Jesus As Sound Engineer
Auguste Raes’ book “Isolation Sonore et Acoustique Architecturale” (Sound Insulation and Architectural Acoustics) contains a chapter on open-air speaking. It is interesting to note the following under the heading “Gospel Preaching”:
“The Gospel texts relate: ‘He got into one of the boats . . . and asked him [Simon] to put out a little from the shore . . . and taught the crowds from the boat.’—Luke 5:3, ‘The Jerusalem Bible.’
“There is nothing to suggest an appreciable change in the sloping banks of the lake of Gennesaret since those events took place. Let us then apply these texts to the most common contours of its present-day banks. . . .
“All of the most propitious elements for sound reception are present. Firstly, the entire audience can see the speaker and receive direct sound. Because of the sloping ground, the farther away the people are from the speaker, the higher they are situated on the banks. Next, the calm surface of the waters of a lake are the very best reflector. Sound thus reflected follows a trajectory very close to that of direct sound. . . . distinctness is unimpaired, with a six-decibel amplification. This reflector is situated in the direction of the voice diffusion, namely, in front of the speaker.
“Lastly, we here have an example proving an important practical rule: the speaker must not be too close to his audience.”
When the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead was located in upstate New York, the instructor in public speaking used to illustrate these principles by speaking across a pond to his students seated in the amphitheater on the other side.