ACOUSTICS OF ST. ANDREW’S

Taranaki Daily News, 1 December 1932, Page 3

ACOUSTICS OF ST. ANDREW’S

DIFFICULTY IN NEW CHURCH. ■■ ■ _ y——— . •. ; " • EXPERIMENTS TO SQLVE PROBLEM. The acoustic properties of St. Andrew’s, the New Presbyterian Church on the corner of Liardet and Courtenay Streets, New Plymouth, were under discussion at last night’s, annual meeting of the congregation in the old Devon Street church. Like most large , new buildings where it is necessary for the human voice to be distinctly heard in all quarters, some difficulty is being experienced by the managers in achieving perfection, and experimentsare being followed. , The matter was . mentioned by. the moderator, the Rev. J. D. McLennan Wilson, who said that although the . difficulty was not great it persisted as it had done in a great number of churches and halls when they were first erected. Wth the idea. of. ascertaining means of preventing “blurring” of the voice several experiments had been tried, and it seemed that some progress was being made. First curtains had been draped on the north wall, and then flags had been hung inside the nave. Some improvement resulted in different parts of the building. Composition • was. then placed on the north wall again, and the last experiment had been the placing of composition on the-transept with a canopy over the pulpit. In the latter case there had been a distinct Improvement, but he felt there was still room for further experiment. Difficulties of acoustics were hard to overcome, for each building differed, said Mr. W. L. Thompson. In St. Andrew’s the voice seemed to travel about the smooth' walls and clash. It seemed that whatever was done some people in the building would hear better than others. He had been in communication with experts, and they suggested a sounding board over the pulpit and coverings on different walls. Personally, he had heard much better on the occasion of the last experiment mentioned by Mr. Wilson. Every word had been clear, which was more than he could say of the previous experiments. A lady who had occupied the same seat as she had done on previous occasions had told him the . same thing, so it seemed that the managers were working on the right lines. Once it was: definitely decided what would improve the position it would be a question of money, for perfection as far as possible had to be obtained. Probably about £5O would be. required, but it was of no use spending money until- experiment had decided the best course. Mr. H. Cocker also referred to the difficulties .of hearing. He suggested, that wires and curtains should be tried as well as the pulpit canopy and wall coverings. , l “I think it would be a retrograde step if we were to hang curtains and so on inside our church,” said Mr. W. Ogle. “Inside and out, it is a fine building, but I have had no difficulty in hearing, in spite of the fact that I have sat in four different seats. .1 think it is a matter of becoming accustomed to the bigger building.” Mr. Cocker said others were in the same position as himself, and expressed the opinion that Mr. Ogle was -fortunate in having such good hearing. “EXPECTED TO HEAR MINISTER.” The congregation expected to be able to hear their Minister, said Mr. E. Dingle. The managers had recognised that, and he believed that the experiments should be continued until the acoustics were perfected. Canopies and coverings would not represent a backward step if they improved the acoustic properties of the church.

Mr. Wilson said there appeared to be two points of view. Mr. Ogle did not like the thought of innovations that might affect the beauty of the place of worship, and others who found difficulty in hearing wanted that rectified. While it was not necessary to hear in. a church to worship in it, he believed that perfect hearing assisted towards. worship. The matter would receive* serious thought by the managers, and he had no doubt that it could be remedied. He mentioned Parliament House and St. Paul’s Church, Wanganui, as two buildings where acoustics had given difficulty until overcome by experiment. If necessary, the congregation could be consulted on the matter after further experiment.