Church acoustics: A state-of-the-art review after several decades of research

Girón, Sara; Álvarez-Morales, Lidia; Zamarreño, Teófilo

doi:10.1016/j.jsv.2017.09.015

Cited by 43 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 85 publications

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“…By contrast, source location had relatively little effect on acoustic parameter values [33]. Girón et al summarised principal contributions to the acoustics of ancient occidental Christian churches in recent decades [34]. Manohare et al analysed the sound field characteristics of a large hollow stupa in an Indian Buddhist temple in Nagpur by means of an in situ measurement and simulation, and investigated the effects of these characteristics on religious activities [35].…”

Section: And Mourjopoulos Analysed Acoustic Properties For Ancientmentioning

confidence: 99%

Courtyard Sound Field Characteristics by Bell Sounds in Han Chinese Buddhist Temples

et al. 2020

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The acoustic environments of Han Chinese Buddhist temples have long played an important role in the development of Buddhism. This study explored the effects of layouts and spatial elements of Han Chinese Buddhist temples on courtyard sound fields. First, sound fields of three traditional Han Chinese courtyards were measured, and results were compared with sound field simulations to determine the appropriate acoustic and software parameter setting for ancient building materials in the context of sound field simulation. Next, a sound field model for standard forms of Han Chinese Buddhist temples was built and analysed. Results indicate that in traditional Buddhist temples, spatial elements-such as the height and sound absorption coefficient of temple courtyard walls, position of courtyard partition walls, and the position and height of bell towers-could significantly affect the sound pressure level (SPL), reverberation time (RT), and musical clarity (C 80 ) of each courtyard. However, enclosure materials, such as those used in roofs, on the ground, and in windows of Han Chinese Buddhist temples, had relatively small effects on temple courtyard sound fields.

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Section: And Mourjopoulos Analysed Acoustic Properties For Ancientmentioning

confidence: 99%

Courtyard Sound Field Characteristics by Bell Sounds in Han Chinese Buddhist Temples

et al. 2020

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“…Among Serbian local rulers, prince Lazar Hrebeljanović who autonomously ruled the territory around the Morava rivers, most prominently tended to continue the well-established tradition of the Nemanjić dynasty [2]. However, in that restless and unstable period, new political, economic and cultural centres arose and thrived in the land of prince Lazar and his successors [4]. This inspiring zest was also reflected in church architecture, which is nowadays referred to as the Morava architectural style.…”

Section: Culture-historical Context Of Building Lazarica Church In Krmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Christian churches have been archaeoacoustically researched for the last few decades. The comprehensive literature overview of historical church acoustics [4] considers the acoustic analysis of mostly occidental Christian churches in Europe, Asia and South America, emphasizing the need for a multidisciplinary approach that also includes perceptual and cultural aspects of the aural experience. Besides the examination of the effect of occupancy [5], speech intelligibility [6,7], and the effect of interior architectural forms and materials [8][9][10], it is also important to acknowledge the multidisciplinary research of acoustic vessels inbuilt in some of the historic churches [11,12], as an equally valid expression of the acoustical intentions of the builders.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Archaeoacoustic Examination of Lazarica Church

Đorđević

Novković²,

Andrić³

2019

Acoustics

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The acoustic analysis provides additional information on building tradition and related indoor practice that includes sound, thus deepening our understanding of architectural heritage. In this paper, the sound field of the Orthodox medieval church Lazarica (Kruševac city, Serbia) is examined. Lazarica is a representative of Morava architectural style, developed in the final period of the Serbian medieval state, when also the chanting art thrived, proving the importance of the aural environment in Serbian churches. The church plan is a combination of a traditional inscribed cross and a triconch. After the in situ measurement of acoustic impulse response using EASERA software, we built a computer model in the acoustic simulation software EASE and calibrated it accordingly. Following the parameters (reverberation time (T30), early decay time (EDT) and speech transmission index (STI)), we examined the acoustic effect of the space occupancy, central dome and the iconostasis. In all the cases, no significant deviation between T30 and EDT parameter was observed, which indicates uniform sound energy decay. Closing the dome with a flat ceiling did not show any significant impact on T30, but it lowered speech intelligibility. The height of iconostasis showed no significant influence on the acoustics of Lazarica church.

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“…Churches are generally acoustically reverberant places due to both being large and being full of acoustically reflective materials. Many studies have shown that the room acoustic models in these large reverberant spaces are often unique, given the non-homogenous distribution of diffusing and absorbing materials [1][2][3]. Over the centuries, the long reverberation of churches has proved to enhance the listening of organ music emitted as well as hymns, thus increasing the sense of participation of the congregation [4,5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acoustic Enhancement of a Modern Church

et al. 2019

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This paper presents the study of the intervention for the acoustic correction of a modern church. The investigated church was built in the 1960s, with a brutalist style and with a squared plan. The hard materials, including a marble floor and hard plastered walls, were responsible for its reverberation time of over 5 s, resulting in poor speech comprehension. As common in worship spaces, the acoustic improvement interventions were challenged by the denial of covering the walls and the vault with conventional sound-absorbing materials due to aesthetic and architectural reasons. In order to carry out an adequate acoustic correction, while involving minimal interventions, the possibility of using light sound absorbing ceiling sheets was analyzed. The study is divided into three phases: Firstly, the acoustic characteristics of the current building were measured; then, new materials for adequate sound absorption were studied; finally, acoustic simulations were used to evaluate the effects on the acoustic characteristics for different intervention scenarios. The final room was able to shorten its reverberation time to about 2.0 s.

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Church acoustics: A state-of-the-art review after several decades of research

Cited by 43 publications

References 85 publications

Courtyard Sound Field Characteristics by Bell Sounds in Han Chinese Buddhist Temples

Courtyard Sound Field Characteristics by Bell Sounds in Han Chinese Buddhist Temples

Archaeoacoustic Examination of Lazarica Church

Acoustic Enhancement of a Modern Church

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