Australian HiFi – July 2019

Hi-Fi Deconst

ructeD

yearprojectexploringkeymomentsinthe

historyofStStephens.Theobjectivewasto

answerlong-standingacademicquestions,

andtacklesomemyths,aboutitsplacein

thedevelopmentofBritain’sparliamentary

heritage.

AspartofthisDrCatrionaCooper,an

archaeologistwitha backgroundincom-

puters,useda computermodeltore-create

theacousticsofthedebatingchamberatthe

timeofWilberforce’sspeech.Havingcombed

throughreportsindicatinghowmanypeople

werepresentandwheretheyweresitting

orstandingshefiguredouthowthespeech

wouldhavesoundedtothosepresent.Her

researchhasbeenpresentedinParliamentary

History,a peer-reviewedacademic

journalpublishingstoriesrelat-

ingtothehistoryofparlia-

mentaryinstitutionsin

theBritishIsles.

Themajoracous-

ticaldifficultywas

echoes,whichshe

describedas‘boom-

ing’.Theywere

sopronounced

thateventhemen

(andtheywereall

men)inthebestseats

wereamongtheworst

affected.Youknowhow

soundbecomesmushedand

muddledwhenyou’rebetweentwo

slightlyout-of-synchpublicaddressspeakers?

It wasa lotlikethat.Hermodelsuggeststhat

thechamberhadanaveragereverberation

timeof1.6seconds.Thisis howlongit takes

forsoundwavestodecayanddie.Thelower

thereverberationtime,thelesstheecho,and

theoptimaltimeforlisteningtovoiceis less

thana second.

DrCooperdeducedthattheverybest

placestobeinordertohearthespeechwere

in the main doorway of the chapel, where

no one sat because it was the doorway, or

standingbehindthespeaker’schair, where

thelistenerwouldnothavebeen able to see

Wilberforceatall.

TheGreatStStephen’sFireof 1834 gave

themen(andtheywereallmen) in power a

chancetobuilda properHouseof Commons,

butnoneofthemunderstoodacoustics. They

electedtobuildtheHousejustas the cham-

berhadbeeninStStephens,an oblong room

wherealltheseatsfacedthoseon the op-

positesidetocreateanacoustic that closely

resembledtheinsideofanempty corrugated

ironwatertank.

A secondchancetoputthings right came

in 1941 whenGermanbombing destroyed

theHouseofCommons.Alas,it was not to

be.WinstonChurchill,cladinthe flag of

patriotism,declaredthattheHouse would

bere-builtexactlyasit hadbeen before the

mischiefperpetratedbyderChermans. He

describedthesoundinthereas‘intimate and

conversational’.Obviouslyhecould hear

himselfjustfine.

Sonotonlywerethefrightful acoustics

preserved,butthisalsoexplains why you

seesomanypeoplestandingatthe doorway

whenallmembersarepresent.There aren’t

nearlyenoughseatsforallthemembers. At

leastthosestandingatthedoor can make

senseofwhat’sbeingsaid.

Listeningtoa speechinthecurrent

HouseofCommonsis,therefore, almost as

difficultasit waswhenWilberforce was just

a twinkleinhisoldman’seye.High ceilings

andstripped-downfurniturekeep the echoes

echoing,andtheforestofmicrophones that

hasbeeninstalled,a measureonce described

tomeasanelectronicband-aid, has done

littletocleartheair.

A questionnowoccurs:Didthe acoustics

oftheHousecontributetotheproblems with

Brexit?

Hopespringseternalinthehuman breast

andtheBritishwillbepresented with yet

anotheropportunitytofixthings in 2025,

whenthePalaceofWestminster is to be

refurbished.Let’snotencourage a referendum

aboutthat. Rod Easdown

C

hances are that you, as a

reader of Australian Hi-Fi

Magazine, are interested

in the black art of acous-

tics. And it’s pretty cer-

tain that you know more

about acoustics than the

average Joe of 1789. There’s probably a big

chance, also, that you wouldn’t care if you

never heard about another politician again.

Have I got a story for you.

On May 12, 1789 a 30-year-old British

politician named William Wilberforce (1759–

1833) gave one of the most famous speeches

ever delivered to the British parliament.

It was such a powerful denouncement of

slavery that it started the abolitionist

movement. But it sufferedan

unrecorded shortcoming...

one that was all about

acoustics.

For a start the

House of Commons

you’ve seen on telly

didn’t exist in 1789.

The lower house of

the British parlia-

ment was located in

St Stephen’s Chapel,

Westminster, once a

lavishly decorated place

of royal worship that was

given over to robust debate

when the parliament first convened

there in 1548. The pollies liked it so much

they stayed there until St Stephens burned

down in 1834, the year following Wilber-

force’s death.

The major acoustic problem with his

speech was that hardly anyone heard it.

Even the folk sitting in the chamber were

struggling to make it out. We know this

because the University of York has just spent

a million quid ($1.93 million) on a three-

82 Australian Hi-Fi

Rod Easdown wonders whether

the terrible acoustics of the House

of Commons, famous politician

William Wilberforce and the fiasco

that is Brexit are all in some way

related to each other...

http://www.aushifi.com