A research cluster, supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), is enabling us to experience our heritage by recreating authentic sounds of the past.

*             What would a ritual at Stonehenge have sounded like 4,000 years ago?
*             Why would different acoustics have saved more lives during the Kings Cross Underground tragedy in 1987?
*             What did Coventry Cathedral sound like before it was bombed in 1940?
*             How is acoustics research changing the way we find out about our heritage?
*             How can listening to the past improve our quality of life for the future?

The cluster entitled ‘Improving Heritage Experience through Acoustic Reality and Audio Research’ (I Hear Too) is seeking to answer these questions by investigating how audio and acoustic research can be employed in the interpretation, understanding and representation of heritage materials and artefacts.

‘I Hear Too’ is part of the AHRC and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council’s (EPSRC) jointly funded Science and Heritage Research Programme.  The cluster is led by Dr Damian Murphy from the University of York. Dr Murphy says,  “Sound is often considered the poor relation of visual stimuli, yet plays a significant role in conveying information for rapid assimilation by a listener.”

Now a podcast has been created where people can listen to the work of the cluster including the sounds of the past at Stonehenge and Coventry Cathedral. The podcast can be accessed on iTunes. 

Dr Murphy says, “Our understanding of the past is greatly enhanced through the insight we gain into how our ancestors would have heard their world. In addition this research helps us to better understand sound in the environment we currently inhabit from the acoustic preservation of old buildings, the design of new ones and to offset the effects of our increasingly noisy world.”            

Dr Murphy concludes “These and other pioneering research projects are already changing the way we study the past. They are also helping to improve the way we live our lives in the future.”

Notes to the editor

AHRC Media contact: Jake Gilmore, Communications Manager, 0117 9876 773; j.gilmore@ahrc.ac.uk

Listen to a podcast on iTunes on the work of the cluster including sounds of the past at Stonehenge and Coventry Cathedral. (Podcast title is ‘Sounds of the past and future’). This podcast is also available on the EPSRC website.

 
Arts & Humanities Research Council  (AHRC): Each year the AHRC provides approximately £102 million from the Government to support research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities, from languages and law, archaeology and English literature to design and creative and performing arts. In any one year, the AHRC makes approximately 700 research awards and around 1,350 postgraduate awards. Awards are made after a rigorous peer review process, to ensure that only applications of the highest quality are funded. The quality and range of research supported by this investment of public funds not only provides social and cultural benefits but also contributes to the economic success of the UK. 

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC): EPSRC is the main UK government agency for funding research and training in engineering and the physical sciences, investing more than £850 million a year in a broad range of subjects – from mathematics to materials science, and from information technology to structural engineering. 

The AHRC and EPSRC Science and Heritage Programme. 

Contacts and further information:

Dr Damian Murphy, University of York, dtm3@ohm.york.ac.uk, tel: 01904 433221.

You can also find out more about latest activities from ‘I Hear Too’