Left, Simon Edwinsson. Right, Prof. Bill Brunson.
The latest section meeting was held at the Royal Music High School in Stockholm (KMH).
Professor Bill Brunson gave a thorough presentation of the history of the school from 1972 to the present. He also described the process of how the current building came about. Before the new building came to fruition the school was distributed across several buildings in the local area. The new building serves to accommodate both the musician's needs for performance and rehearsal spaces as well the needs of the studio program.
Bill teaches the studio program in the philosophy and practical implementation of spatial audio in all its forms. The section was treated to a demonstration of the spatial audio system installed in the 'lilla salen' (small room). It comprises 29 loudspeakers (Genelec 8040) in 3 rings which form a hemisphere suspended from trussing which is motorised. These speakers can be complemented with 16 speakers on the ground to augment the hemisphere further and provide additional vertical cues. 4 subs are also available should the program material require it.
Simon Edwinsson of LN Akustik then talked about the building process and the incorporation of substantial acoustic features.
One of the most dramatic aspects of the building is that all the rooms can now be used simultaneously due to the excellent isolation. Previously, the school was limited in which rooms were available depending on the program of concerts and rehearsals. The larger performance spaces are now individual rooms within the building and are completely isolated from the adjacent spaces. The concrete foundations are cut to avoid transfer of vibration and the walls are well separated.
The construction phase was an ongoing series of regular inspections to catch any building errors before they became to problematic to fix. The surprising thing was that the builders enjoyed learning about sound and how it can be controlled. They became very astute at checking each other's work, ensuring a high-quality build. Of course, there were some issues along the way but now there are a number of construction workers in the Swedish market who are well versed in acoustic construction!
The evening closed with a tour of the studio facilities and a networking mingle at the school's bar café.
