Impulse response of the Bayreuth Festspielhaus

Abstract

The Bayreuth Festspielhaus is well known for its architecture because its design is heavily influenced by composer Richard Wagner. Due to the special acoustic design, the reverberation time (i.e., time scale for the sound pressure level to decay $60$~dB) is larger than usual opera houses. Using hand-claps and smart phone recordings, I measured the impulse response of the Bayreuth Festspielhaus in the auditorium, on the stage, as well as in the orchestra pit. The measured reverberation time shows quantitative agreement with the literature values within a certain frequency range, demonstrating the possibility of using this approach to monitor room acoustics.