention everything between the lights and the deck) is enough light to work by.

[Mark McFarlane]

...
Data connectivity - fiber and copper. Everywhere and in multiples. And I mean everywhere, grid, mid rails, floor pockets, everywhere that gets power should also get data connectivity.  It should all be dry lines to patch bays.  And then a strong network backbone. APs with multiple ssids and Vlans so you can blanket a facility in one network with different ssids for different networks. ...

20 years ago we measured wired connectivity in Kbits and Mbits, today we have wireless approaching Gbit (I think bonded 802.11ac can break a gbit.  Perhaps 20 years in the future we won't need wires for audio, video, or control data.  Or perhaps the FCC will take away all our spectrum.

[Cailen Waddell]

20 years ago we measured wired connectivity in Kbits and Mbits, today we have wireless approaching Gbit (I think bonded 802.11ac can break a gbit.  Perhaps 20 years in the future we won't need wires for audio, video, or control data.  Or perhaps the FCC will take away all our spectrum.

Both possibilities....  I've always been a big proponent of get the conduit in the wall, we can add wire later, but we can't blow out the wall and add conduit nearly as easy.

[ProSoundWeb Community]