Preservation and Visualization of Sound Heritage: Case Study of the Sacred Bell of King Seongdeok

Abstract. In this study, a sound source modelling method using near-field acoustic holography was proposed as a method to preserve the acoustic radiation characteristics of acoustic heritage, and a series of processes to archive and reproduce the radiation characteristics of the Sacred Bell of King Seongdeok were realized by the proposed approach. The most important essence of an object that produces sound, such as a musical instrument, is the sound itself. Therefore, it is more important to preserve the sound so that future generations can hear it, rather than information such as the appearance, e.g., photo or drawing. However, it cannot be said that all information of sounds is preserved simply by recording well at one point. The sound field radiating from an object also contains spatial radiation characteristics, and it is necessary to preserve information about this. In this study, an actual measurement and reconstruction process based on sound source modeling techniques was proposed to record and reproduce the spatial acoustic radiation characteristics of the Sacred Bell of King Seongdeok. Throughout the process, it was confirmed that the sound field reproduced well represents the unique characteristics of the actual sound heritage and through this, it is expected that a more faithful level of preservation of cultural heritage in the form of intangible sound will be possible.