ABSTRACT
In some of the Byzantine ekphraseis, the building is understood as exercising agency over the writer and listener. In the same way, the acoustics modify the voice of the singer. Modern technology complicates this process. On the surface it may seem to reduce these buildings to instruments of the human voice; a space such as Hagia Sophia can be digitally reconstructed and offered to new performers to play in. This chapter presents the results of the author's acoustic measurements and the potential to build a digital model for modern performances. In the study of the acoustics of Hagia Sophia, the most dramatic effect was achieved with explosive (percussive) sources such as drums or bells. Hagia Sophia continues to dazzle when rendered from high-resolution measurements using a 22.2-channel loudspeaker system providing immersive surround sound with height, or in other advanced multichannel reproduction systems able to render aural architecture in three dimensions, as long as the rendering includes elevation.
