Vienna MIR RoomPack 4 - The Sage Gateshead

For those who know, The Sage Gateshead is easily one of the most remarkable additions to the world of music venues at the dawn of the 3rd millennium. Located in Gateshead in the North-East of England - in direct neighbourhood of Newcastle upon Tyne - on the southern bank of the River Tyne, the highly unique structure was built as a centre for musical performance, education and conferences. It took ten years of detailed planning and opened in 2004. It is tenanted by the North Music Trust.

The building is a landmark on Tyneside, forming the heart of an extensive project to regenerate the area’s river frontage. Designed by Lord Norman Foster & Partners, The Sage Gateshead incorporates outstanding performance spaces of internationally acclaimed acoustic excellence (Hall One and Hall Two), Northern Rock Foundation Hall for rehearsal and performance, a twenty-five room Music Education Centre, an abundance of smaller meeting rooms, a spectacular glazed Concourse, café, bars, brasserie restaurant and foyers with stunning river views. The site is adjacent to the Gateshead Millennium Bridge and the Tyne Bridge, with their great arches echoed in the shell-like form of The Sage Gateshead’s roof.

The Sage Gateshead, seen from Newcastle upon Tyne across the river

The Sage Gateshead, seen from the east

The windswept nature of the site led Foster to create a welcoming covered concourse along the waterfront to link the various spaces. As a result the entire complex is sheltered beneath a broad, enveloping stainless steel roof that is ‘shrink-wrapped’ around the buildings beneath. This extends over the Concourse, which acts as a foyer for the auditoria and hospitality areas for performers, audiences and students alike, offering unique views out across the Tyne.

The Concourse, heading towards Hall One

The Eastern Main door, with Newcastle upon Tyne across the river in the back

Structurally it is three separate buildings, insulated from each other to prevent noise and vibration travelling between them. A special 'spongy' concrete mix was used in the construction, with a higher-than-usual air capacity to improve the acoustic. These three buildings are enclosed (but not touched) by the now-famous glass and steel shell.

The building's ground area encompasses 8,000 square meters. The spectacular curved steel roof, which weighs in at 750 tonnes, is made from 3,000 stainless steel panels and 250 glass panels. Its height reaches a maximum of 40 metres. If the roof were laid flat, its 12,000 square metre area would be big enough to accommodate two football pitches.

Most of the 3,858 tonnes of steel is hidden from view in the foundations and reinforcing the walls and floors. More than 1,100 concrete and steel piles were drilled into the ground to support the massive structure. More than 18,000 cubic metres of concrete were poured into the foundations of the building.

As well as performances by Northern Sinfonia, Orchestra of The Sage Gateshead, a number of influential and diverse visiting orchestras and musicians have performed at the Sage Gateshead, including London Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra; Sir Simon Rattle, José Carreras, Dionne Warwick, Nancy Sinatra; Herbie Hancock, John Scofield, Wynton Marsalis, Gilberto Gil, Jan Garbarek, Buena Vista Social Club, Ry Cooder, McCoy Tyner, James Brown, George Clinton/Funkadelic, David Crosby and Graham Nash, Robert Plant, Morrissey, Bob Geldof, Van Morrison, Grace Jones, Tanita Tikaram, Sigur Ros, Sting, Lambchop, Lou Reed, Fairport Convention, Mumford and Sons, Brian Wilson, Roger Daltrey, Patti Smith, The Fall, David Byrne, Goldfrapp, Belle & Sebastian, Bryan Ferry, De La Soul, The Yardbirds, Debbie Harry, Maximo Park, Kris Kristofferson, Belle and Sebastian, Alison Moyet, Bryan Adams, Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris, and many, many more.

Also in November 2012, rock-legend Lynyrd Skynyrd performed in Hall One; the event sold out within hours of general sale.

The Concourse, heading towards Hall Two

Hall One with a full orchestra setup, seen from the first gallery

Hall One is a spectacular wood-panelled auditorium boasting world-class acoustics and a seating capacity of up to 1,640. Designed to the highest international standards, its atmosphere can be altered to suit any acoustic demand.

"The Sage Gateshead is in the top five best concert halls in the world." (Lorin Maazel)
"The Sage Gateshead is world-class." (Sting)

Hall One was intended as an acoustically perfect space, loosely modelled on the renowned Musikverein in Vienna. Robert Essert’s brief as the leader of the acoustical design was for the best possible acoustics - bar none for the Northern Sinfonia and acoustical excellence for symphony orchestras, recitals, folk, jazz, rock/pop and music from around the world. The solution was a shoebox hall, with ceiling panels which may be raised and lowered and curtains drawn across the ribbed wooden side walls, changing the sound profile of the room to suit any type of music.

The hall has received worldwide acclaim for the quality of its acoustics.

Vienna MIR Pro represents this great-sounding, huge hall from four different main microphone positions - one of them on the stage, two in the auditory, one on the first balcony in the back of the hall. Please mind the area on the second balcony several metres above the stage's back wall - it's available for instruments (and other signal sources) within MIR Pro, too! Please take a look at the screenshot to get the idea.

• Average Stage Width: 23.2 m
• Average Room Depth (Level 1): 41 m
• Height above Stage: 15.2 m
• Capacity: up to 1,640

Almost 1,700 individual impulse responses (IRs) were recorded for each microphone position - almost 6,700 for the whole Venue. The average reverb time is about 2.0 seconds.

Hall Two is a distinctive ten-sided theatre (possibly the world's only ten-sided performance space!) designed to complement the larger Hall One. With its two (actually three) galleries spanning the whole room it reminds one of the highly atmospheric, energy-packed theatres of Shakespeare’s time.

This Venue offers a more informal and intimate environment which makes it ideal for smaller ensembles, bands and solo artists, be it purely acoustic or electrically reinforced music. By means of remote-controlled wall panels, the reverberation time of Hall Two may be changed to a considerable degree; this can be emulated easily with the Reverb Time Scaling feature of MIR Pro.

Hall Two offers a capacity of up to 400 visitors. The audience can be seated in a theatre-style setting or in ‘the round’, which makes for interesting and vibrant exchanges.

Northern Rock Foundation Hall and Hall Two (to the right), seen from the Concourse

Back wall of Hall Two, as seen from the stage

Vienna MIR Pro represents this unique hall from four different main microphone positions - one of them on the stage, two in the auditory, and one about six meters above the main floor on the second balcony in the back of the hall. Please take a look at the screenshot to get the idea.

The stage of Hall Two, seen from the first gallery

More than 600 individual impulse responses (IRs) were recorded for each microphone position - over 2,400 for the whole Venue. The average reverb time is about 1.7 seconds.

• Average room diameter: 17.2 m
• Average height above the main floor: 13.2 m
• Capacity: up to 400

Northern Rock Foundation Hall (in short: NRFH) is a stunning wood-panelled hall situated in the centre of The Sage Gateshead. It is the sound isolated rehearsal space for the Northern Sinfonia, Orchestra of the Sage Gateshead, and as such a unique example for a modern sound stage.

With its dramatic appearance and window onto the Concourse it creates a unique and hugely impressive space, and its acoustics are nothing short of spectacular. The room lends itself to a homogeneous, sparkling overall reverb, while keeping perfect acoustical ranging and enveloping intact at the same time.

By means of wall-covering, motorized curtains, the length of the reverb tail can be shaped considerably; this can be emulated easily with the Reverb Time Scaling feature of MIR Pro.

Northern Rock Foundation Hall during a conference

The MIR Team takes over Northern Rock Foundation Hall!

MIR Pro presents the lavishly sized Northern Rock Foundation Hall corner to corner, from two different viewing angles, providing four typical main microphone positions. As the hall isn't meant to be used for public recordings, there are no restrictions regarding instrument positions due to audience areas. - Please take a look at the screenshots to get the idea.

More than 1,400 individual impulse responses (IRs) were recorded for each microphone position - over 5,700 for the whole Venue. The average reverb time is about 1.5 seconds.

• Width: 13.2 m
• Depth: 17.3 m
• Height: 10.2 m

First of all, a big shout-out to VSL-user Ian Mackie who came up with the initial idea and who brought us in contact with the people at The Sage Gateshead. Thanks a lot! - Furthermore, the MIR Team wants to express their gratitude to the generous, knowledgeable, helpful and good-humoured staff @ The Sage Gateshead, namely Anthony Sargent (General Director), Adam Kent (Innovations Support Manager), Chris Durant (Head of Technical Operations), and of course the whole technical crew who helped us to hunt down faint, but irritating noises and granted access to the building during six long days and nights.

Meet the MIR Recording Team:

Martin Pauser, Dietz Tinhof, Martin Rajek, Andreas M. Frei, Christoph Hofer

Photography © Mark Savage, Richard Bryant, David Tiernan, Simon Burgon, Martin Pauser, Dietz Tinhof