The Daphnē Aulos

The present paper concentrates on one of the musical instruments retrieved from Grave II at Daphnē, the wooden aulos. Only one pipe of the instrument, together with its bulbous mouthpiece, was found. In the organological account which follows, the pipe is described and assessed, and an attempt is made to reconstruct it and discover its scale. © 2013 © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands

An Experimental Investigation of Rhythmic Irrationality

The present paper investigates 'rhythmic irrationality' in the medium of recited 'word', as this is defined by Aristoxenos and Dionysios Halikarnasseus in three rhythmic contexts: That of the anapaest, of the dactyl, and of the trochee (choreios). For this purpose, computer experiments have been devised, one for each of the aforementioned irrationalities: Against the background of a monitored metronome, a line in each rhythm is initially recited in the rational mode. The line is subsequently recited another seven times, with the podic duration which is to suffer diminution or augmentation, in steps of eighths of the time unit. The eight vocal renderings of each line are then assessed psychoacoustically, in order to locate: (a) the point at which our hearing detects the onset of irrationality, and (b) the point at which a shift from the original rhythm to another is sensed. Keywords © 2018 Copyright 2018 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands

Physical Modeling of the Ancient Greek Wind Musical Instrument Aulos: A Double-Reed Exciter Linked to an Acoustic Resonator

We present a simulation method for the auralization of the ancient Greek double-reed wind instrument Aulos. The implementation is based on Digital Signal Processing and physical modeling techniques for the instrument's two parts: the excitation mechanism and the acoustic resonator with toneholes. Single-reeded instruments are in-depth studied firstly because their excitation mechanism is the one used in a great amount of modern wind-reed instruments and secondly because the physics governing the phenomena is less complicated than the double-reeded instruments. We here provide a detailed model of a system comprised of a double-reed linked to an acoustic resonator with toneholes to sonify Aulos. We validate our results by comparing our method's synthesized signal with recordings from a replica of Aulos of Poseidonia built in our lab. The comparison showed that the fundamental frequencies and the first three odd harmonics of the signals differ 6, 5, 3, and 2 cents on average, respectively, which is below the Just Noticeable Difference threshold. © 2013 IEEE

Ancient Theatre and Performance Culture around the Black Sea

This is the first study of ancient theatre and performance around the coasts of the Black Sea. It brings together key specialists around the region with well-established international scholars on theatre and the Black Sea, from a wide range of disciplines, especially archaeology, drama and history. In that way the wealth of material found around these great coasts is brought together with the best methodology in all fields of study. This landmark book broadens the whole concept and range of theatre outside Athens. It shows ways in which the colonial world of the Black Sea may be compared importantly with Southern Italy and Sicily in terms of theatre and performance. At the same time, it shows too how the Black Sea world itself can be better understood through a focus on the development of theatre and performance there, both among Greeks and among their local neighbours