When SPAC opened in 1966, sound engineers who helped design the amphitheater had no idea how something like a ballet or orchestra performance would truly sound. Why? Well, for one thing, when they set out to build SPAC, as important as it was to have a beautiful facility, it had to be a functional facility. This means everything from the soffits, to the sidewalls to the canopy were designed to echo sounds just right. Even having a full-house of patrons changes the dynamics, as having the amphitheater full of people changes the time it takes sound to travel by three-tenths of a second.

The other issue to solve was the openness of the amphitheater. Where theaters typically used side and back walls to help bounce sound, SPAC had neither. Which is why you see the panels on the sides of the amphitheater… to keep sound in.

Acoustics expert Paul S. Veneklsen (pictured above on the right) even used scale models of SPAC to test the acoustics using sound waves. Of course these were only tests, and the real test would be July 8, 1966 when the amphitheater welcomed the New York City Ballet for the first time.

I’d like to know what that enormous, scary looking machine actually does!