The Acoustics in the Ford Center are Terrible

[Urban Pioneer]

Did anyone go to the Cold Play concert? I went and throughly enjoyed they're talents. However, the acoustics in the Ford Center are reminiscent to turning your stereo as loud as it can go until distortion in a two car garage.

Its terrible! In fact, if cold Play hadn't had such an awesome light show, general performance, and a great crowd; I would have rather listened to their CD in my car.

For those in the general public who have not heard Cold Play and do not understand acoustics... they might have thought it was the band sound system or operator.

This was my first concert in the venue and future concerts will have to be as good to make up for the bad room. Does anyone feel the same?

[TheImmortal]

This is true I have seen many bands at the Ford Center, the sound is always flat instead of full and robust, but what can you do? I doubt anyone is going to spend any money on improving the acoustics there.

[Urban Pioneer]

I wish that they would install diffuser panels as the sound bounces right off the concrete and flat metal surfaces. The top of the third tier offers a blank wall that most certainly would be able to absorb or fracture some of the sound.

[osupa05]

haha... I'm having trouble just hearing after last night.... but coldplay did put on a good show... I'll have to say, I was digging the inverted black and white screen thingy... I'm not musically inclined, so I guess I can't give an opinion on the accoustics!!!

[Jack]

Sound is completely left to the concert artist. If sound wasn't good, you can blame their sound guys.

I've seen other concerts there and didn't have a problem. Just depends on who their sound techs are.

[John]

Sound is completely left to the concert artist. If sound wasn't good, you can blame their sound guys.

I've seen other concerts there and didn't have a problem. Just depends on who their sound techs are.

Jack is right on, actually.

The Ford Center has nothing to do with the sound of last night. Blame Coldplays sound crew.

I'd have gone if they plaed the Civic Center again. And it didn't fall on the same day of the OU game.

[Subvertia]

I disagree about the sound being the band's sound crew's fault. I was not at the Coldplay concert, so, you could be right and it could have sounded off due to both factors. However, I believe it is the venue. I toured with Phish for quite some time, knowing they spend an ungodly amount of money on their sound/light system, they still sounded off in certain venues, and it would be the same venues, but different tours.
I have also seen several shows at the Ford Center and have been nothing but disappointed. The seats are too small, the nosebleed section in amazingly far away for a smaller venue, and, yes, the sound is horrible, imo.

Since that place went up, I've wondered why it wasn't better suited for multi-function.

[Urban Pioneer]

Double entry.

[Urban Pioneer]

I agree. There is such a thing as acoustics. I have an acoustician who works for me from Chicago. He has been to the Ford Center many times and I asked him what his opinion was. He thinks that the venue sucks. He explained to me that acoustics is a science that greatly depends on the architecture and materials inside of a building. Its a dying art as more and more buildings are constructed with little concern for the phenomenon of sound. We live in a society where flip a switch or turn a knob should solve anything. However, on a venue as large as the Ford Center, it is amazing that they apparently held little regard for this issue when designing it. It is not the sound board operators fault.

[BDP]

Sound is completely left to the concert artist.

Definitely not. Room acoustics are paramount when it comes to sound. The truth is that steel and concrete just do not sound good. Some sound crews are better than others for sure, but it is nearly impossible for anyone to control a room that large made almost exclusively of concrete and steel, especially for everyone across the entire venue (even in small room, like your living room, it will sound different as you move around the room. Multiply that by 10k or more to get an idea of what you’re dealing with in an arena).

It’s the same bad assumption people make when buying stereo equipment. It’s usually much more effective to fix the problems of a room than to throw a bunch of expensive processors at it. Fix the problem (the room), not the symptom (bad sound). This is why most studios try and only use warm materials that absorb sound instead of reflect them. This way they can add whatever they want and control the sound themselves. It’s much harder to take away than add.

The Ford Center was not designed with acoustics in mind at all, but few arenas are. The truth is that arenas in general suck for sound because they use cold materials with “unfinished” designs.. I have been to dozens of arenas for concerts in my life and very few sounded good. I actually think Lloyd Nobel sounds as good as any 10k+ venue I have been in and a lot of that has to do with the ceiling tiles and the smaller space. The Ford Center would do well to cover its exposed steel and concrete for aural events, most of which, after you have butts in the seats, is on the ceiling.

In the end, and at any venue, where you sit has a lot to do with how it sounds. I sat in section 107 for the Coldplay show. It's right off stage right. I have sat in seats off the stage sides for several concerts there and a few on the floor. IMO, sidestage seats are the best as they give you great views as well as better sound. The seats are closer and in direct line with main PA speaker set ups. This allows you to hear more of the mix directly and more prominently, which helps to mask the great magnitude of secondary sound that fills most of the venue. Down front on the floor it overshoots your listening position and you almost hear more monitor mix than main mix.

The key is to position yourself as close to and in direct line with the mains as possible. If not, you are hearing as much or more of what reflects off the room’s materials as you are what comes out of the main mix, and the secondary sounds will be a relatively greater part of what you hear in your personal “mix”, produsing sound that sonds more liek white noise than clearly discernable notes and frequncies. The best way to do this to get in line early the day tickets go on sale and ask for best available in the 100s.

Another trick is to wear ear plugs. This will help dampen the high end presence of all that secondary sound that causes most of the white noise effect. For a few cents at Walgreens, you can greatly improve your $80+ experience.

[escan]

This has nothing to do with the sound, but my gripe on the Ford Center is the lack of cup holders. I know there was a big uproar a while ago about how heavy people couldn't fit....Did they get rid of all of the cupholders?

That's kinda like discriminating against the skinny people now, huh? (Just kidding, but it does upset me.)

[BDP]

Did they get rid of all of the cupholders?

They're still there on the club level, that's one reason why I love that level for basketball games.

I agree with you though. Us skinny people got screwed on that deal.

[Patrick]

I've been to the American Airlines Center many times to see Mavericks games. I don't know what you guys are talking about in regards to seats. Our seats at the Ford Center are no different than the seats at the American Airlines Center.

In regards to the sound....the place was designed as a sports arena, not a concert venue. So take that into consideration. Obviously, the place wasn't designed to be acoustically friendly. If you want good acoustics, go over to the Civic Center.

At the Ford Center, sound is left up to each concert artist. I've heard some pretty good sound there from certain artists, and bad sound from other artists. So, I'd have to say it has to do with how well the artist's sound crew and equipment adjusts to the acoustics at the Ford Center.

Regarding absence of cup holders, you have fat complaining folks to blame for that. Every seat used to have cup holders, until a group on Weight Watchers got together and complained.

[Patrick]

The Ford Center was not designed with acoustics in mind at all, but few arenas are. The truth is that arenas in general suck for sound because they use cold materials with “unfinished” designs.. I have been to dozens of arenas for concerts in my life and very few sounded good. I actually think Lloyd Nobel sounds as good as any 10k+ venue I have been in and a lot of that has to do with the ceiling tiles and the smaller space. The Ford Center would do well to cover its exposed steel and concrete for aural events, most of which, after you have butts in the seats, is on the ceiling.

Yup, that's right on. It's a sports arena, not an opera hall. The place is solid concrete and steal. What do you expect?

[Subvertia]

I expect to hear crappy shows at that venue, that's why I don't go to shows there. I agree the Lloyd Noble Center has the best sound for a large venue in this area.
As far as the cupholders are concerned. If the designers had been thought things through, instead of packing as many people as possible in a small space, they could have had larger seats with cupholders from the get-go. And that sucks.
So I don't blame fat or skinny people, I blame, yet again, bad design.

[BDP]

If you want good acoustics, go over to the Civic Center.

And I wish we had more pop events there. The Coldplay show there a couple of years ago was one of the best sounding shows I have been to. I'm aslo willing to guess that in the time between that show and the one at The Ford Center, their sound crew only got better. People who went to Coldplay on Monday should go to Sheryl Crow's show next week at the Ford Center to hear what a difference a room can make.

[escan]

Isn't the Sheryl Crow show cancelled?

[fromdust]

i saw creed and disturbed and was on the floor. the sound was good, but when i saw pearl jam and yani i was in the seats. thats when the sound sucked.

[Urban Pioneer]

The Ford Center wasn't just built as a sports arena. Concerts were discussed from the beginning. Simple absorptive foam or dispersion panels on the ceiling would have tremendously helped our arena. The designers completely screwed up and the money wasn't spent to address a problem that any good architect should take into consideration. The foam and panels could still be installed and the sound wouldn't of the Civic Center quality, but it would be tremendously better. We area attracting international stars here and additional money should be spent to improve the sound considering the revenue that is being generated.

[BDP]

I agree, Urban Pioneer, but if they had installed foam and panels, they would have done more than almost all arenas. In addition to cost savings, they like keeping them open so they can rig and fly anything without recoibnfiguring the ceilings every time. It may have concerts in it, but it was not built as a music hall. It was more like, "can we have big concerts in our sports arena, like evryone else?"... "Sure, why not?". If there is a 20k seat arena that was designed for good acoustics, I haven't been to it.

I agree they could have done it and they could have put in bigger seats, but I doubt they could have built the 19k+ venue for less than 100 million with those accomodations. At the end of the day the Ford Center is very utilitarian and was a huge bargain. No one is getting more for their money from their arena than OKC is right now.

EDIT: But none of that menas they shouldn't do it now. One thing we don't want is for the arena to stop making improvements. If we get a permanent major league team, some renovations will be needed for them. However, after that, money should be spent on improving the acoustics. I have not heard any complaints from promoters or musicians, but if they do, that would go a long way to getting some changes done.

[BDP]

Isn't the Sheryl Crow show cancelled?

Oh, maybe it is. I don't have tickets. The Hornets play Phoenix that night.

Well, I bet she would have sounded good.

[Patrick]

As always, the Ford Center can be modified. It was built as a very versatile and plain arena.....changes and additions will be easy. Will just take more time and money.

[fromdust]

Isn't the Sheryl Crow show cancelled?

yeah, i think she had to cancel her tour. she was going to play at the civic center.

[swake]

She has breast cancer, came out about a week ago.

[Doug Loudenback]

Sound is not only a problem for concerts (I've not been to a concert in the Ford Center, so I can't personally say), it's a problem for sports, also, depending on where you sit.

I don't have Hornets season tickets, so of the many games I've attended I've had seats all over the place. Any seat I've had in the 1st tier at various spots(Section 1xx) has been good, and that's also true for the club level seats I've had. But, go to the 3rd tier ("Loud City") and it's a different story, particularly if you are in a "corner" section. Behind the goals is a little better, but in some of corner section cheap seats I've had the sound is so distorted that the words being spoken are a blur. At least, those were my expriences. "Sideline" cheap seats were a little better.