THE MAJESTIC SCHERMERHORN

BY DAN MILLER
(originally posted November 8, 2005)

During a sneak peek inside the new Schermerhorn Symphony Center last week, I learned several things.

First, I learned why OSHA requires visitors like me to wear hardhats while walking through a construction site.
That lesson began with a thud when I bumped my head on a metal conduit.... and was reinforced just minutes later by a head butt against a piece of scaffolding.
By my third strike, against a pipe hanging from the ceiling, I had become a crusader for the value of hardhats.

It's also a stylish look, you'll have to admit.

My wife was disappointed that we couldn't keep our hardhats.
I think she figured it could help me whenever I spend time in the basement.

But here's the best thing I learned during our tour.
Nashville -- without a doubt -- is going to have a symphony hall ranked among the finest on this planet.

During our tour, as symphony and construction executives bragged about the Schermerhorn, I kept hearing one specific word, over and over.... "acoustics".

There will be no electronic amplification when the Nashville Symphony performs.
They won't need it.
The acoustics (reflected sounds), we were assured, will be astounding.
On opening night -- the experts promise -- along with the beautiful music, you'll hear "gasps of astonishment" from those in attendance, at the pure sound filling the hall.

OK -- being a lifelong skeptic, I asked, how -- before the facility is even built -- they could be certain the acoustics will be so wonderful?

Here's how they know.
The designers and builders work with precise scale models -- filled with nitrogen -- so they can see and measure how the sound waves will bounce and resonate inside the actual hall.
I'm impressed.

As concertgoers arrive at the Schermerhorn, they’ll be encouraged to check their overcoats before entering the hall -- because coats hanging over the backs of chairs can actually hinder sound waves resonating through the hall.

Here's another fascinating fact.... the Schermerhorn is actually 2 buildings.... one fitted inside the other like a nesting doll.
That creates an air pocket, about 2 inches wide, between the outer structure and the concert hall -- from roof to foundation -- to absorb all sound coming from the outside.

Another tidbit....
When designers were planning the Schermerhorn, they could never resolve which way the front of the building should face, so they ended up with 2 fronts.... the North Front (facing Broadway), and the West Front (along 4th Avenue South).
Take your pick.

I had one other unexpected revelation from this tour.
After hearing detailed explanations about sound waves bouncing off surfaces and objects.... and how the clothes you wear -- or don't wear -- can affect acoustics.... I'm beginning to understand why I sound so darned good singing or whistling in the shower.
I almost never wear an overcoat into the shower.

By the way, the last picture in that stack is the way the Schermerhorn should look when it's completed next year.
The picture next to the bottom is my lovely wife Karen, who never bumped her head -- not even once!

(**NOTE -- the Schermerhorn is now open and functioning beautifully!**)

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