- Echea
An echea or "sounding vase" is a pot, chamber or vessel, similar in function to a modern day
bass trap , originally used in ancient Greek theatres to enhance the voices of performers by resonance. cite book | last = Britton | author = John | coauthor = John Le Keux, George Godwin | title = A Dictionary of the Architecture and Archaeology of the Middle Ages | publisher = Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longmans | date = 1838 | pages = 118 | url = http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vO5PbV1ppbAC] cite web |title = Ready Acoustics, Acoustical Primer | url = http://www.readyacoustics.com/index.php?go=acoustics-advice.acoustics-primer | accessdate =2008-04-05]Echea were usually made of bronze, but could also be earthenware if necessary for economic reasonscite book | last = Birch | first = Samuel | title = History of Ancient Pottery | publisher = J Murray | date = 1858 | pages = 321 | url = http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vO5PbV1ppbAC] .
Echea were placed with a "due regard to the laws and harmony of physics" according to
Vitruvius , the Roman writer. The number of echea used and their positioning depended on the size and shape of the theatre.The vases operate by resonance, enhancing key frequencies of the performers' voices and absorbing those of the audience, thereby changing the sound in the theatre to make voices clearer and more lush.
Similar devicesare said to have been used in early churches, with similar vases to those described by Vitruvius discovered in the vaulted ceiling of the choir of Strasbourg Cathedral, and in Mosques dating back to the 11th century.
References
External links
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=Vyzg2CAoP7UC The Ten Books on Architecture, by Vitruvius, p171-173]
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