Historically Based Room Acoustic Analysis and Auralization of a Church in the 1470s

Hanna Autio,Delphine Bard Hagberg,Karin Strinnholm Lagergren,Eva Lindqvist Sandgren,Carolina Ask,Mathias Barbagallo

doi:10.3390/app11041586

Hanna Autio, Delphine Bard Hagberg + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/app11041586

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Abstract

Worship space acoustics have been established as an important part of a nation’s cultural heritage and area of acoustic research, but more research is needed regarding the region of northern Europe. This paper describes the historical acoustics of an important abbey church in Sweden in the 1470s. A digital historical reconstruction is developed. Liturgical material specific to this location is recorded and auralized within the digital reconstruction, and a room acoustic analysis is performed. The analysis is guided by liturgical practices in the church and the monastic order connected to it. It is found that the historical sound field in the church is characterized by the existence of two distinct acoustical subspaces within it, each corresponding to a location dedicated to the daily services of the monastical congregations. The subspaces show significantly better acoustic conditions for liturgical activities compared to the nave, which is very reverberant under the conditions of daily services. Acoustic transmission from the two subspaces is limited, indicating that the monastic congregations were visually and acoustically separated from the visitors in the nave and each other.

Highlights

The acoustics of worship spaces are a significant element of a nation’s cultural heritage
The research presented in this paper sheds new light on intangible cultural heritage in this part of the world by presenting a room acoustic analysis on a digital reconstruction of Vadstena abbey church in Sweden
For sources in the choir, the effect is smaller and for sources in the gallery smaller still. These results indicate that the acoustic perception of sources by the high altar (P3 in Figure 9) strongly depends on the listener’s position, which implies that the sound field created by such a source is less homogeneous

Summary

Introduction

The acoustics of worship spaces are a significant element of a nation’s cultural heritage. Since UNESCO’s adoption of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage [2] in 2003, the acoustics and acoustical experiences of churches have been established as an important area of research. The research presented in this paper sheds new light on intangible cultural heritage in this part of the world by presenting a room acoustic analysis on a digital reconstruction of Vadstena abbey church in Sweden. The church targeted for reconstruction in this paper is a Gothic abbey church located in the south of Sweden, built in the 14th and 15th century. It played an important religious and cultural role in the Nordic countries in the middle ages.

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