Sound reinforcement at the Sydney Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne, Australia

The Sidney Myer Music Bowl is an outdoor auditorium for speech, music and drama. It is unique in that the main structure or “canopy” covers both the stage and 2 000 fixed seats, an area about one eighth of the bowl proper. The ground under the canopy was excavated to depths of up to 10 m and this allows an audience of 30000 to view the entire stage. Overflow audiences of two or three times this number can listen in areas out of sight of the stage.

The paper describes the sound reinforcement system and some measurements of reverberation time, transmission characteristics, pulse response and insulation from unwanted noise. Subjective impressions as reported of music critics and others are included.