The acoustic analysis provides additional information on building tradition and related indoor practice that includes sound, thus deepening our understanding of architectural heritage. In this paper, the sound field of the Orthodox medieval church Lazarica (Kruševac city, Serbia) is examined. Lazarica is a representative of Morava architectural style, developed in the final period of the Serbian medieval state, when also the chanting art thrived, proving the importance of the aural environment in Serbian churches. The church plan is a combination of a traditional inscribed cross and a triconch. After the in situ measurement of acoustic impulse response using EASERA software, we built a computer model in the acoustic simulation software EASE and calibrated it accordingly. Following the parameters (reverberation time (T30), early decay time (EDT) and speech transmission index (STI)), we examined the acoustic effect of the space occupancy, central dome and the iconostasis. In all the cases, no significant deviation between T30 and EDT parameter was observed, which indicates uniform sound energy decay. Closing the dome with a flat ceiling did not show any significant impact on T30, but it lowered speech intelligibility. The height of iconostasis showed no significant influence on the acoustics of Lazarica church.

No abstract

The orientation towards equity and quality in education clearly imposes the need for individual approach to each student separately. This situation is especially pronounced in the higher education institutions of applied studies in the field of technology, whose primary goal is very often individual training for use of highly specialized software and hardware tools. In such a situation it is necessary to move away from classical ex-cathedra methodology, and to develop student-centred learning environments. The multi-frontal teaching method was until now experimentally analyzed at the level of primary and secondary education in Serbia, where it shows results that suggest additional research is warranted. The research presented in this paper aims to investigate the effectiveness of this method applied in higher education institution of applied studies in the domain of technology. Results of the conducted research indicate that the application of the multifrontal teaching method shows a positive effect on students' performance, self-efficacy and overall sense of personal gain and satisfaction. Abstract Подаци о ауторимаДраган Новковић је предавач на Високој школи електротехнике и рачунарства струковних студија у Београду.

The overall experience of religious practice is significantly affected by the acoustical properties of temples. Divine service is the most important act in the Orthodox Church, which equally demands intelligibility of speech for preaching and as well as adequate acoustics for Byzantine chanting as a form of a song-prayer. In order to better understand and contribute to unlocking the role of sound in these historical sacral spaces, this paper explores the acoustics of two well-preserved Orthodox churches, from Ljubostinja and Naupara monastery, built in the last building period of medieval Serbia (1371–1459). These represent two types of the Morava architectural style – triconch combined with a developed and compressed inscribed cross, respectively. Using EASERA software, we measured the impulse response for two sound source positions – in the altar and in the southern chanting apse, as the main points from which the Orthodox service is carried out. Thus obtained acoustic parameters (RT, EDT, C50 and STI) were further analysed, pointing out the differences in experiencing sound between naos and narthex, as well as how the position of the sound source influenced the experience of sound. Finally, we compared the results with previous archaeoacoustic research of the churches from the same building period.

Religious practice in Serbia has taken place using both indoors and outdoors sacred sites ever since the adoption of Christianity in medieval times. However, previous archaeoacoustic research was focused on historic church acoustics, excluding the open-air soundscapes of sacred sites. The goal of this review paper is to shed light on the varieties of sacred soundscapes that have supported the various needs of Orthodox Christian practice in medieval Serbia. First, in relation to the acoustic requirements of the religious service, we compare the acoustic properties of masonry and wooden churches based on the published archaeoacoustic studies of medieval churches and musicological studies of the medieval art of chanting. Second, we provide an overview of the ethnological and historical studies that address the outdoor sacred soundscapes and investigate the religious sound markers of large percussion instruments, such as bells and semantra, the open-air litany procession that has been practiced during the annual celebration of a patron saint’s day in rural areas, and the medieval assemblies that took place on the sacred sites. This paper finally points out that the archaeoacoustic studies of sacred soundscapes should not be limited to church acoustics but also include open-air sacred sites to provide a complete analysis of the aural environment of religious practice and thus contribute to understanding the acoustic intention of medieval builders, as well as the aural experience of both clergy and laity.