Hearing the past: methods and explorations

In this talk Mariana López will start by introducing attendees to the methods used for acoustical heritage research, including the measurement and simulation of past acoustic settings and the recreation of historical soundscapes. The work presented will emphasise the importance of interdisciplinary approaches, which embed considerations of diversity and ethical principles into their frameworks.

A central case study will be presented by Amy Woods, who will present on her dissertation The Acoustic Analysis of the JFK Assassination, with backstory to the event and why it became controversial in relation to the disparity of witness statements, quantity of shots and location of the shots. She will then talk about gunshot acoustics such as shockwaves and binaural hearing. From this, she will show the recreation of the location in Unreal Engine, focusing on how the space was built and how data was collected. Lastly, she will discuss the results and conclusions.