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Tag Archives: etown
SIA Acoustics Helps Shape the Sound in eTown’s New Performing Arts Facility
FOH Magazine July 2012 Issue
Installations
eTown Hall, Boulder, CO
Written by Sam Berkow
Thursday, 12 July 2012 21:30
The finished stage, as seen during opening sound check.
SIA Acoustics Helps Shape the Sound in eTown’s New Performing Arts Facility
It starts with a phone call… or an email. “I want to build a studio or a sound stage or even a concert hall.” Usually, it’s the owner, just starting out and wondering how to move forward. Sometimes, it’s an architect or even a construction manager, hired on and wondering how to turn a mostly amorphous vision for a facility into drawings and either a new building or a renovation of an existing space. Some discussion of the project’s program, what the facility’s intended to do, and its space requirements, budget and goals — both operational and initial capital needs, as well as potential cash flow — will quickly reveal how realistic (or unrealistic) the concept is. These calls come often. Sometimes there is a second or even third call. Some of these turn into real projects. It’s all part of the life of an acoustical consulting firm.
Almost five years ago, Nick Forster called my company, SIA Acoustics, sharing the vision that he and his wife Helen had to convert a 17,000 square-foot former church in the middle of downtown Boulder, CO into eTown Hall. Housing eTown, the nonprofit organization behind eTown, the public radio program that has aired since 1991, the facility would include a performance space for the show’s live performances, master classes and interviews. It would also provide a community gathering space while housing the eTown offices and a serious recording facility with a suite of post-production rooms. Clearly, this was a vision they had been developing for some time.
eTown, now broadcast on more than 300 (mostly public) radio stations, has always had the mission to use the power of music for positive social change. Along with music, eTown gives artists an opportunity to discuss their ideas regarding community and current social issues. eTown is now also a fixture on the iTunes store podcast download area.
Getting Started
By the time Nick’s call reached our offices, he was attempting to purchase and permit an old church located just off the town’s main pedestrian mall. The challenge was to address the acoustics of the existing spaces and provide acoustic isolation, while making it all fit into the existing building shell. Additionally, there was a strong desire to be “green,” using as many recycled materials as possible and create an energy efficient space. Of course, it all had to be done on a tight budget of a non-profit organization.
“Helen and I want eTown Hall to be both a great place to create music and a real community center,” Nick said. “After all those years of talking about and learning about environmental issues, we had to make it a really green building — but not just a showplace for the latest gadgets. We want eTown Hall to be the greenest performing arts facility in the country”
Luckily, we started on the right foot. By coincidence, I had met Nick years before, when his acclaimed bluegrass band, Hot Rize, had come to NYC to play a show with John Hartford. Also, I’m a fan of many of the bands featured on eTown, such as Los Lobos, Lyle Lovett and Taj Mahal.
During the first few meetings, on larger projects especially, clients and consultants spend considerable time interviewing each other. This is much more of a two-way process than many would guess. Particularly in the early phases when a design is taking shape, clients and designers spend a lot of time working together. Without good chemistry, that time is less fun and the project is often less successful. The hope is that each side will feel some chemistry, mutual trust and a connection that will allow for productive, honest and focused discussions about the project’s issues.
Before Nick called us, eTown had engaged an architectural firm, Wolf-Lyon, to help with the plans and guide the project through the design and permitting process. This is later than we, as the acoustical designer, would like to get involved. Project architect Jim Walker began by studying the existing building and found it wanting in many areas. “The environmental ethos of eTown dictated that we explore every possible angle to reuse and salvage the existing building and materials within,” Walker recalls. “This posed a challenge, given the condition of the existing facility, with both structural and mechanical systems highly compromised. The building also had nine different floor levels, making for difficult accessibility.” Nick, however, knew that the location and overall layout made the project worthwhile, despite the obvious challenges.
The stone construction of the 87-year-old building was extensively reinforced with steel beams, such as these surrounding the proscenium opening.
Problems and Solutions
Three problems were immediately apparent. In order to expand the existing stage opening and still use the original structural stone wall as the proscenium, the facility would need a new internal steel support structure. Further, the main floor of the main sanctuary and the roof of the performance space were structurally compromised, and would not be capable of supporting the loads required. Lastly, eTown had to raise the money to pay for all of this. To address these issues, the project was split into two phases. Phase one would transform the church’s former offices into eTown’s offices, adding 11 offices, three editing rooms, two dressing rooms, a conference room and a “Green Room” for artist hospitality. Phase two would finish the 200-seat performance space, the studio and a community room, which would be named the “Bohemian” room. “The eTown offices are in a space that is filled with natural light and great energy, making it a comfortable and productive place to work,” adds Helen.
Our role as acoustical consultant is to work with the architect and owner to help them understand the challenges that lay ahead. Nick was clear that eTown needed a full recording studio with a sizable control room and large tracking room. The obvious and only viable choice, based on space, was the old gymnasium of the church. However, this space is located directly behind the stage of the performance space, making the upstage wall common to the stage and the studio. This requires a substantial and costly set of acoustical details to achieve sufficient acoustical isolation to allow simultaneous usage of the stage and the studio.
“We knew that eTown needed a performance space and a studio complex that would be able to operate both separately and simultaneously,” Nick explains. “This required several isolation techniques, including double walls, floating ceiling, resiliently mounted walls, isolated floors and resiliently mounted structural steel to decouple the stage and the upstage wall.”
“SIA Acoustics spearheaded the technical details for the acoustically sensitive components of the project,” adds architect Jim Walker. “We worked together to make sure the details met code, were structurally sound, and provided the best use of space possible. One such challenge was that only a hollow 8-inch concrete block wall separated the stage from the recording studio. This presented a problem where sound and vibration isolation were critical. The clever but challenging solution was to both grout-fill the wall and decouple the stage structurally from the surrounding walls. More than 17 different acoustical conditions, each requiring a specific detail, were required to achieve this decoupling.”
View of the seating area from the round window over the entrance.
To complete the isolation between the stage and the studio, the studio itself was built as a completely isolated box-in-a-box with 6-inch stud construction. With a ceiling more than 18 feet high and a pop-up section of ceiling extending upward to almost 22 feet, the 600-square-foot studio tracking room provides a large cubic volume, allowing the sound to bloom in a tonally balanced manner. Of course, the use of 6-inch studs to support free-standing walls impacts the size of the room. To offset this, a compromise was made. The wall between the control room and studio was reduced, to a relatively thin, double-stud wall construction. This eliminated the possibility of using soffit-mounted loudspeakers but returned at least 100 square feet to the studio.
One interesting way in which the eTown green ethos was used in the acoustical design was the use of the wood from the removed floor. This wood was re-purposed to become a facility-wide acoustical diffuser at the upper rear wall of the performance space. Designed by SIA and Jim Walker, this element will be an effective acoustical diffuser. It also is in line with the reused materials approach, and it looks extremely attractive!
The team also agreed upon the need for a substantial amount of connecting infrastructure — i.e., conduit and cable access throughout the facility to allow future changes in technology or equipment to be more easily supported. However, with a building less than four stories tall set on nine separate floor levels (due to the many expansions built on to the structure over more than 90 years of the church’s history), getting conduit, ductwork and power distribution throughout the facility, while maintaining acoustic isolation, proved difficult.
In several cases, the limited amount of space within the existing structure required the team to use additional acoustical treatments, which increased costs but allowed us to fit the full eTown program into the space. One example of this is the HVAC duct work serving the studio. We were able remote most of the HVAC system’s compressors and heat exchangers on the roof. However, several fan units were located in the space above the studio’s control room, which required that a great deal of the ductwork above the studio be wrapped in high transmission loss duct wrap. This wrap is both costly and heavy, which makes it difficult to work with. But without it, our control room would be substantially degraded by excessively high HVAC noise, and alternate locations were either not viable or substantially more costly than wrapping ducts.
The Sound System
As of this writing, the technical systems for the facility were still under design review. However, the main PA has been installed. After reviewing many options, a small-format line array system featuring a high power HF ribbon loudspeaker was selected. Two five-element line arrays using the Alcons LR14/90 unit (which incorporates two 6.5-inch woofers and the RBN401 pro-ribbon HF driver) were selected.
The choice of the Alcons LR14 was the result of critical listening and a deep understanding of the music eTown features. These days, there are a large number of great-sounding loudspeakers to choose from. Nick built his career in acoustic music, and he loved the sound of the Alcons ribbon driver when he heard them demoed in Las Vegas. Given the small size of the performance space, the smooth, low-distortion high frequency response of the Alcons pro-ribbon is a particularly good fit for reproduction of acoustic music.
Traditionally, ribbon loudspeakers have failed when asked to generate large amounts of energy and have been prone to reliability issues. Alcons claims to have solved these issues with its globally patented pro-ribbon technology, which is a hybrid ribbon/planar device utilizing a flat wound voice coil and unique thermal management design as part of the motor structure.
Consoles will be the Avid VENUE Series, with a Profile at FOH and an SC-48 as the monitor desk. Both of these consoles were chosen for ease of use, their ability to provide recall, plug-in capabilities and, of course, sound quality.
eTown Hall is scheduled to open this summer, with a full schedule of shows starting in August 2012.
Author Sam Berkow is the principal consultant at SIA Acoustics and creator of SIA-SMAART audio analysis software. Visit him at siaacoustics.com.
Alcons Audio USA Installation Profile in October Issue of Live Sound Magazine!
SnapShot
Live Sound International October 2012 http://www.ProSoundWeb.com
A recent performance at new eTown Hall.
Nick Forster and David Rahn evaluate one of the venue’s Alcons arrays.
Smooth Performer
Sound for new eTown Hall. by Live Sound Staff
RECOGNIZED NATIONALLY as a premier radio music program and broadcast on over 300 stations in North America, eTown has recently completed the renovation of its own 17,000-square-foot specialty venue called eTown Hall, located in Boulder, Co.
The weekly radio broadcast heard from coast to coast on NPR, public and commercial stations is taped in front of a live audience and features performances and interviews with top musical artists. The format has attracted former presidents and icons including Jane Goodall, Jimmy Carter, Sarah Mclachlan, Bob Weir, Lyle Lovett, JJ Cale, Mavis Staples, Willie Nelson and James Taylor.
Founder and host of eTown Nick Forster has been working to create eTown Hall for many years. “We’ve been dreaming of having our own space, one that could serve as a multi-purpose, media-making performance hall and community center – all powered by the sun – and now we have it. For a non-profit organization, the process of designing and building the space took some time, and we had to assemble an amazing team to get it right,” Forster explains. The result is a space that meets the needs of eTown’s performance and broadcast criteria while paying heed to eco-friendly practices.
The structure that houses eTown Hall was formerly a Church of the Nazarene built in 1922. Transforming the 90-year old building into a state-of-the-art music hall presented multiple challenges. To meet the ambitious design requirements, which include not only the offices of eTown but also a live recording facility, multiple edit suites, a music cafe and the main performance hall, Forster chose Sam Berkow and SIA Acoustics, based in New York City, as acoustical engineers and consultants.
“Nick had a very specific vision for this new facility. The scope of that vision included multiple spaces that required isolation in a number of areas.” Berkow explains. “We started with the structure– down to the new steel beams and all new walls and floors – and then we added treatment. Then, Nick and I listened to a few different speaker boxes. Not only did the live performance room require special acoustical treatment, but we had to choose a sound system that worked well with the size of the space and the more ‘rootsy’ type of music performed.
Left to right, key contributors to the project, including Sam Berkow, David Rahn, Marc Nutter and Preston Smits, also of Sound Sense.
Sam Berkow of SIA doing the nitty-gritty work onsite, ironing acoustical fabric.
“There were also a number of other spaces to consider. In particular, isolating the recording spaces from the live venue proved somewhat challenging, but these are the types of projects where SIA excels. At the end of the day, every detail and design consideration had to mesh with all of the practical challenges presented by eTown as an organization.” To provide even coverage throughout the space, Berkow and Forster chose Alcons Audio pro-ribbon based compact line arrays, with five full-range LR14/90 cabinets flown per side. The LR14 incorporates two 6.5-inch woofers joined by the Alcons RBN401 4-inch pro-ribbon drivers.
A stage monitor package and small café system also utilize Alcons loudspeakers, including six VR8 and two VR12 enclosures. Both are 2-way designs that are also outfitted with pro-ribbon HF devices. The compact nature of the monitor systems worked well in the design due to sightline considerations, as well as the desire to provide the same level of fidelity for the artists as well as the patrons.
A look upward at one of the venue’s five-element Alcons LR14 arrays.
All loudspeakers in the project are driven by Alcons ALC2 class g amplifiers with integral ddP digital drive processing modules handle amplification. These amplifiers are designed by the company for exceptional low-noise and high-fidelity to ensure that the ribbon drivers are able to reproduce the original source faithfully.
Sonic Sense of Denver performed the system installation, with owner Marc Nutter working closely with Berkow to measure and tune the system. On-site factory assistance was provided by David Rahn, North American sales manager for Alcons, to help achieve the final outcome.
“We spent a lot of time listening to a number of high-end systems but ultimately chose Alcons Audio for the smooth performance in the top end, which we all agreed did the best job of presenting the type of acoustic oriented performances that eTown is known for,” Berkow concludes.
Live Sound International October 2012 http://www.ProSoundWeb.com
Our First Show from eTown Hall!
Our First Show from eTown Hall! With musical guests: City and Colour / Birds of Chicago
By Helen ~ August 7, 2012
What an absolute thrill, our first show from eTown Hall! And I’ll be very sad if you don’t join us for this most monumental occasion. Let me tell you about it:
Nick & I welcome renowned Canadian singer and songwriter, Dallas Green, who performs under the moniker City and Colour. He has an unmistakable sound, both instrumentally and vocally, he’s insanely popular (actually its not insane at all because he’s a really incredible singer and songwriter, and TONS of people just love him, are moved by his work and have become devoted fans), and we’re so excited to have him with us for his first visit to eTown.
Check out the live performance here!
Dallas is such a cool guy. Really down to earth, thoughtful and totally unassuming. None of that “don’t you know who I think I am” going on here. He’s really talented and extremely popular (this show sold out in record time) yet he’s so unaffected by fame. He also totally gets what eTown is all about, bringing people together through music. (A bit of eTown trivia: Dallas loves the ‘green’ aspect of the building, the way we recycled and reused tons of material as we renovated, and have tried to make this one of the most eco-friendly buildings in the country. He also digs the mission of the non-profit that produces eTown, so much so that he turned in his pay at the end of the night and donated it to the building fund! All of us here were totally blown away.)
Also joining us for the first time is the dynamic duo Birds of Chicago, which consists of two talented musicians, JT Nero and Allison Russell (they’re two emerging artists who’re gathering a following in American Roots music). There’s of course an inspiring
E-Chievement Award story, this one from California (who, it turns out, is a huge eTown fan and regular listener to the show); and a lot of great conversation, too. Be sure to join us if you can!
Back to our first show at eTown Hall:
People wonder: What’s that like? Well . . It’s a thrill. It’s nervous making. It’s incredibly exciting. And it’s surreal. I mean, you can imagine, after all this time, we’re all (meaning me, Nick, our staff, crew, volunteers, board members, patrons, the contractors, workers etc.) thinking, “Is this really happening? Finally?” After so many years of securing the building and then making it a workable, living, breathing place, it almost doesn’t seem like it’s really true. But the fact is, the building is basically 98% DONE.
Yup. 98% of the building is completed. Oh, there’s trim still to install, the kitchen in the coffeehouse needs to be installed, there’s still work to be done in the recording studio, and even little stuff still in the hall (a few doors that need installing, cushions for the pews, etc). But it’s close. The stage is done; the lights are in, the sound is phenomenal, the new seats are so comfortable – a big deal for me, I pushed for that! – it’s happening.
And we’re getting close with the fundraising part of this project too. We’ve raised just over 80% of the funds necessary to pay for the building! Pretty great. Obviously, though, we’ve got a ways to go. And I want to reach out to you and ask for your help. How?
First, please consider making a tax-deductible donation. Second, like us on Facebook (join our group page, or friend me, Helen Forster . . or better yet, both! Then suggest your friends do the same). Spread the word about eTown and eTown Hall, by email, snail mail, word of mouth, Twitter, Facebook. Help me start a movement! If everyone can give a little, we can make this happen. And if you know of someone with deep pockets who might wish to support a worthy cause, please, send them our way, will you? We are SO close.
My deepest thanks, lots of love, talk next week,
Helen
Alcons Audio supports eTown
Thursday, August 11,2011
Music as Glue
As eTown enters its 20th year, its founders talk about what makes the program stick
photo by Dane Cronin
Nick and Helen Forster
If the goal of music truly is to bring people together, then eTown may be the ideal music program. A combination of live performances and artist interviews (as well as a few other goodies thrown in along the way), eTown has been breaking down walls between artists and audiences for 20 years now. Through eTown, we learned that Neko Case has a killer sense of humor, that Charlie Louvin “isn’t a tree-hugger” and that Steve Earle loves his First Amendment (OK, so we probably already knew that one). In a world where everything needs to fit into a pre-determined format, eTown allows artists to talk openly about their music, their childhoods, their politics or anything else that they feel like sharing, and then actually play their music. This isn’t AM or FM radio — it’s eTown. And while AM and FM radio are losing ground to new media, eTown is quietly humming along, connecting a million listeners to their favorite artists every week.
“I think the interviews really change the audience’s experience with the music,” says Nick Forster, who founded the show back in 1991 with his wife and fellow host, Helen Forster. “The artists reveal themselves, and they humanize themselves a little bit, and it makes the connection deeper. When the listener hears that next song, they get a sense of context. What’s the perspective of that songwriter, and what was their life experience that made that song happen? It’s not typical. Everything else is designed to put the artist out of reach.”
In a way, eTown has become even more important with the advent of new media — in addition to humanizing genre heroes, it reminds listeners of the vast scope of music that may exist outside of their own bandwith. It’s much easier now to become lost in one genre; music blogs, Pandora and other digital radio stations all specialize in helping fans find music that sounds similar to stuff they already listen to. For the casual music listener, trekking out into the unknown can be overwhelming. But weekly eTown broadcasts offer two different artists, usually varied in sound and almost always a little under the radar. It’s all in an attempt to build a community somewhere between the limitless expanse of the digital world and the shrinking playlists of the analog one.
“Music has the opportunity to open people up in ways that not all art forms
can. It’s not uncommon for people to feel, on a Sunday evening as a
festival is wrapping up, to feel a sense of wistfulness, a sense of
loss,” Nick says, explaining the unanimity of the festival experience
that he hopes to recreate, on a smaller scale, week to week. “I’ve been
part of something, and I’m about to lose it. When I go home, I’m not
going to have it anymore. That’s a big part of the eTown DNA.”
In the next year, eTown will take another huge step toward community
building with the opening of the eTown Hall. The multipurpose building,
converted from an old church in downtown Boulder, will ensure that eTown
stays in the city for years to come. The hope is that it will also
become a cultural hub, with an intimate stage for eTown performances, a
recording studio, a smaller basement venue for classes and local
performances, and a small coffee shop. The Forsters are hoping the venue
will house workshops, lectures, children’s theater, open mic nights and
anything else that could contribute to the cultural center of Boulder.
It’s been a massive undertaking, conceived 19 years ago and just now
inching towards completion, but when finished, eTown Hall should stand
as a reminder that while the eTown brand is centered on music, its focus
is on the community that gathers around the music.
“We see it as a real necessity to expand eTown’s reach as sort of a beacon
of information, hope and inspiration,” Helen says. “We intend to have a
lecture series with various experts in sustainability and social issues.
Boulder is already known as a hub of information in that way, and I can
see eTown Hall becoming a unifying factor for that.”
From its inception, eTown has always mixed environmental and social issues
with music. Part of that is because the show gives artists a platform to
discuss whatever comes to their minds.
Whether it’s Louvin expressing his reservations about environmentalists or
Earle telling censors where they can shove it, eTown’s guests don’t pull
any punches. But the show also mixes political issues in via their
weekly E-Chievement award, which highlights ordinary people and
organizations around the country who are doing good in the world.
Helen says eTown has a kind of “ripple effect.” “We kind of toss out the
little pebble in the lake, and from that it goes to our listeners, and
they turn to and help those organizations that are feeding the hungry
and housing the homeless and cleaning up the rivers and working with
kids,” she says.
It goes back to building community.
Nick talks about the E-Chievement Award as a great equalizer. Through the
interviews with musicians, legends are humanized, and through the
E-Chievement Award, ordinary people are spotlighted. The end result is a
show that highlights that everybody is doing their part to make the
world a better place — not in some New Age, everybody-wins way, but
rather in a way that emphasizes the individual’s place within a
community.
It all culminates in the most fitting way possible: a weekly jam between
the two guests, sharing the stage and joining together to play a song
they had 30 minutes to arrange and rehearse. Perhaps the best way to
demystify heroes is to take them out of their comfort zone and allow
them to let themselves make mistakes. Sometimes it all comes together
perfectly — Nick remembers a really killer collaboration between Willie
Nelson and Angelique Kidjo that made for a once-in-a-lifetime moment —
sometimes it doesn’t, but it always makes for compelling radio, even if
it is a compelling mess.
“Generally speaking, there is a certain amount of terror that goes into every one
of those performances, because everyone is out of their comfort zone,”
Nick says. “But I think radio is one of those mediums … I find it to be
very personal. It’s engaging because you don’t see the whole picture.
You’re not watching it on television. You get sucked into the imaginary
reality of being there, and my experience of listening to radio is that
energy becomes much more palpable. You can kind of tell when something
is exciting or when something is scary or when something is not working
or when something is really happening, and I think the little bit of
terror that is underlying most of the finales gives it a little extra
boost of energy that I think is palpable on the radio.”
Out of necessity, eTown is moving forward. The show is moving to a new
place where it will be possible to record artists, edit in-house,
produce videos and take the show into the brave new future. But it’s
nice to know that their vision is still tied so closely to the past, a
past where families gathered around radio sets and watched the radio,
each member imagining it a little bit differently.
It’s nice to know there is still a place that recognizes that even though no
two people see it the exact same way, we all share the same experience.
[ On the Bill:
There are two eTown shows this week, both at
the Boulder Theater. The Civil Wars and Sarah Jarosz will play on
Friday, Aug. 12. The show is sold out.The Tedeschi Trucks Band and
Joseph Arthur play on Sunday, Aug. 14. Tickets are $27. For more
details, visit http://www.bouldertheater.com. 2032 14th St., Boulder,
303-786-7030.]
Respond:letters@boulderweekly.com
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