This is the second article in our Acoustics in the Sun series. You can find the first one here. Today features Maggie Zhang’s paper titled: Choral singers’ perception of on-stage reverberance during an Australian tour. This paper piqued my interest because I like churches and listening to choral music. What’s not to love about hymns and psalms sung to the glory of God? But, as Zhang points out, the focus is often on the listener’s experience, not the singer’s.

Choral singer perception

The paper focused on the singers’ perception of reverberation in ten churches, including gothic churches like the one pictured above, as well as the visual aesthetics of the space.

It turns out, churches are one place where reverberation is welcome. Well, at least by singers. The flying buttresses, pointed arches, and ribbed vaults of the gothic churches (see above for an example) allow choral music to fill the space. Indeed, to jump straight to the conclusion, this paper found that the singers prefer performing in churches with higher reverberance. For the technically minded among you, the sweet spot is 2.2-2.6 RT.

What churches are most reverberant?

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the small gothic churches had thegreater perceived on-stage reverberance. I found it interesting that no spaces were perceived to be too reverberant. Indeed, the singers were happy to sacrifice clarity in favour of reverberance.

Another interesting finding of the paper was that reverberance may be difficult to discern above a certain level. This does not surprise me. I’ve learned from experience that the human ear is limited in its nuance—for example, small increments in dBA are not discernable.

Visual aesthetics

I completely agree that aesthetics are critical. Everywhere, but especially in church. The singers agree, with the paper finding that visually appealing spaces were preferable. No coincidence the most visually appealing churches were also the most reverberant. And not a surprise when you consider the purpose of gothic church architecture.

To read the paper in full, find it here.