Harald Jers. The Impact of Location On The Singing Voice.

The Impact of Location on the Singing Voice
Oxford Handbooks Online

Harald Jers
The Oxford Handbook of Singing
Edited by Graham F. Welch, David M. Howard, and John Nix
Subject: Music, Applied Music Online Publication Date: Jul 2014

DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199660773.013.008
Abstract and Keywords
Every solo or choral singer has experienced differences between various performance
venues that strongly depend on the acoustics of the spaces themselves. This has a direct
influence both on the musical performance on stage and its perception by the audience.
Singers often report that the interactions between performing musicians and their ability
to hear each other change when they move from the rehearsal room to the concert venue.
The acoustic influence of the room might provide inspiration for changing details of the
music interpretation; but it might also damage the communication between musicians
during the performance. This chapter focuses on the acoustic impact of being in a room
on the singing voice during a rehearsal or concert.
Keywords: performance venues, acoustics, perception, singing voice
Introduction
In concerts or rehearsal situations solo singers or choirs are surrounded by a room,
which greatly influences the perception of sound by the audience. Due to the geometry
and acoustic properties of a stage with walls, ceiling, and floor, as well as bigger
obstacles, each room has its own special character as an acoustic system. Hence every
position of a singer in the room in relation to positions of listeners in the audience has an
important effect on the performing singers and the perceived sound.
A solo singer or a choir concert in a room can be analyzed as a sound source in an

acoustic system with the audience as the receiver. Frequency-dependent reflection,
absorption, diffraction, or refraction influence the energy distribution and timbre in the
room. The sound in a performance space can be distinguished between a near field very
close to the singer and a far field. The distance at which the far field can be assumed is
strongly dependent on the acoustics of the room. Especially for singers singing with
instruments or within a choir, the differentiation between those sound fields is important
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for hearing oneself and the other players or singers. Furthermore the seating position of
the listener in the audience will have an influence on listener perception.
In this acoustic system another important influence is the sound sources themselves. The
sound of a singer, which mainly comes from the singer’s mouth, is directional. In
summary, the sound is omnidirectional for lower frequencies but is more focused into a
narrow stream projecting to different directions around the singer for higher frequencies.
Thus the position of the singer is of major interest, because the emitted sound spectrum
in the room varies with the location. For a choir with several singers, the arrangement of
the voice sections and the influence of the acoustic diffraction and reflection of adjacent
singers affect the way of singing within the choir. This also leads to different impressions
in the audience.
Using this knowledge, intuitive behavior and performance practice can be explained and
new adaptations can be suggested for solo singers and choirs. These concern singing
technique, choir formation and spacing, sound propagation and likewise the
interpretation of the music reaching the audience.
Theoretical Framework and Principles

Sound Propagation
Each singer generates sound with her/his voice, and from an acoustic point of view it can
be thought of as a sound source producing a variation of acoustic pressure in the air. This
acoustic energy is radiated in the form of pressure waves in all directions; its energy is
reduced by the square of the distance from the source (e.g. Howard and Angus 2009).
The sound propagation is modified by walls, ceiling, floor, and furnishings. To understand
the distribution of the sound field in a room and how it is influenced by the properties of
the room, the sound propagation can be described by a physical model relating to sound
radiation. A change in the direction of a sound wavefront is called reflection when the
wave returns, in the same way that light is reflected: the angle at which the wave is
incident on the surface equals the angle at which it is reflected. Furthermore sound
waves are reduced in energy after contact with objects in the room or its bounding walls,
ceiling, and floor; this is called absorption. When absorbed, the acoustic energy changes
into another form of energy. Porous materials such as carpets or curtains are very
effective sound absorbers compared with stone walls. The absorptivity of a given material
is frequency dependent; for example, porous absorbers are most effective at high
frequencies; this is stark in contrast to resonant panels called Helmholtz resonators
which absorb mainly the low frequencies of a sound (see Table 1 for a list of common
materials in performance spaces).
Page 2 of 16

Table 1 Sound absorption coefficients of different material typical for concert halls,
average of octave-frequency-bands. (From the material database of the Physikalisch-
Technischen Bundesanstalt, Braunschweig, Germany)
Descript Frequency (Hz)

ion
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000
Coarse 0.02 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.05

stone
floor,
sandston
e
Carpet 0.02 0.04 0.08 0.20 0.35 0.40

thin,
cemente
d to
concrete
Glass 0.35 0.25 0.18 0.12 0.07 0.04

window
Walls 0.14 0.12 0.10 0.09 0.08 0.07

(average
total
residual
absorpti
on of 15
halls,
without
seating/
audience
)
Audience 0.54 0.62 0.68 0.70 0.68 0.66

s, seats
fully
occupied
, medium
upholste
red
Page 3 of 16

Another wave phenomenon of sound propagation is called diffraction, which describes the
change in direction of waves as they pass around a barrier in their path or through an
opening. This means that sound has the ability to travel around corners or obstacles. The
amount of diffraction increases with increasing wavelength and decreases with
decreasing wavelength. When the wavelength of the wave is smaller than the obstacle, no
noticeable diffraction occurs and the sound is effectively shadowed by the obstacle.
Diffraction is commonly observed as we notice that we can hear sounds from around a
corner or through door openings, such as when we hear others singing in adjacent rooms.
Basics of Room Acoustics
In a room, or in particular
in a performance space,
there are many
possibilities for reflection,
absorption, and diffraction.
For a certain spatial
Figure 1 . Mirror reflecting sound rays as model of
sound distribution in rooms (left image). The disposition of a singer on
resulting reflectogram gives the temporal sequence stage in a concert hall, the
and energy of sound waves arriving at the listener
(right image).
sound perceived by
accompanying musicians,
other singers, the
conductor, or members of the audience has three components. The sound that comes
along the shortest path toward the listener is called the direct sound, and it travels from
the source in a straight line to the receiver. A short time later the listener will receive
sounds that have been reflected one or more times from nearby surfaces such as the
walls, floor and ceiling, or other objects within the space. These are called early
reflections and they typically have a delay compared with the direct sound that is less
than 50 ms. Early reflections are clearly separated both in time and direction, and these
will vary if the singer moves on the stage. Early reflections provide information to the
listener about the size of the performing space and the position of the singer within the
space. Following the early reflections, once the number of reflections has increased,
sound is arriving at the listener’s ears from all directions; this is the reverberant sound,
which results from the diffuse field of all the later reflections. These later reflections die
down rapidly and the time taken for them to reduce in energy by 60 dB is called the
reverberation time. The reverberation time depends on the volume of the space and the
area and effectiveness of the absorbing materials in the room. A large space with very
good reflecting surfaces, such as a church, tends to have a longer reverberation time,
while well-furnished smaller spaces tend to have shorter reverberation times (See Figure
1 for a diagram of possible reflections and a graph of the intensity of the three
components of a perceived sound over time).
The intensity of the direct sound decreases only with distance, and this is independent of
the properties of the room. The first and early reflections are important for the
perception of liveliness and can be helpful for good intelligibility of the text in singing.
Page 4 of 16

The intensity of the diffuse field in the reverberation tail is usually much the same
throughout the room. The many reflections merge into a practically uniform sound field
which has no direction of its own, giving no information about the location of the singers.
The distance from the sound source at which the intensities of the diffuse field and the
direct sound are equal is called the reverberation radius or the critical distance of the
room, and it will affect how each singer hears other singers in a choir or how
instrumentalists hear each other on stage. If the musician-to-musician spacing is smaller
than the critical distance of the room, the sound of the neighboring musician will tend to
dominate the overall sound of the whole group. Outside the critical distance, each
musician will generally receive the entire sound of the group rather than sounds of single
players or singers. This situation is similar to that of a listener in the audience, who will
mainly perceive the group as a whole and not the individual players or singers because
the listener is a considerable distance away from the performers compared with the
critical distance. For an acoustically ‘dry’ concert hall with modest reverberation, one
might recommend a spacing between musicians of a meter or more, while for a more
reverberant church a distance of rather less than a meter would be appropriate.
Sound Propagation of Singers
Every sound source has its own characteristic projected sound radiation as a function of
frequency. This can be perceived in everyday situations by the different sound timbres of
speakers or singers depending on the direction from which one is listening to them. When
the person turns around, this change of timbre is readily noticeable. This so-called
directivity has different characteristics depending on frequency, and it is solely
dependent on the geometry and acoustic properties of the human body. The influence of
diffraction and reflection on the human body differ for each frequency due to dimensional
differences. For example, low-frequency components (longer wavelengths) will be mainly
influenced by the upper torso, whilst the nose, mouth, and ears affect mainly affect
middle and high frequencies. The sound of the singing voice comprises both low
frequencies around the fundamental tone and lower overtones as well as high frequencies
for high overtones and consonants or noises, which leads overall to a very complex
directivity pattern. Hence every frequency of a tone or noise produced by the voice has
its own specific directivity characteristics in three dimensions. The sum of all natural
tones of the singing voice in combination with its respective directivity implies a complex
total propagation behavior, which is different for each vowel or consonant.
Perception Effects
It is not only sound production and sound propagation that are important for the
perception of singing; the ear itself as a complex system with numerous functions has an
important influence on the perception of the sound. To start with the outer ear, the
external pinna more effectively collects high-frequency sounds above 4500 Hz from in
front rather than from behind because of its position and shape. This helps us to locate
sound sources and to have orientation on stage of where the accompanying musicians
are. The auditory canal acts as an acoustic resonator whose resonant characteristic is
Page 5 of 16

most sensitive to sound in the 2500–4000 Hz range, which is the frequency domain of
higher partials of singing and instruments and is of primary importance for the
perception of timbre in music.
At the boundary of the outer and middle ear, the tympanic membrane is responsible for
the conversion of acoustic pressure variations to mechanical variations, which are
transmitted via the auditory ossicles to the oval window. The ossicles also act as a
protective device against loud sounds, which is necessary for preserving the sensitive
hearing system. Within the inner ear, the basilar membrane in the cochlea executes an
analysis of the distinct frequencies of incoming sounds. Thus the human peripheral
system is usually quoted as having a frequency range of 20 Hz to 20 kHz, subject to
individual differences and the tendency that the upper cut-off reduces with age. The
system is also frequency dependent with respect to sound pressure, with the greatest
sensitivity found in the 3–5 kHz range. Lower and higher frequencies have to be at
greater sound pressure levels to be heard.
A very significant feature of the peripheral hearing system is the masking effect, where
individual frequency components of a complex sound can mask other components in the
sound. The masking effect is greater when the sound pressure level of the component
which causes the masking is higher than the masked tone, and vice versa when the
frequency of the masked tone is above rather than below the masking tone. This could be
important in the perception of a singer, for example when components fall in the spectral
dips of formant peaks (see Story, this volume). In this case these components will not
contribute to the perceptual process, regardless of whether the masked components
come from the singer’s own voice or from another sound.
Apart from the basics of perception, many systematic investigations have been carried
out concerning the effect of the acoustic environment of a room on the perception of a
musical performance. In one experiment, recordings of the same music samples in
different concert halls with dummy heads were judged by different test subjects. Sound
fields were synthesized and varied under special circumstances, and visitors to different
concert halls were asked for their views after the performances. By this procedure, the
perceptual dimensions of space effects were determined, generating metrics that
correlate well with these perceptual qualities and enable predictions of the subjective
sound impression. Four aspects have proved to be decisive:
1. First, there is the power and intensity of the sound experience, and associated
with this a feeling of intimacy and closeness to the source of the sound. A good
predictor of this is the so-called strength, G. It gives a ratio of the sound intensity
measured from a source in the room in question to the intensity that the same sound
source would produce in a reverberation-free environment at a distance of 10 m. The
strength is an indication of how many decibels a sound source will be amplified by
the sum of all reflections at the listener’s seat.
2. A second aspect is the reverberation of the room, i.e. the time after which sound
events fade away. The reverberation can be predicted very well using the
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reverberation time T, which is defined as the time for a sound to decrease by 60 dB

in intensity. Closely linked to the reverberation time are ‘clarity’ and ‘distinctness’
which allow us to distinguish between two successive sound events.
3. A third aspect is the overall timbre of the room. This is usually the ratio of the
reverberation times at low frequencies (octave bands at 125 and 250 Hz) to the
reverberation time at medium frequencies (octave bands at 500 and 1000 Hz) and is
determined as the bass ratio (BR).
4. A fourth aspect is spatial impression. This refers to the fact that musical
instruments on stage are perceived to be of a certain size and do not appear as
intermittent sound sources (apparent source width). For the prediction of this sound
source-related impression of sound quality, the proportion of lateral sound reflections
in the total sound energy within the first 80 ms after the arrival of direct sound is
used (the early lateral energy fraction, LF). However, spatial impression also
describes the feeling of the listener of being surrounded by the sound field (listener
envelopment), which is covered by a number of metrics. But the relationship of these
to the perceptual effect—compared with the parameters for strength, reverberation,
and timbre—is statistically only moderately well described. Some more research in
this field of room acoustics is needed.
Major Research Areas

The Singer and The Room
From the above-mentioned basics of acoustics and sound propagation, one can already
see interesting consequences emerging for the location of the singer on stage and for the
listener in the audience. The further away the singer is from the audience the weaker the
perceived sound, but the reverberant sound remains unaffected. Thus the relation of the
intensity of direct and reverberant sound changes at different positions in the audience
without changing any aspects of the sound source on stage. But the balance of direct and
reverberant sound is important for a pleasant acoustic environment. Additional acoustic
energy, which means raising the overall amplitude and singing more loudly, only
enhances the perceived loudness not the intelligibility. Due to the fact that early
reflections support the direct sound, both components are important for clarity of speech
and intelligibility. They should not be too weak in comparison with the reverberant part,
which could blur the consonants of the text and rapid formant transitions of the vowels. It
should be noted, however, that strong discrete early reflections could confuse the listener
with relation to the direction of the sound. To avoid the resultant further difficulties of
understanding the lyrics the early reflections should be diffuse. Furthermore it should be
kept in mind that reverberation is a function of frequency. Thus modification of the
reverberation time by changing reflection and absorption behavior always refers to
different frequencies. The reverberation time at high frequencies can be reduced with the
Page 7 of 16

addition of porous materials such as carpets, curtains, or soft furnishings. For low
frequencies, the addition of wood paneling will increase the absorption.
In addition, concert halls can exhibit acoustic problems due to the large size of the space.
If two walls in a big hall are precisely parallel with smooth surfaces flutter echoes very
often occur; this term describes sound bouncing to and from the walls. This can be very
disturbing for the performers and the audience and can easily be detected by handclaps
in the hall. Another problem within a big hall can occur when two spaces are acoustically
open to each other. This is often the case in churches with a transept and a nave or when
the space under the balcony in a concert hall connects with the main hall. The sound
energy will decay at different rates in each of the spaces and the resulting reverberant
sound has one or more breaks. A similar unnatural reverberation condition is caused
when most of the absorption takes place on two surfaces facing each other, for example
acoustic tiles on the ceiling and absorbing carpets on the floor. The sound decay between
those absorbing surfaces would be quick, but slow for the remaining walls.
Stage Acoustics for Singers
To determine the best position on stage and preferred listener conditions in concert halls,
several authors have investigated the subjective acoustic needs of performers of classical
music and the objective properties of the sound field in laboratory experiments or in situ.
The musicians in these experiments played in orchestras, ensembles, or performed as
soloists. All those involved seemed to have an agreement on one main musical issue:
getting the right balance between hearing oneself (feedback) and hearing others
(reference). Briefly, the results show that small reverberant rooms will lead to difficulty
hearing oneself, while larger rooms with few reflections will lead to difficulty hearing
others. A lack of feedback often leads to intonation difficulties, while difficulty hearing
others leads to problems with timing and synchronization within the ensemble or
between soloist and accompaniment. Lindqvist-Gauffin and Sundberg (1974) investigated
‘self-hearing’ in terms of its role in monitoring the singing voice, and concluded that
singers rely more upon bone-conducted than air-conducted aspects of the feedback
system. They point out that the air-conducted signal would tend to be less reliable, since
it can be altered by room acoustics and masked by background noise. In addition, they
suggested that the bone-conducted signal would not only seem to have greater reliability
but would be further enhanced by the accompanying vibratory sensation in the skull.
Marshall et al. (1978), Gade (1989), Marshall (1993), Naylor and Craik (1988), and Noson
et al. (2000) all investigated the acoustical conditions preferred for ensembles. The
findings of these works seem to agree that: the level of supportive feedback is controlled
by the stage volume; reflectors behind a choir improve the balance with an orchestra; a
delay within the ensemble should not exceed 20 ms, especially for fast tempo singing; and
whereas the frequency components of 500–2000 Hz are most important, below 500 Hz
they may be detrimental for ensemble performance. Early reflections arriving 10–40 ms
after the direct sound improve the acoustic conditions and reverberation seems not to be
important for an ensemble, but is preferable for soloists. Ueno and Tachibana (2003) used
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a digital sound field simulation technique to investigate preferable conditions for

ensembles, and found relationships between physical characteristics and psychological
judgments by musicians. Early reflections increase the ease of hearing the sound of other
players but can cause excess loudness when the reflections are too strong. In ensemble
performance, musicians are less sensitive to a change of reverberation time but are more
conscious of the magnitude of reverberation for hearing each other. Extensive
investigations by Dammerud (2009) into orchestra stage acoustics show that the direction
and delay of early reflections appear to be highly relevant, which agrees with the other
results.
These results show a conflict between the need for early reflections on stage and in the
audience. A possible compromise could be surfaces behind the performers, in which
reflected sound waves pass the singer on their way back to the audience. Thus the sound
energy can be used for both purposes. But the reflection should not be too late or it can
irritate the singer. To keep within a sufficient maximum delay of 20 ms, the distance can
be calculated using the path of travel to the wall and back again. With an approximate
sound velocity of 340 m s–1 the reflecting surface should be within 3.4 m. Setting up
reflecting screens or positioning the singer near to a room boundary would be a sufficient
solution.
Directivity of a Singer
Not only is the sound production of the singing voice important for a concert
performance, but the propagation of the sound is also critical. The directivity of singers
has been investigated under different measurement conditions by many different
researchers (e.g. Cabrera et al. 2007, Jers 2005, Marshall and Meyer 1989). This
subsection gives a summary of the average results from their investigations. To get an
overview of the propagation of the human voice, some details of the frequency domain
have been summarized in Table 2. For frequencies below 500 Hz propagation is nearly
omnidirectional. The directional behavior increases for frequencies between 800 and
2000 Hz, and propagation is mainly to the front downwards as well as sideways. To the
back the energy decreases, apart from a local maximum in the center to the back because
of constructive interference. For frequencies from 2000–5000 Hz the main propagation is
frontal upwards and sideways, with very little energy to the back. In this frequency
domain in particular we find the singer’s formant, which is of special importance for the
position of the singer in a concert situation. Frequencies above 5000 Hz are attenuated
and less notable, but possess strong directionality to the front.
Table 2 Directivity of sound propagation from singers according to frequency
Frequency Main propagation properties

range (Hz)
80–500 Nearly omnidirectional
Page 9 of 16

500–2000 Mainly front down, more and more sound to the top front and
right and left, reduced propagation to the back but local
maximum at the exact back due to constructive interference
2000–5000 Apart from propagation to the front top a lot of propagation to

the right and left, rapidly decreased propagation to the rear
Directivity of the Singing Voice
Most of the investigations

discussed only found small
differences between
different vowels, and these
were mainly at higher
frequencies. This can be
explained by the slight
differences in the mouth
Figure 2 . Principal radiation regions of the singing shape used to produce
voice (in octave bands). different vowels. To
understand the meaning of
directivity for a performance situation it should be borne in mind that each frequency of
the spectrum of a singer at any moment has its own propagation pattern. Thus, as can be
seen in Figure 2, all partials of a sound of a singer at one moment are propagated
differently according to their directivity properties and build up a complex sound
distribution around the singer. In this context, it can be concluded that there is a different
sound field around the singer for varied vowels and sounds because the partials of sounds
may differ considerably in their spectral constitution, causing dissimilar excitation of
frequencies with uneven directivity patterns.
For solo singers, directivity will have important consequences for their position on stage
or in a concert hall. Situations where there is distance of 5–10 m between a singer and
reflecting surfaces like walls, ceiling, and floor will avoid too strong a reduction of sound
energy towards listeners in the audience. Similar absorbing material in the indicated
directions would cause a distinct decay of energy, which would give the impression in the
audience of a weak and poor sound.
For choral singing the directivity results justify the use of risers. As the main propagation
is in a frontal-downwards direction the risers should exhibit a step height of about 30–40
cm to facilitate sufficient propagation over the heads of the audience in the first rows.
It is important for the intonation accuracy of a choir and solo singers that the acoustic
feedback is good enough to enable singers to hear themselves sufficiently. The results of
directivity measurements of singers can give some information about this. The feedback
can be divided into three components: (1) direct airborne sound, (2) reflected airborne
Page 10 of 16

sound, and (3) bone-conducted sound. The directivity is directly related to the first two
components. The direct airborne sound (1) from the mouth to the ears experiences
diffraction around the head. Thus high frequencies diffract less than do low ones, which
leads to a low-frequency bias of this component. The reflected airborne sound (2) returns
to the singer after convolution with the impulse response of the room. The combination of
directivity and the singer’s distance and direction in relation to reflecting surfaces
influences this impulse response and may provide important feedback. The bone-
conducted sound (3) is particularly rich in low frequencies (Howell 1985). This may
provide the singer with a cue to separating their voice from that of other singers, because
bass sounds are more likely to be from their own voice rather than that of their
neighbors.
Adjacent Singers
Jers (2007) published the results of an experiment on how the directivity of a singer
changes in the presence of adjacent singers, in the context of a choir singing with row
and block formations. For this investigation, a human-like wooden torso of a singer with
an internal loudspeaker was built to serve as a sound source with human directivity
properties. This had already been used for room acoustic measurements. To serve as the
adjacent singers, dummy human torsos were used and placed at several positions around
the ‘artificial singer’. The influence of lateral singers seemed to be of less importance, but
frontally placed singers influenced the directivity, especially for higher frequencies. Due
to a shadowing effect to the front the reduction of the sound pressure level stretched to
20–25 dB, while due to reflections it increased to the back by up to 10 dB. This further
emphasizes the importance of risers for choirs in concert situations.
Choir Formation and Spacing
In a choir or ensemble with many singers, hearing oneself is an important issue if choral
singing is to have accurate intonation and precise timing, among other necessary
attributes. For this purpose Ternström (1995) developed and analyzed the self-to-other
ratio (SOR), which is an abstract measurement of sound pressure level (SPL) and
describes the ability to hearing oneself in comparison to the rest of the choir. This ratio
was obtained by factoring in the absorption and reverberation of the room determined in
a laboratory measurement setup via binaural microphones calibrated for SPL and worn in
the outer ears during live choral singing; more recently a synthesized choir has been as
the reference. Ternström (1994) found that averaged SORs can vary over 6 dB and that
the SOR increases (1) when room absorption increases, (2) when spacing increases, and
(3) when the number of singers decreases. Sopranos tend to have higher SOR, i.e.
sopranos sing more loudly than other voices, since vocal power increases with phonation
frequency, and basses tend to have a lower SOR. The masking effect of one’s own voice is
greatest at low frequencies. For choirs with two or more rows, lower SOR values were
obtained in the center of the choir and a higher SOR was obtained at the sides.
Page 11 of 16

Related to this, some empirical research has been conducted concerning the formation of
a choir. But here some musical performance terms which are sometimes used differently
and their associated meanings have to be distinguished. Choir formation concerns the
physical positioning of sections in a choir, in other words which voice part is positioned
where within the choir (see Table 3). The term spacing denotes the distance between
adjacent choristers in an ensemble, regardless of the formation employed. Placement is a
description of the dispersal and order of choral singers within their voice section, i.e. who
stands next to whom within the section.
In a choir, a group of many singing sound sources, the acoustic relation between direct
sound and the diffuse field is enormously important. The distances between the sound
sources will affect how the singers hear the rest of the choir. If the singer-to-singer
spacing in the choir is smaller than the reverberation radius of the room, the sound of the
neighboring singers will tend to dominate over the sound of the whole choir. Outside the
reverberation radius, each singer will generally receive the entire sound of the choir
rather than the sounds of single singers. This situation is similar to a listener in the
audience, who will mainly perceive the choir as a whole and not the individual singers.
For a ‘dry’ concert hall with modest reverberation, one might recommend a spacing
between singers of a meter or more. The distance can be adjusted by increasing the
spacing between the singers, depending on the amount of reverberation. Inside the choir,
this would reduce the dominance of the nearby singers and lead to a better balance in the
sound of the choir as a whole. However, for a church with typical values of less than 1–2
m for the reverberation radius, a distance of rather less than a meter would be
appropriate, because it matters little where in the choir the singers are placed in terms of
hearing the neighboring singers. In most positions singers will generally perceive the
sound of the whole choir. In very large cathedrals with long reverberation the diffuse field
can be weaker still and poor in early reflections. Here it can be helpful to provide
reflectors around the choir so that the singers can hear the sound of the whole choir and
not just their immediate neighbors.
Daugherty (1999), Lambson (1961), and Tocheff (1990) researched the preferences within
choirs and in the audience with respect to choir formation and spacing. Choral singers
often preferred spread spacing and reported less vocal tension, better vocal production,
and being able to hear themselves better. For this reason they also preferred a mixed
formation rather than sectional formation. Audiences likewise preferred spread spacing,
but in certain circumstances they preferred sectional formation. It seems that spacing
makes the greatest contribution to a preferred choral sound for choristers and audiences,
and not the formation as one might expect. The preferences are related to the spacing
dimensions. All the research shows the same tendencies: that weaker singers prefer a
sectional formation; that males especially prefer the middle section; and that stronger
females like the mixed formation, especially along the outer edges (see Table 3 for the
pros and cons of various common choral formations).
Table 3 Advantages and disadvantages of commonly used choral formations
Page 12 of 16

Formation Pros Cons Schematic of

formation
Block Sound is often Singers at the SSSAAATTTBBB

sectional louder than in edges of a voice SSSAAATTTBBB
column sectional section may have SSSAAATTTBBB
formation difficulties hearing SSSAAATTTBBB
Suitable for other singers in
homophonic their group
pieces Singers in the
middle of a section
may have
difficulties
discerning their
own voice against
their section
colleagues
Column Especially advisable Some voice sections TTTTTTBBBBBB

sectional for polyphonic are separated by a TTTTTTBBBBBB
music to perceive large distance SSSSSSAAAAAA
entrances and good SSSSSSAAAAAA
balance of voice
sections
Mixed Promotes self Needs prior SATBSATBSATB

SATB confidence training BTASBTASBTAS
quartets Voices mix more Singers should be SATBSATBSATB
at audience level experienced BTASBTASBTAS
and the sound Singers may ‘feel
often louder alone’
Singers can Difficult for the
easily hear other conductor to
voice sections; address voice
often improves sections
intonation
SATB, soprano, alto, tenor, bass.
Page 13 of 16

Conclusions
We can summarize the discussion of this chapter by the following points:
1. The sound of singers and choirs is influenced by many room-related acoustic

factors having to do with sound propagation and auditory perception. Some of these
factors are of minor importance, but some can influence the musical result very
strongly.
2. The position of solo singers on stage may influence the musical result significantly.
A position which takes into account the reflection of walls may lead to the impression
in the audience of a louder voice, and hence to a more relaxed voice usage for the
singer(s).
3. Voice training in general and an increased singer’s formant in particular will
improve the audibility of the voice, both because of higher sound pressure level and
because of a more directed sound propagation of the corresponding frequencies.
4. Choirs should use risers to lift up the rear rows by an angle of at least 30° so that
the sound of the back rows will not be reduced too much.
5. The formation of choirs on stage influences how the individual members hear each
other: in reverberant rooms the position of the singer is not so important, but in less-
reverberant rooms a greater distance between singers enables them to control their
own voices better and also influences the perception in the audience.
6. The position of choirs in relation to the surrounding reflecting walls should be
taken into account. On the one hand it will help the singers to hear each other better,
on the other hand there will be much more sound energy directed to the audience.
Other Resources
Daugherty, J.F. (2002). Choir spacing and formation: choral sound preferences in random,
synergistic, and gender specific placements. International Journal of Research in Choral
Singing, 1(1), 48–59.
Howard, D. (2001). Room acoustics: how they affect vocal production and perception. In:
P. Dejonckere (ed.) Occupational voice: Care and Cure (pp. 29–46). The Hague,
Netherlands: Kugler.
References
Cabrera, D., Davis, P.J., and Connolly, A. (2007). Vocal directivity of eight opera singers in
terms of spectro-spatial parameters. 19th International Congress on Acoustics, Madrid,
2–7 September 2007. Available at: <http://www.sea-acustica.es/WEB_ICA_07/fchrs/
papers/mus-06-005.pdf> (accessed 5 February 2014).
Dammerud, J.J. (2009). Stage acoustics for symphony orchestras in concert halls. PhD
dissertation, University of Bath, Bath, UK.
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Daugherty, J.F. (1996). Spacing, formation, and choral sound: Preferences and
perceptions of auditors and choristers. PhD dissertation, Florida State University,
Tallahassee, FL, USA.
Daugherty, J.F. (1999). Spacing, formation, and choral sound: preferences and perceptions
of auditors and choristers. Journal of Research in Music Education, 47(3), 224–238.
Gade, A.C (1989). Investigations of musician’s room acoustic conditions in concert halls.
II: Field experiments and synthesis of results. Acustica, 69, 249–262.
Howard, D.M. and Angus, J.A.S. (2009). Acoustics and psychoacoustics, 4th edn. Oxford:
Focal Press.
Howell, P. (1985). Auditory feedback of the voice in singing. In: P. Howell, I. Cross, and R.
West (eds) Musical Structure and Cognition (pp. 259–286). London: Academic Press.
Jers, H. (2005). Directivity of singers. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 118,
2008.
Jers, H. (2007). Directivity measurements of adjacent singers in a choir. 19th

International Congress on Acoustics, Madrid, 2–7 September 2007. Available at: <http://
www.sea-acustica.es/WEB_ICA_07/fchrs/papers/mus-03-003.pdf> (accessed 5
February 2014).
Lambson, A.R. (1961). An evaluation of various seating plans used in choral singing.
Journal of Research in Music Education, 9(1), 47–54.
Lindqvist-Gauffin, J. and Sundberg, J. (1974). Masking effects of one’s own voice.

Quarterly Progress and Status Report, Speech Transmission Laboratory, Royal Institute of
Technology, Stockholm, Sweden, 15(1), 35–41.
Marshall, A.H (1993). An objective measure of balance between choir and orchestra.
Applied Acoustics, 38(1), 51–58.
Marshall, A.H. and Meyer, J. (1989). The directivity and auditory impressions of singers.
Journal of Research in Singing, 8(1), 1–24.
Marshall, A.H, Gottlob, D., and Alrutz, H. (1978). Acoustical conditions preferred for
ensemble. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 64(5), 1437–1442.
Naylor, G.M. and Craik, R.J.M. (1988). The effects of level difference and musical texture
on ease of ensemble. Acustica, 65, 95–100.
Noson, D., Sato, S., Sakai, H., and Ando, Y. (2000). Singer responses to sound fields with a
simulated reflection. Journal of Sound and Vibration, 232(1), 39–51.
Ternström, S. (1994). Hearing myself with others: sound levels in choral performance
measured with separation of one’s own voice from the rest of the choir. Journal of Voice,
8(4), 293–302.
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Ternström, S. (1995). Self-to-other ratios measured in choral performance. In: M.J.

Newman (ed.) Proceedings of the 15th International Congress on Acoustics, Vol. II (pp.
681–684). Oslo: Acoustical Society of Norway.
Tocheff, R.D. (1990). Acoustical placement of voices in choral formations. PhD

dissertation, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
Ueno, K. and Tachibana, H. (2003). Experimental study on the evaluation of stage

acoustics by musicians using a 6-channel sound simulation system. Journal of the
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Harald Jers
Harald Jers received a master of music in choral and orchestra conducting, a master
of music education and solo-singing and a master of science in physics at the
Universities of Aachen, Cologne and Düsseldorf. He is lecturer at the Cologne
University of Music and other music academies, as well as guest lecturer at the Royal
College of Music in Stockholm, at international symposia and conferences and a jury
member at choir competitions. As a freelance conductor and singer he has made
concert tours through Europe, China, and the United States. He teaches choral
conducting and voice training with a special interdisciplinary research interest in
choir and room acoustics. With his chamber choir CONSONO he has attracted
attention with TV and radio broadcasts, CD publications and diverse first prizes at
several respected international choir competitions. He was awarded a first prize by
the Acoustical Society of America in musical acoustics.
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Harald Jers. The Impact of Location On The Singing Voice.

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The Impact of Location on the Singing Voice

Oxford Handbooks Online

Subject: Music, Applied Music Online Publication Date: Jul 2014

Abstract and Keywords

Keywords: performance venues, acoustics, perception, singing voice

A solo singer or a choir concert in a room can be analyzed as a sound source in an

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Theoretical Framework and Principles

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Descript Frequency (Hz)

125 250 500 1000 2000 4000

Coarse 0.02 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.05

Carpet 0.02 0.04 0.08 0.20 0.35 0.40

Glass 0.35 0.25 0.18 0.12 0.07 0.04

Walls 0.14 0.12 0.10 0.09 0.08 0.07

Audience 0.54 0.62 0.68 0.70 0.68 0.66

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Basics of Room Acoustics

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Sound Propagation of Singers

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reverberation time T, which is defined as the time for a sound to decrease by 60 dB

Major Research Areas

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Stage Acoustics for Singers

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a digital sound field simulation technique to investigate preferable conditions for

Table 2 Directivity of sound propagation from singers according to frequency

Frequency Main propagation properties

80–500 Nearly omnidirectional

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2000–5000 Apart from propagation to the front top a lot of propagation to

Directivity of the Singing Voice

Most of the investigations

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Choir Formation and Spacing

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Table 3 Advantages and disadvantages of commonly used choral formations

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Formation Pros Cons Schematic of

Block Sound is often Singers at the SSSAAATTTBBB

Column Especially advisable Some voice sections TTTTTTBBBBBB

Mixed Promotes self Needs prior SATBSATBSATB

SATB, soprano, alto, tenor, bass.

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1. The sound of singers and choirs is influenced by many room-related acoustic

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Jers, H. (2007). Directivity measurements of adjacent singers in a choir. 19th

Lindqvist-Gauffin, J. and Sundberg, J. (1974). Masking effects of one’s own voice.

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Ternström, S. (1995). Self-to-other ratios measured in choral performance. In: M.J.

Tocheff, R.D. (1990). Acoustical placement of voices in choral formations. PhD

Ueno, K. and Tachibana, H. (2003). Experimental study on the evaluation of stage

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Subscriber: Lund University Libraries; date: 25 February 2019

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