Tin? Enamel paint?

Thanks Jackson. There are some good acousticians out there, like Scott Riedel. These are the ones whose advice I am seeking. But I know what you mean . . .

I liked what I was reading just above until I got to 'microphones' and 'false reverb'... and so forth. In other words, an acoustical simulacrum.

Thanks. I'll settle for real acoustics, even if they aren't those that I would wish for. Lies are detestable things. Those which relate to music, highest of all the arts, are particularly pernicious and impious.

As for avoiding acousticians other than those that may be referenced by organ builders, that is sterling advice. But you know that already.

It is not simply the use of dry-wall in the church building, it is the grade of it. Residential dry-wall is typically only 5/8" thick. Even fastened to studs on 16" centers, it will need a lot of horizontal pieces, AND the dry-wall attached to all of the under-structure with some sort of glue, not just mechanical fasteners. The better option is commercial dry-wall that is 5/4" think ( 1 1/4"). Jackson can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe OLW originally had only the residential installed, and the organ builder, Roy Redman, had then glue on a second layer to make it commercial.

IMO Fr. Phillips had it right at Our Lady of the Atonement in San Antonio - using "tilt wall" construction throughout everything. You have to hang an awful lot of stuff on a solid concrete wall to mess up the great acoustics!

Use stainless steel, and make sure there are lots of right angles.

Steve,

Everywhere I look online, commercial drywall is referred to as 5/8 inch and residential is 1/2 inch. I can't find any commercial drywall that is 1 1/4" unless you mean stacking it in several layers?

Of course, Liam. How else will the PIPs be able to read from their Missallettes?

This was actually going some place before it turned funny. I must confess (mea culpa) that I took an Acoustics of Music class at University from a renowned acoustician, (He could simply look at the materials in a Nave, Auditorium, rehearsal hall, or concert hall and give a pretty tight rundown on it's properties.) but only for one semester. I don't know if this the classic, "a little knowledge can be dangerous" type of situation or not, but I can add what I know. The study of acoustics is both a science and an art. To be able to measure, in scientific terms, the properties of a space is only part of the answer. You don't have to know the coefficient of absorption, or sabin units, or what a Helmholz resonator is to find out what you need to get the desired sound. The rule of thumb is to have hard, thick reflective surfaces that equalize the resonance. You can play with a hall that has too much bass or too shrill by changing the surfaces. After taking the class, I bought some fiberglass, one foot square tiles for my very small rehearsal room at home. They were there to absorb some of the tone on my bass trombone (and God knows it needed absorption). They typical Nave really needs to have the most reflection and the least absorption possible. This is a two edged sword, as very bright (loud upper overtones) halls can give you a high note headache. Of course no parallel walls. It's amazing how many Naves i've been in that have the telltale flutter echo: a sure sign of parallel walls. Currently I'm working to have the thick carpeting at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church (Nevada City, CA, est. 1854) ditched in favor of some hard, reflective surface. It was after talking with an old timer in that congo that remembers the 100 year old, 8 inch wide, 1-1/2 inch thick, tongue and groove hardwood plank floors that had wonderful acoustics for music. Most of the rest of the walls are hard alabaster plaster (the old kind) and wood. The choir loft, which houses both the choir and our 1960 Tracker Organ was carpeted, so I ripped it out myself (with an O.K. from the Vestry) and added hundreds of flooring screws to silence the squeaks. It was the same 1-1/2 inch thick flooring as was originally flooring the Nave and with a little reverb support. The change in sound in the loft was breath taking.The singers could finally hear each other. With the traffic on the bare floor, there is a glossy patina developing, but it's not enough. As an experiment, I purchaced 6-4x8,x1 inch thick sheets of hardboard and painted them with something called porch paint in antique red hue to match our Nave furnishings. (see link below) Then we placed them at the front of the Nave, with clips, in front of the communion rail to see if the Compline singers in that location could hear each other and if there was any more sound being reflected. It made a big difference, but it was only an experiment as we had to remove the faux flooring. So, now I'm going to camp out in the Nave for a few days (Sunday evening paint job) and keep all the doors open and fans going to dissipate the fumes from the porch paint in the loft. So, the flooring material, at least in the loft will be both thick and reflective. Remember, the first thing to go in older peoples' hearing (especially for men) is high frequencies. So, helping out the highs has a pointed benefit. The loft was put up in 1896 in a remodeling effort and is on a slight rake down toward the front (kind of like Symphony Hall in Boston) and has no risers. Searching for acoustic resonance is not a slam-dunk. I had a lady yesterday tell me that she valued the comfort of thick carpeting over any musical resonance-and she's a singer! So, it seems I have a little sales work to do. Our nave:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/his_cross/15239547231/
regards, as always, jefe

Mix,
It depends on how old you were in your 8th and 9th summers. AFAIK, the carpeting went in before the sesquicentenial year, around 2003 or 04. One woman in the congo who was into window dressing spearheaded the effort to get that cozy, warm and fuzzy, expensive carpet. In the previous 150 years, the floor was thick, tongue and groove hardwood planks. Jeanie and I did not arrive on scene until 2006.
BTW, in looking again at the photo above, I'm reminded that all the woodworking in the Nave, including the pews and other furnishings was done by one pioneering Anglican in the 1870's who had a sawmill in town. This wouldn't be much of an asterisk on history, except for the fact that he had ONLY ONE ARM!
A couple more facts for your acoustical file. The ideal number of feet from the stage floor of a concert hall to the ceiling at the proscenium. That number is 41 feet. The ideal shape for any serious musical setting is the shoe box with a 41 foot proscenium. Why I've stored all this useless info is beyond me.
regards, as always, jefe