Abstract
Chamber Music originated from groups of friends playing together in small rooms for their own enjoyment. The essence of Chamber Music is intimacy and communication between players. In the design of halls for Chamber Music, therefore, the ability for the musicians on stage to effectively communicate with each other is vital, as is the sense of intimacy between the players and the audience. A survey of New Zealand Halls was sent to New Zealand’s leading chamber music musicians, in order to gauge subjective response to halls used for Chamber Music throughout the country, from the point of view of a performer in a small ensemble. Questions were answered regarding Clarity, Reverberance, Ensemble, Balance, Warmth, Support, Visual Impression and Overall Acoustic Impression. This paper presents the preliminary findings of this survey, relating responses to various known measured acoustical parameters of the halls, as well as shape, size and construction.