Acoustics of Apulian-Romanesque Churches: Correlations between Architectural and Acoustic Parameters

Abstract

This paper concludes the analysis of the results of an acoustic survey carried out on nine Romanesque churches in Apulia (Southern Italy), described in detail in a previous paper. The study was performed taking into account both room-average values and individual position values of monaural and binaural acoustic parameters, measured according to ISO 3382. First the effect of architectural parameters on reverberation time was investigated, showing that volume and materials play an important role. Then room-average values of the other acoustic parameters were investigated, showing that some are mostly correlated with reverberation time and others with total acoustic absorption. Analysis of individual location values showed that monaural parameters can be expressed as functions of the source-receiver distance, and one or two of the following parameters: room volume, total absorbing area, mean absorption coefficient, total length and reverberation time. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that individual position values of acoustic parameters describing clarity, are significantly correlated to each other.