Virtual reconstruction of spanish cathedrals: the sound of choir and other weakly coupled volumes in Seville Cathedral

Abstract

The paper takes advantage of a recent detailed survey of Spanish Cathedrals to investigate the acoustic differences between choir and other weakly coupled volumes in very large spaces. Experimental measurements carried out in a limited number of source-receiver combinations confirmed the existence of double slope behaviour, which markedly influences such spaces. The analysis of the impulse responses was carried out by means of Bayesian parameter estimation, in order to correctly identify the individual decay times. The subjective effect of such coupling was first discussed, showing that having steeper initial decay may significantly contribute to clarity and intelligibility without affecting reverberation. Then, in order to better clarify the role of the architectural features defining such spaces, a geometrical acoustic model of the Cathedral of Seville was performed and a more refined analysis was carried out by analysing a tightly spaced grid of receivers inside the sub space and investigating point by point variations. Results showed that further variations appeared inside the sub-volume, depending on source receiver distance, but the double slope behaviour was clearly visible and characterised the listening experience inside the choir.