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dimanche 15 juin 2014

Info Post
By Ina Hunt


In some large buildings musical tones fade away in a pleasant echo, while speech is nearly impossible to understand. Even though religious music plays an important role during services, a congregation must also hear the spoken message without having to unnaturally strain. Acoustic sound panels for churches solve this problem by focusing the individual vibrations, making them easier for people to hear and understand.

Although some European Gothic cathedrals are famous for their signature echoes, there is a distinct line separating reverberation from garbled, irritating noise. Echoes occur because individual waves repeatedly bounce back and forth between ceilings and walls. While some building plans include acoustic accuracy, many houses of worship today exist in structures originally intended for other uses.

Although they did not have the advantage of modern computer modeling, historical attempts to correct the problem including adding absorbing ash to clay pots located in the walls and corners. This solution is primarily based on trial and error, with material added and subtracted until the desired clarity is achieved. Other methods included altering support pillars to redirect echo, or using specially cut stone blocks.

In modern buildings, solutions vary from adding thick carpeting in specific spaces, or using software to create individual and changeable reverberation shapes based on other acoustically famous interiors. Both methods work up to a point, but cannot completely overcome structural obstacles that are part of the original building plans. Many structures benefit most from flat baffles in front of walls or on ceilings.

Rather than actually eliminating or blocking certain frequencies, they absorb the excess that confuses the ear. Most construction is fairly simple. There is an inner layer of dampening material surrounded by a rigid frame, and the exterior is covered with a variety of decorative materials. Fillings are commonly made of fiberglass, insulating foam, or newer, less environmentally hazardous materials.

Their size depends the extent of the echo and distortion. Some are as small as four square feet, while others may be nearly wall-sized, and most solutions require combinations. No matter their dimensions, they allow vibrations to pass through the exterior material rather than bouncing off, and any waves that return are re-absorbed. This principle is the same one used by music studios to emphasize accuracy, and can be easily adapted to churches.

Instead of seeming like an ugly industrial installation, these baffles easily adapt to the desired interior look of a church. Some re-create the existing patterns of stained glass in the windows, or can mimic or repeat patterns or colors in ceilings and walls. While they are visually uninteresting without decoration, a professionally designed grouping normally fits in well, and can even feel like part of the original decor.

It is possible to precisely arrange them in the best possible positions using digital analysis, but diffusion and absorption is often best measured by the most effective tool of all, human hearing. Once the best configuration has been discovered, units can be positioned permanently. Instead of preventing certain frequency ranges or cutting down the volume, they make both speech and music sound clean and clear.




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