Derek Reaban

Get your tape measures out! I have a project for you!

With this sound experiment that I’ve been working on, it has me thinking about how far away the “back of the hall” really is. For that matter, I wonder how far it is to the edge of the stage?

I play at three different venues throughout the year: The Mesa Arts Center, The Chandler Center for the Arts, and Boyle Auditorium (at McClintock High School). The MAC seats 1600 and has two balconies, the CC for the Arts is probably around 1600 with balconies to the side, and the HS auditorium probably seats 800-900 (pods open) with no balcony. Gammage (3500 seats) is also in my backyard, and I will be attending a concert there in the next month. I will get around to answering each of my questions for these venues as I perform there in the upcoming months.

Question One:
How far is it from your bell to the edge of the stage?

Question Two:
How many rows of seats are there on the main floor?

Question Three:
What is the distance between the seats (back to back)?

Question Four:
How big is the hall (total number of seats)?

Question Five:
Are there balconies? How many?

Question Six:
How many stories is the building (to help quantify the balcony question)?

Question Seven:
What kind of hall is this?
1. High School Auditorium
2. College Concert Hall (not recital halls)
3. Community Arts Center
4. Symphony Hall


I know that the hall in St. Louis is very deep with no balcony (I’ve only been there once, but it was fantastic). They will probably win the contest for the farthest distance to the back of the hall (although Notre Dame Basilica (OSM summer home) will certainly be a close second!). Orchestra Hall (Symphony Center) in Chicago is very tall (8 stories I believe with 3 balconies). While the back of the hall is not as far away on the main floor, the back of the hall in the top balcony is going to be way back there!

If you can answer these questions, I would certainly appreciate it!

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Derek Reaban
Tempe, Arizona

Derek Reaban

Question One:
How far is it from your bell to the edge of the stage?

30 feet

(This is a wind ensemble and the trumpets are towards the back of the stage with the percussion section directly behind us).

Question Two:
How far is it from the edge of the stage to the first row of seats?

13 feet

Question Three:
How many rows of seats are there on the main floor?

21 rows

Question Four:
What is the distance between the seats (back to back)?

3.5 feet

Question Five:
Is there any distance between seats (landings) that needs to be considered?

No

Question Six:
How big is the hall (total number of seats)?

This auditorium is very interesting because there are two "pods" of seats that can rotate into the main hall or into the two smaller theaters in the building. There are probably 250 seats in each of these pods, and the pods were closed for our concert last night. It’s quite a sight to see these things rotate to the open position!

Main Hall - 750 Seats
Pod One - 250 Seats
Pod Two - 250 Seats

Total - 1250 Seats (750 for last nights concert)

Question Seven:
Are there balconies? How many?

No

Question Eight:
How many stories is the building (to help quantify the balcony question)?

Not Applicable

Question Nine:
What kind of hall is this?
1. High School Auditorium

Boyle Auditorium on the McClintock High School Campus


Distance to the Back of the Hall

30 + 13 + (21x3.5) + 0

117 feet

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Derek Reaban
Tempe, Arizona

tpter1

Far enough that I have to squint to see the clock!

Cool study, though Derek. Really brings the importance of good resonant playing to the fore.

Did you see the Yamaha video where (can't remember his name...there goes that grey hair again!) was talking about how every statistic was against opera singers? Yet, they still shine through clear as a bell over a 60+ piece orchestra. To the last seat, last row, highest balcony. And still have vocal cords enough to last an expansive career.

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-Glenn
"Roses have thorns; shining waters mud. Clouds and eclipses stain the moon and the sun; and history reeks of the wrongs we have done. After today, after today, consider me gone."- Sting

Derek Reaban

James Thompson talks about this in his video clip on the Yamaha site. So does David Krauss (and Peter Bond). I decided that it would be interesting to take some simple measurements to see how big the different halls are where we all perform. A resonant sound will fill them all up easily, but it's still interesting to know "how far" is far!

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Derek Reaban
Tempe, Arizona