I had recently doubtful pleasure of attending a concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London. I have been there a few years ago for the first time (Madame Butterfly) and me and my wife promised to ourselves that we will not go there again. Still, we had to go a few days ago again and the result was the same.
So what is my problem with this venue? Well it s actually well known that RAH has very poor acoustics (just google: "Royal Albert Hall acoustics" and "poor" will pop up by itself). I have read somewhere that the problem has been somewhat rectified by suspending UFO saucers from the cupola. I do not know whether that helps or not. I think the real issue is the fact that everything gets amplified. And not in a gentle way. It is too loud and the speakers are obviously stressed. Ghetto blasters is what comes to my mind... But even the softer passages can sound pretty bad. Sibilance is clearly present making strings sound pretty bad. It really beats me. I am not a sound engineer but I would say they concert experience at RAH would gain a lot but much subtler amplification if needed at all. Secondly, I am pretty sure RAH can afford better equipment.
I know there are quite some sound engineers here at this forum. Is it really necessary that orchestra music is amplified? If so I am pretty sure it can be done in a better way!
So what is my problem with this venue? Well it s actually well known that RAH has very poor acoustics (just google: "Royal Albert Hall acoustics" and "poor" will pop up by itself). I have read somewhere that the problem has been somewhat rectified by suspending UFO saucers from the cupola. I do not know whether that helps or not. I think the real issue is the fact that everything gets amplified. And not in a gentle way. It is too loud and the speakers are obviously stressed. Ghetto blasters is what comes to my mind... But even the softer passages can sound pretty bad. Sibilance is clearly present making strings sound pretty bad. It really beats me. I am not a sound engineer but I would say they concert experience at RAH would gain a lot but much subtler amplification if needed at all. Secondly, I am pretty sure RAH can afford better equipment.
I know there are quite some sound engineers here at this forum. Is it really necessary that orchestra music is amplified? If so I am pretty sure it can be done in a better way!