Audience questionnaire survey of the acoustics of the Royal Festival Hall, London, England

The response of an audience attending a concert at the Royal Festival Hall has been tested using questionnaires. The investigation used an unconventional approach for auditorium acoustics' research as the judgements of the general audience rather than expert listeners were used. Results regarding the homogeneity of the audience sample and the influence of respondent profile, such as musicianship, are presented. Musicians and non-musicians responded differently in many aspects. There is a greater intergroup consistency of judgement for musicians in comparison to non-musicians. Expert listeners may not be a representative sample of the general audience population. Ownership of the pieces being played at the concert, age and gender also had a significant influence on audience responses. The variation in subjective responses around the hall has been investigated and many significant changes found. Comparing these results with measured objective parameters, it was found that from the front to the back of the hall there was a correlation between subjective loudness, liveliness and sound level. The balance between the soloist and the orchestra was correlated to C80 and centre time with areas of higher clarity having the soloist relatively louder.