William W. Ryan, Jr.
Harding Univ., Box 2239, Searcy, AR 72149-0001
Many authors have presented the typical curves of reverberation time versus volume for various auditorium functions, such as religious, concert hall, opera, etc. Most of the religious curves suggest that the auditorium will be used for instrumental (piano or organ) accompaniment of the singing, whether congregational or choir. This paper presents the preliminary results of a congregational survey to discover what the participants of a cappella music desire. A plot of the reverberation times and volumes for the auditoriums of the participating congregations is also presented. From these preliminary results, it appears that the desire is for a more lively environment, and that the reverberation time should be somewhat higher than that of the ``protestant church'' curve as presented in Acoustics by Beranek. [Work supported by Ryan & Associates.]