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Acoustic jar

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+#REDIRECT [[Acoustic_jar]] {{R from merge}}
-An '''echea''', or ''sounding vase'' (literally ''echoer''),<ref name="Information1974">{{cite book|author=Reed Business Information|title=New Scientist|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pCkprha8oIAC&pg=PA552|accessdate=6 May 2013|date=21 November 1974|publisher=Reed Business Information|pages=552–|issn=0262-4079}}</ref> is a pot, chamber or vessel that is similar in function to a modern-day [[bass trap]]. They were supposedly used in ancient Greek theaters to enhance the voices of performers through [[resonance]],<ref name="BrittonArchaeology">{{cite book
- |author=[[John Britton (antiquarian)|John Britton]], [[John Le Keux]], [[George Godwin]]
- |title=A Dictionary of the Architecture and Archaeology of the Middle Ages
- |publisher=Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longmans
- |year=1838
- |page=118
- |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vO5PbV1ppbAC
-}}</ref><ref name="AcousticalPrimer">{{cite web
- |title=Ready Acoustics, Acoustical Primer
- |url=http://www.readyacoustics.com/index.php?go=acoustics-advice.acoustics-primer
- |accessdate =2008-04-05
-}}</ref> though no archaeological evidence has been found. They were typically made of [[bronze]], but were also made of [[earthenware]]<ref name="BirchAncientPottery">
-{{cite book
- |last=Birch
- |first=Samuel
- |title=History of Ancient Pottery
- |publisher=J Murray
- |date=1858
- |pages=321
- |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vO5PbV1ppbAC
-}}</ref> for economic reasons.
-== Construction ==
-The vessels mentioned by Vitruvius in his ''Ten Books on Architecture'' are made of bronze and designed specifically for each unique theater. They were then placed in niches between the theater's seats, specifically so that nothing was touching them. They used mathematical calculations to decide where they should be placed.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Brillls New Pauly CYR-EPY|last=|first=|publisher=Leiden|year=2004|isbn=|location=Boston|pages=782}}</ref> "They should be set upside down, and be supported on the side facing the stage by wedges not less than half a foot high."<ref name=":0" />
-== Usage ==
-Both their use in Roman times and usefulness have been debated. Thomas Noble Howe wrote in his commentary on Vitruvius' ''Ten Books on Architecture'',<ref name=":0">{{cite book|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=a9ayDAAAQBAJ|page=171}}|title=The Ten Books on Architecture|last=Pollio|first=Vitruvius|date=19 July 2016|publisher=Vitruvius Pollio|isbn=978-605-04-8404-5|page=171–173}}</ref> "These vessels, bronze or clay, may be another example of Vitruvius singling out a highly technical feature of Greek architecture that was uncommon, but between eight and sixteen potential sites with evidence of echea have been identified. It is debatable whether such vessels amplified or deadened sound."<ref>{{cite book|title=Ten Books on Architecture|last1=Vitruvius|date=1999|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-00292-9|editor1-last=Howe|editor1-first=Thomas Noble|edition=9th Printing|location=New York, NY|page=245}}</ref> Echea were used with a, "due regard to the laws and [[harmony]] of physics," according to Roman writer [[Vitruvius]]. The vases operated by resonance, enhancing key frequencies of the performers' voices and absorbing those of the audience, which altered the sound in the theater to make the performers' voices clearer and more lush.<ref name="AcousticalPrimer" /> The size and shape of a theater determined the number of echea used, and their positioning within it.<ref name="BrittonArchaeology" />
-There is the possibility that echea were not used at all, as they may have never existed. Brill states that, "It is possible that Vitruvius, following the teachings on harmony by Aristoxenus, took speculation for reality."<ref name=":1" />
-== History ==
-Vitruvius mentions a man named Lucius Mummius, who destroyed the theater of Corinth. He then brought the remains of the building's bronze echeas back to Rome. After selling the fragments, Mummius used the money to make a dedicatory offering at the temple of Luna.<ref name=":0" />
-Similar devices were used in early churches. Some were discovered in the vaulted ceiling of the choir of [[Strasbourg Cathedral]], as well as in [[mosque]]s dating to the 11th century.<ref name="BrittonArchaeology" /><ref name="AcousticalPrimer" />
-In a city park in Syracuse, Italy, artist [http://www.michelespanghero.com/ Michele Spanghero] built the ''[http://www.michelespanghero.com/works/echea-aeolica/ Echea Aeolica]'' in 2015. This fiberglass and steel sound sculpture is based on the ancient echea "to create a connection to the ancient history of the land as if it leads an echo from afar."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.michelespanghero.com/works/echea-aeolica/|title=Echea Aeolica {{!}} michele spanghero|website=www.michelespanghero.com|language=it-IT|access-date=2018-04-05}}</ref> The permanent installation is interactive, encouraging viewers to use it as a listening device.
-== References ==
-{{reflist}}
-[[Category:Ancient Roman culture]]
-[[Category:Ancient Greek pot shapes]]
-{{physics-stub}}
-{{AncientGreece-archaeology-stub}}
-{{AncientRome-stub}}