BERKELEY SYMPHONY ADDS VRAS FOR ACOUSTIC ENHANCEMENT

In order to provide more suitable acoustics for January performances by the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, Level Control Systems provided a temporary electronic fix at Berkeley’s new Roda Theatre. By interfacing a Variable Room Acoustics System (VRAS) with the existing multichannel Meyer Sound self-powered house system at the Roda, LCS was able to increase the auditorium’s mid-band RT from 1.2 seconds (ideal for the resident Berkeley Repertory Company’s dramatic program) to over two seconds, more suitable for the classical and modern music program that BSO music director and conductor Kent Nagano had scheduled. Initial set-up and fine-tuning of the VRAS was a collaborative process involving Dr. David Wessel, director of UC Berkeley’s Center for New Music and Technology (CNMAT), LCS’s John McMahon and Steve Ellison, and VRAS inventor Dr. Mark Poletti of New Zealand’s Industrial Research Ltd.