Acoustical worship ambience of Spanish Franciscans built churches: Nossa Senhora do Pilar (Goa) and Mission Concepcion (Texas)

Spanish Franciscan Friars established ‘Nossa Senhora do Pilar’ church at Pilar (Goa) in 1613 and ‘Mission Concepción’ at San Antonio (Texas) in 1711. This cross-cultural comparative acoustical study of these churches connects sound decay measures (ISO 3382) with auditory, affective and meta-physical perceptions (complementing ISO/TS 12913-1/2/3). At p≤0.05, ‘Mission Concepcion’ was found more reverberant than ‘Pilar’; ‘sacred music from the choir-loft’ of ‘Mission Concepcion’ was perceived ‘louder’ and ‘clearer’ than from the nave floor; whereas, in ‘Pilar’, ‘sacred music from the nave floor’ was perceived ‘louder’ than from the choir-loft; perception of ‘pleasantness’ and ‘eventfulness’ in both churches showed no significant difference for sacred music from either source; ‘sacred music from the choir-loft’ of ‘Mission Concepcion’ evoked better perception of ‘heightened awareness’, ‘stillness’ and ‘inspiration’; perceived ‘loudness’ of ‘sacred music from the choir loft’ in ‘Pilar’ showed positive correlation with RT60, D50, TS, STI and negative correlation with C80; perception of ‘inspiration’ by ‘sacred music from the choir loft’ in ‘Pilar’ was positively correlating with RT60, TS, STI and negatively correlating with C80 & D50. This study identified character defining acoustical differences between ‘Pilar’ and ‘Mission Concepcion’ which accentuate each of this historic church as a ‘unique living heritage’.