Using multiple computer models to study the acoustics of a sixteenth-century performance space

Abstract The present paper explores the use of computer simulations to study the acoustical heritage linked to the York Mystery Plays, a series of medieval dramatic performances that took place in the streets of York (UK) from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century. This study focuses on the use of a multiplicity of computer-generated models of a sixteenth-century performance space (Stonegate, a street in central York) to study its acoustic characteristics and by doing so demonstrates how the multiplicity of simulations can allow the exploration of different historical unknowns. The different virtual models designed include changes in the height of the buildings, the types of windows and whether the latter were closed or open during the performances. Results demonstrated that there is a significant impact on the acoustics related to the variation in buildings’ height as well as due to changes between open and closed windows. The simulation of different types of windows, in-line with the wall and projecting, was also explored but the impact of this change on the acoustics of the space was minimal.