Of Vineyards and Shoeboxes - In Search of Perfect Concert Hall Acoustics

On the occasion of the opening of the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie its acoustics were found to be as spectacular as its architecture – and acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota became one of the feuilletons’ darlings. Suddenly wider audiences became aware of the question: how to create a concert hall that sounds perfectly delightful to the audience as well as to the musicians? Günter Atteln shows some of the great “sound magicians” at work on famous concert halls – and also illustrates how sound design is omnipresent in our everyday lives, from the “fat” sound of a closing car door to the right “crunch” of cornflakes.