Acoustical Analysis of Coupled Rooms Applied to the Deutsche Oper Berlin

The aim of the project SIMOPERA is to simulate and optimize the acoustics in large and complex rooms, with special focus on the Deutsche Oper Berlin as an example of application. Firstly, characteristic subspaces of the opera are considered such as the orchestra pit, the stage and the auditorium. Special attention is paid to the orchestra pit, where high sound pressure levels can occur, leading to noise related risks for the musicians. However, lowering the sound pressure level in the orchestra pit should not violate other objectives as the propagation of sound into the auditorium, the balance between the stage performers and the orchestra across the hall, and the mutual audibility between performers and orchestra members. For that reason, a hybrid simulation method consisting of the wave-based Finite Element Method (FEM) and the Boundary Element Method (BEM) for low frequencies and geometrical methods like the mirror source method and ray tracing for higher frequencies is developed in order to determine the relevant room acoustic quantities such as impulse response functions, reverberation time, clarity, center time etc. Measurements in the opera will continuously accompany the numerical calculations. Finally, selected constructive means for reducing the sound level in the orchestra pit will be analyzed.