ATS Acoustics

Acoustics for Churches and Houses of Worship

Sound absorption dates back to medieval times when churches used ash-filled pots to absorb sound. Today, the basics behind sound absorption remain the same: absorb excess noise in order to improve the listening environment.

Acoustical Concerns in Churches

Houses of worship are an important part of communities. They provide a place for baptisms, weddings, funerals, and non-religious functions to take place. Therefore, the acoustics must be multi-purpose to suit a range of needs.

Reverberation and speech intelligibility are two of the biggest concerns. Hard surfaces, such as benches, pews, large windows, choir lofts, vaulted ceilings, and wooden or cement floors create reflective surfaces for sound. When sound is reflected, or allowed to bounce around the room, the end result can be an uncomfortable listening environment.

Acoustical Products Used in Churches

A mixture of sound control treatments and sound absorbers will work best in these facilities.

Acoustic Panels will help eliminate stray reflections from stage monitors, especially where feedback is a problem. They can also be used on side walls, back walls, or be suspended from the ceiling. Larger panels, such as our 48” x 48” x 2” or a 48” x 96" x 2” sizes are ideal in church applications. For more information on large panels, check out our Custom Size Acoustic Panels.

Art Acoustic Panels use high quality prints of your conventional artwork, photos or graphic designs and places them on acoustic panels. Be creative with biblical images, church logos, inspirational messages, and more.

Acoustic Baffles will efficiently absorb sound in discreet applications. Baffles hang from ceiling structures and have two sides available to absorb sound.

If the reverberation is not particularly high and speech intelligibility is more of a problem, diffusion of sound, rather than absorption, may help. While absorption reduces reverberation by controlling reflected sound, diffusion lowers the perceived sound level by scattering sound over a wide area. Our diffusers can help achieve a space that is not too dry for singing, nor too reverberant for the a speaker.

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