So I was at church on Sunday, and when the priest's microphone went out, I wondered what did people do to make themselves heard in buildings much larger than my church? I know that the Greeks had good knowledge of acoustics, but I've never heard anything about medieval architects.
Judging from my local cathedral or rather basilica St. John's Cathedral in 's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands i can tell you these are incredibly noisy buildings. Every step, cough or word is amplified. The building basically is a giant resonance box. I am not schooled in accoustics but this is how i experience the building.
hi! not discouraging more responses, but just FYI, there are a few mentions of acoustics in medieval buildings in this section of the FAQ
Listen to Maddy Prior and the Carnival Band singing at St. Catherine's Chapel in Abbotsbury on youtube.for a sense of the acoustics. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlwsG4pF2Dk One of the functions of the cathedrals was for the acoustics.