From Measurement to Music: Reviving the Acoustic Heritage of St. Michael’s Church, Coventry, UK

This paper presents findings from the Aural Histories project, which explores how music was experienced in historical ecclesiastical spaces through acoustic modelling and auralisation. Focusing on St Michael’s Church, Coventry, UK, digital reconstructions of the building as it may have stood in 1451 and 1617 were created using archival and typological evidence, and analysed using Odeon software. Simulations suggest that architectural changes between these dates had only minor impact on acoustic conditions in the chancel, with reverberation and clarity metrics remaining consistent. To support auralisation, recordings of an eight voice choir performing Tallis’s Why Fum’th in Fight were captured in both studio and anechoic settings. Spectral and cepstral analyses revealed minimal differences between the two, particularly in mid and high frequencies. Expert listening tests showed no statistically significant perceptual differences between auralisations using either source supporting the practical use of studio recordings in virtual acoustic reconstructions. Future work will explore additional repertoire and conduct further perceptual testing in immersive environments such as the Birmingham SoundLab® to assess the impact of recording choices on spatial perception and listener experience.