1. WWW.KANSASCITY.COM SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2007 F5THE KANSAS CITY STAR.
THE ARTS
CLASSICAL MUSIC + DANCE
C
reating the perfect acoustics for a symphony hall is a
long, excruciating and costly exercise.
Recently Yasuhisa Toyota, acoustic designer for the
Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, came to town to over-
see the creation and testing of a one-tenth-scale acoustic model of
the1,600-seat symphony hall.
The models can cost tens of thousands of dollars with the
objective of finding and eliminating “detrimental echoes,” Toyota
said. He invited us along to see how it works.
| Paul Horsley, The Star
BUILDING A GREAT ACOUSTIC
MIKE RANSDELL | THE KANSAS CITY STAR
Yasuhisa Toyota,
acoustic designer for
the Kauffman Center
for the Performing
Arts, crouches in his
company’s one-tenth-
scale acoustic model
of the 1,600-seat sym-
phony hall.
JILL TOYOSHIBA | THE KANSAS CITY STAR
Each of the “audience members” is outfitted with “hair” and a “suit” made of felt, said Kauff-
man Center executive director Jane Chu. The goal is to create a level of sound absorption
equivalent to that of real hair and real clothes.
MIKE RANSDELL | THE STAR
Spikes on the reflec-
togram represent un-
desirable aftershocks
of the sound, which
must be smoothed out
with continued testing.
The painstaking pro-
cess has become the
signature method of
Toyota’s firm, Nagata
Acoustics.
JILL TOYOSHIBA | THE KANSAS CITY STAR
Model builders at Omni Models spent weeks crafting the 1,600
replicas of future concertgoers. “Dummy heads” receive sound
transmitted from the onstage speaker.
MIKE RANSDELL | THE KANSAS CITY STAR
The dummy-head receivers, or pickups, are interspersed
throughout the hall. Five are on onstage, Toyota ex-
plained, “because the musicians must be able to hear
themselves, too.” For each test, the computer creates a
synthesized tap, and the team measures the sound
picked up by a single dummy head.
MIKE RANSDELL | THE KANSAS CITY STAR
The scale
model is air-
tight but must
be on stilts so
technicians
can insert
dummy-head
receivers from
below. Before
each test, ni-
trogen is
pumped into
the model
from above,
which forces
the oxygen out
the bottom.
Oxygen and
the moisture it
contains would
slow the sound
too much.
For complete listings, go to Preview
Extra on KansasCity.com.
CLASSICAL MUSIC
KEVIN HIATT WITH PATRICK
CONWAY: Kansas City Summer
Sounds Concert Series. 6:30-
7:30 p.m. July 27; Kemper
Museum of Contemporary Art
Atrium, Atrium, 4420 Warwick.
Free. www.kemperart.org
(816-753-5784)
SUMMERFEST: 5 p.m. July 22; St.
Mary’s Episcopal Church, 1307
Holmes. $10-$25. www.summer
festkc.org (816-235-6222)
DANCE
AILEYCAMP 2007 FINAL PER-
FORMANCE: Kansas City
Friends of Alvin Ailey. 7 p.m. July
25; Wyandotte High School,
2500 Minnesota Ave., Kansas
City, Kan. Free. www.kcfaa.org
(816-471-6003)
REACH ... A MOVEMENT COLLEC-
TIVE: Dancing With Scissors;
part of KC Fringe Festival. 8 p.m.
July 26 and 28; 6:30 p.m. July 27;
the Yoga Gallery, 215 Southwest
Blvd. $5 at door. www.reachkc
.org, www.kcfringe.org
OPENING THIS WEEK
CLASSICAL MUSIC
SUMMERFEST: 7 p.m. July 28; UMKC
Performing Arts Center, 4949 Cherry.
$10-$25. www.summerfestkc.org
(816-235-6222)
CLOSING THIS WEEK