Abstract

Like many multipurpose auditoriums, the Louis Armstrong Theatre (LAT) at Grand Valley State University has been reported by a considerable number of students and faculty to have unsatisfactory acoustics for music performance. This study focused on physical measurements and simulated changes to LAT. Reverberation time (RT) was measured by filling LAT with sound and measuring the decay for select frequencies as per ASTM E2235 protocol, and the initial time delay gap (ITDG) was determined using slapsticks as an impulsive sound source. A model of LAT was also constructed from blueprints and physical measurements; simulations using this model were conducted using Odeon. Data from the physical measurements as well as the simulation confirmed that the RTs over a wide range of frequencies were smaller than desired for music, whereas ITDG measurements showed prevalent spurious reflections. Modifications to the model were made to increase reverberation time and reduce undesirable reflections in order to improve LAT for musical performance without compromising its functionality for speech.