Acoustic characterization of the ancient theatre of Tyndaris: Evaluation and proposals for its reuse

Ancient theaters are one of the most representative signs of civilization belonging to Greek culture. The origin of these structures dates back to the 5th century BC: designed for the perfect acoustics, they were used at different purposes – religious ceremonies, political assembly, theatrical and musical performances – with progressive developments and diffusion outside Greece. Theaters were object of architectural modifications already in ancient epoch, during Hellenistic and Roman periods. Today, the damages due by time, atmospheric agents and invasive restorations are responsible for critic conditions of conservation of ancient theaters and, consequently, of their remarkable acoustics. Moreover, the revival of the ancient drama leaded to the reuse of ancient theaters nowadays, practice that is commonly accepted in many countries, but barely reasoned on the effective properties of their complex acoustical apparatus. In this article, the theatre of Tyndaris, in Sicily (Italy) is chosen as case study. The results of an extended measuring campaign are reported. The analysis of the theatre as geometrical model allows the comprehension of its original acoustical characteristics and the design of a scenic proposal, specifically developed to enhance the natural acoustics. This scenery is evaluated by means of an acoustic simulation tool, Odeon v.13.1. The calibration of the virtual models refers to the objective acoustic parameters, to the arrival time of the only strong early reflection (Δt) and to the Direct- to-Reflective energy Ratio (DRR). Listening tests are performed using auralizations

An Experimental Study on the Influence of Soundscapes on People’s Behaviour in an Open Public Space

Several studies have investigated how environmental sounds and music can modulate people’s behaviours, particularly in marketing research. However, there are relatively few examples of research about such relationships with a focus on the management of urban public spaces. The current study investigated an open public space used mainly as a pedestrian crossing to analyse the relationship between the audio stimuli and peoples’ behaviours. An experiment relying on covert behavioural observation was performed. During the experiment, three different music stimuli and a control condition (i.e., no music) were reproduced in order to find out firstly whether music compared to no music could elicit an increase in the number of people stopping in the investigated area, and secondly whether music is associated with a longer duration of stay for those who stop. Results showed that the presence of music had no effect on the number of people stopping in the area, but it had a statistically significant effect on the duration of stay for those who stopped. The above findings support the idea that people felt more invited to stay in the area with music rather than with no music, and suggest that the acoustical manipulation of the existing sound environment could provide soundscape strategies capable of promoting social cohesion in public spaces