Study on Subjective Preference Values of Acoustic Parameters for Peking Opera

Compared with the study on acoustic quality of western music and opera, few studies were carried out on how the contemporary people evaluate acoustic attributes of Chinese traditional opera. In this study the subjective preference values of acoustic parameters for Peking opera such as sound pressure level, reverberation time and frequency response curve of RT were revealed through laboratory experiments after a preliminary investigation. Both ordinary group and fans group participated in the experiments and the different rhyme scheme of Peking opera was considered. The results showed that the preferred sound pressure level of Peking Opera was from 70dBA to 73dBA, and the preferred RT value was from 0.2s to 0.6s. As for the frequency response curves of RT, more subjects preferred to an ascendant curve, which means longer reverberation time for high frequency components rather than low frequency ones. The results were quite different from the Chinese criteria on acoustic design for theatres.