Wednesday, June 18, 2014

How Acoustic Sound Panels For Churches Improve Clarity

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.

Even without the advantages of computerized modeling, there have been many past attempts to correct this issue. In some churches, absorbent ash was added to pots made of clay, which were then placed near walls and in corners. This trial-and-error method took time, and ash was added or removed as needed. Other ideas included redirecting echoes by altering the interior pillars, or by incorporating grooved 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 cutting out certain frequencies, these baffles absorb unwanted reflections, often within a particular room. They all incorporate a common design approach, using a frame that houses a filling of absorbent material, covered by a variety of decorative possibilities. The interior is most often filled with fiberglass or foam, and there are less environmentally toxic fillers also available.

Size depends on the amount of correction necessary. Some are relatively small, less than four feet square, while others cover most of a wall space. Regardless of actual dimensions, each allows individual waves to pass through rather than bouncing back, and any recurring waves are simply absorbed. A similar method is used by recording studios.

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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