Some of the world’s most iconic houses of worship are known as much for their sound as for their appearance. They are more than a gathering hall where people listen to fire and brimstone sermons. They are places for people to come together to celebrate the Lord. Often music is a big part of the celebration as worshippers raise their voices together with the choir or church band. Many of the older cathedrals had a sense of grandeur and majesty that extended into the sound of the building. Great vaulted ceilings added a sense of auditory spaciousness that made every spoken word or every hymn note sound larger than life.

Many of today’s newer churches don’t have the luxury of building on such a grand scale. Churches have less money and fewer resources to work with than did the state sponsored cathedrals of centuries past. Even if they did have the money there is a justified reluctance to spend money on ostentation when it could instead be used to help provide for those in need within the community. As a result, many of today’s church buildings, while still functional and attractive, are built on a smaller scale.

These modern churches may be metal fabrications, wooden buildings, or be built of masonry, but they don’t often have the luxury of being designed to feature the sounds of worship. Church acoustics are often looked at as an afterthought. Architects or fabricated building designers will add speakers and a fancy sound system after the building is done, and call it a day. While this may (or may not) address the basic issue of allowing everyone in the room to hear what is being said from the altar most of the time, it often isn’t conducive to bringing the best out of worshipful music.

When the choir sings or the band plays, you may get echoes and standing waves that one the one hand cancel out the rich detail of the music or overwhelm the listener with exaggerated bass tones that make what should be a time of joyful celebration into an auditorily unpleasant experience.

These kinds of church acoustic issues can be addressed after the building is build with the additional of affordable room acoustic treatments. Using materials like Owens Corning 703 or Owens Corning 705, acoustic consultants can help you retrofit a church hall to knock down the standing waves and reduce unwanted echoes. A properly treated church hall can not only improve the way that music sounds all throughout the hall, but can also improve the intelligibility of spoken sermons as well. The same acoustic issues that interfere with the clarity of music can also make it difficult to hear and understand normal speech as well. People seated in the back of the hall, or near a side wall may strain to hear the speaker or have trouble making out what is being said because of near field echoes that muddle the sound of the speaker’s voice.

Churches are built to help spread the word. If there are seats in the church were that word can’t be heard, the church building isn’t really doing its job. If this applies to your house of worship, think about adding acoustic room treatments to improve the sound quality of your services.