Room acoustics for organs

Abstract

Traditional criteria of very reverberant environments for organ music are cited. These are compared to such considerations as small instruments in small spaces vs larger ones in large volumes. The need for clarity in the audition of the polyphonic literature for the organ is discussed and compared to the requirement of speech intelligibility in churches where good acoustics for both music and speech are a goal. All the factors presented relative to acoustical environments for organs indicate the need for a broader range of criteria than organists and organ builders and others typically accept.