Software developers of casino slot machines have gone beyond the limits of games with fruits on the playground a long time ago. At the moment, their designs are mainly based on true stories, popular series, computer games, and legendary music artists.

The most popular music slot machines are developed in honor of well-known singers, rock bands, and song contests, among others. For example, there are slots devoted to legendary musicians like Elvis Presley or Michael Jackson.

Each software provider uses unique approaches in creating slot thematic machines, adding bonus rounds, free spins, multipliers, and other special features partly or entirely. On this page, we will break down the specific music games and give a list of the top four music-themed casinos in Australia. However, if you want to learn more about AU online gambling sites, check professional reviews from Online Casino Aussie experts.

Jackpot Jill Casino

Meet the empowered princess Jill and enter her magical realm of lucrative promotions and championships, 2500+ gaming titles, and exciting bonus rewards. On the portal, you will find a number of in-demand music-themed slot machines and can play popular multi-vendor slots, including Buffalo Power, Dragon Pearls, and Tiger Stone from three well-known vendors: Playson, Booongo, and Betsoft, respectively.

The promotional section of the site carries a great welcome package for the first five deposits, with which you can claim the match bonus up to AU$7,500. Each of the parts of this package also comes with 20 zero-wager free spins.

There is also an amazing opportunity to join a casino adventure called the Quest and find treasure in the form of extra spins, promos, free cash, and more. Booongo and Playson, two of Jackpot Jill Casino’s popular vendors, offer different pokie tournaments on various holidays and celebrations. With their regular tourneys, you can win cash prizes and boost your bankroll.

PlayAmo Casino

One of the most popular gambling houses among Australians that features a collection of more than 3,500 games filtered by software vendors like BGaming, iSoftBet, Belatra, Microgaming, and others. Music pokies are surely among the top games in PlayAmo’s diverse portfolio. You may find multi-vendor slots like Buffalo Power, Master of Gold, Megadeath, Elvis Frog in Vegas, and Aloha King Elvis, to mention but a few.

The portal offers hefty promotions both for new and loyal customers. You can start with 150 zero-wager free spins and up to AU$300 as a newcomer. And then plunge into additional incentives provided thanks to a great VIP program. There is also a Wheel of Fortune, among other regular casino tournaments, which carries more spins, bonuses, and free cash for gamblers.

Joo Casino

The gambling site allows punters to grab a decent welcome package, weekly reload bonuses, zero-wagered spins, loyalty rewards, and novelty super-promos for high rollers. But there is more to come – daily pokie races and jackpot competitions with seven-figure prize pools!

Joo’s gaming portfolio carries rich and up-to-date music games with various features, including mega ways, cascading reels, expanding wilds, and bonus buys, among others. You can try slot machines, scratchcards, tables, and cards. Popular titles include Guns N’Roses, Book of Rampage, Dolly, Jack Tut’s Treasures, and Jimi Hendrix Megaways, to name but a few.

Get rewarded with up to AU$1,000 and 100 free spins once you make your first deposit on the portal. Then claim reload offers on Mondays and Wednesdays in the form of a 40% match bonus up to AU$100 and zero-wagered spins, respectively. And move up their VIP ladder with mystery prizes revealed each time you hit a new level.

Ricky Casino

One of the most admired gambling portals that are open for Aussie punters 24/7. Ricky lets customers enjoy the newest video slots, live dealer games, tables, lottery and an abundance of jackpot titles. Many of them are on the theme of music, including Elvis Frog in Vegas, Aloha King Elvis, Osbournes, Book of Cats, Guns N’Roses, and more.

When you open an account and fund it with real money, you can qualify for a welcome bonus of up to AU$1,800 and 120 spins on the All Lucky Cover 5 slot machine. Then you may claim six types of deposit bonuses, zero-wagered spins, loyalty rewards, and other special promotions. The special features of Ricky Casino include breathtaking casino tournaments, live dealer games, and VIP offers, among others.

The post Top 4 Online Aussie Casinos By Music Games In 2022 appeared first on Vzwamp.

If you have ever been to an offline casino, you should have paid attention to the fact that there is not even one silent hall. Every room produces its music: it can be a relaxing, cheerful, or upbeat melody. More often than not, casino owners invite celebrities so that guests could hear them singing live.

Thus, let’s take a closer look at how music is related to gambling and what is the psychology behind it in land-based casinos. But if you are not a fan of physical gambling establishments, remember that you can always check the best online casinos and choose the music you enjoy listening to.

Why does Live Music Matter?

In order for brick-and-mortar casinos to continue staying relevant among other establishments in the gambling field, attracting new customers, and continuing to be a destination loyal guests choose, they need to make sure they are implementing different sources of entertainment.

Sure, you can’t talk about casino entertainment without talking about live music. Most modern establishments use a mix of soundtracks and live music to entertain their customers. However, every casino differs in its preference for music. Some prefer soft music while some are into rock and roll or hip hop.

Soft and Slow Music

Recent research on Princeton University surveyed 15,000 customers about what role soft live music and lightning play in their gambling experience. And over 70% answered that it matters a lot, with 17% answering it matters some.

Generally speaking, playing slow live music causes the heart rate of guests to drop, which leaves them feeling less anxious and gets them into gambling even deeper. This type of music also causes the client’s breathing levels to slow down, allowing them to enjoy the gambling process.

Since customers are calm by this background music, it makes them less able to make impulsive decisions. On the other hand, chances are they will gamble more regularly and frequently because they are kind of addicted to this good atmosphere.

Fast and Upbeat Music

Conversely, playing fast music, like rock and roll or hip hop, increases the heart rate of customers, making them angry and more emotionally unstable. This pattern of behavior makes it easier for casino owners to win by making guests feel stressed and pressured.

87% of the time that customers play a round of blackjack or slot with upbeat music in the background, they end up losing money from their games. However, a younger group of people, including millennials and Gen Z, stated that they would be more loyal to fast music that helps them win more money; and eight in ten candidates stated they prefer to gamble with fast music playing in the background.

How Can Casinos Be More Attentive to Guests’ Needs?

Without any doubt, the melody played inside a building will depend on what the casino wants its guests to feel. Some owners think that music can attract new customers and increase their revenues, while some stick to the idea that playing music may annoy guests who desire to gamble quietly. The truth, however, is somewhere in between. And there are many ways casinos can be more attentive to customers’ needs.

Creating a Relaxed Ambience

Casinos can start by playing classic rock melodies to create a relaxed atmosphere inside the building. This is known as background music, as it plays continuously so that gamblers are not aware of it. Properties can also continue adapting the music schedule by selecting songs from popular artists from time to time.

Hosting Live Bands Outside

More upscale establishments typically host live bands to play on Fridays and Saturdays; or they may also have a DJ playing music for their guests. These tools can be used for attracting more people to enjoy the pastime at their properties. However, any performance of this type should be played in a live music area or outside.

Trying Different Genres

While some gambling establishments play a wide selection of songs, some decide to play just one type of melody based on its genre, such as jazz or classical music. And there is no right or wrong decision to make. But in the beginning, it is crucial for casinos to experiment with music formats and genres to understand what can attract more people or even increase their revenues.

The post Why Live Music Should Matter To Casinos appeared first on Vzwamp.

Museum of Antiquity
Modern traffic along the highway greatly violates the ancient atmosphere and makes it difficult to contemplate the monuments of the past. However, the authorities are developing a project that will improve not only the transport hub of the city, but also divert roads from the amphitheater. The amphitheater became an open-air museum in 1973, after excavations were carried out on the territory of the theater. Ericsson, together with Turkcell, launched a large-scale theater renovation project in 2000, which was recently completed.

It is worth noting that the places for spectators are made very traditionally for buildings of this kind. Stone steps were hollowed out in the slope and lined with marble slabs. Best of all, the lower rows have survived to this day, but the upper rows have suffered greatly from the hands of human, as well as natural elements. All rows were separated by vertical passages so that the audience could freely leave the theater, as well as get into it.

One theater and many roles
The platform for the choir is located in the center and has the shape of a semicircle. The choir was located here, which always accompanied all ancient performances with its singing.Initially, this place was the worship of the god Dionysus, and later, during the time of the Romans, the amphitheater became the site of gladiatorial battles.

In the southern part of the amphitheater there is a two-story stage, which has the shape of a rectangle. Until now, holes for mounting various stage decorations have been preserved in the stage wall.
Another interesting attraction that is worth a visit is called St. Peter’s Castle – a historical place, without which there is no Bodrum.

The post Amphitheater of Bodrum appeared first on Vzwamp.

The amphitheater was preserved even with the appearance in the 17th century. a new type of tiered (rank) theater designed for staging opera performances. The opera demanded good acoustics, optics and a larger capacity from the auditorium. This task was performed by tiers of hinged balconies, they increased the number of seats for the audience at the same area of ​​the hall and served as a sound resonator. In the rank theater, the seats began to be divided into stalls (in which the audience originally stood), an amphitheater and a balcony from a number of tiers, later divided by partitions into boxes (Italian type of theater) or in the form of continuous galleries (French type). The last tier of the theatrical balcony differed from the previous ones in that it was an amphitheater, divided by longitudinal and transverse aisles. So there were places for the unprivileged public, colloquially, the so-called. gallery. This type of theater gained worldwide distribution (Milan’s La Scala, 1776, London’s Covent Garden, 1732, the building of the Paris Opera, 1861-1875).With the differentiation of theatrical genres into musical and dramatic ones, a German, or sectoral, more democratic type of theater hall appeared. The hall of the First Drama Theater in Berlin, 1765, one of the first European drama theaters, was rectangular, had no balconies and consisted of one amphitheater. Due to the small capacity (800 people), this type of theater was not widely used. In 1821, the architects of the Berlin New Drama Theater K.F. Schinkel and G. Semper tried to reform the rank theater and return to the ancient form of the theater. The auditorium with a shallow stage and a wide proscenium consisted of a small semicircular parterre and an antique amphitheater with radial passages, ending with an antique colonnade. Such a hall provided all spectators with equal opportunities to see and hear. In 1913, the Berlin Bolshoi Drama Theater with an open stage was built according to the same type (architect H. Pelzig).

The French architect K.N. Ledoux, the founder of the Empire style, tried to return to the type of the ancient theater when designing the theater in Besançon. He moved away from the type of tiered theater, replacing the traditional tiers and boxes with semicircular amphitheater benches, and for the first time placing chairs in the stalls. True, the Ledoux project was an episode in the history of French theatrical architecture, the apogee of which was the magnificent pseudo-Baroque building of the Paris Opera (architect J. Garnier, 1861-1875).In Russia, since the era of Peter the Great’s reforms, a tiered type of theater has developed, predominantly Italian (the largest domestic theaters: the Alexandrinsky in St. Petersburg, the Bolshoi and Maly in Moscow, the Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater, etc.). In home fortress theaters of the 18th century. both the French type of tiered theater (Kuskovo) and the Italian type (Arkhangelskoye) developed. The view of the open palace theater is represented by an amphitheater in Pavlovsk, 1793. In Russia, a hall in the form of an ancient amphitheater has been preserved only in the Hermitage Theater of the old Winter Palace (architect J. Quarenghi, 1784).

At the beginning of the 20th century in Europe, the types of amphitheater or auditorium (an amphitheater with 1-2 tiers of balconies) halls revived. The attempts to reform the theater hall are connected with the evolution of the stage. With the advent of the tiered theater, a deep stage-box appeared, later there were attempts to make it either flat, as in the ancient theater, or with a proscenium leading into the auditorium, or the stage was completely abandoned and the action was transferred to the auditorium (the project of the functionalist architecture leader V. Groppius and director E. Piscator, Germany, 1920s). In the second half of the 20th century theater halls are being built with a stage surrounded by an amphitheater on four sides (Arena Stage in Washington, 1961), with an annular stage and a rotating amphitheater (Theater at Versailles, 1960).

The post Type of theater auditorium appeared first on Vzwamp.

Theater in Epidaurus (Greece)
The theater was built in the 4th century B.C. In ancient times it was used to entertain the nobility and the clergy, and it was believed that the theater had beneficial effects on the physical and mental health of people. For a long time nobody knew about the amphitheater – it was excavated by archaeologist Panagis Kavadias only at the turn of XIX-XX centuries. In 1928 the first production after the excavations, a tragedy by Sophocles “Electra” was staged there, and since 1955 the Amphitheatre in Epidaurus became a festival with Greek and foreign actors. The famous Greek actress Maria Callas sang here.

The best-preserved ancient theater in Greece is not only incredibly beautiful, but it also has stunning acoustics.

Opera festival on a floating stage (Bregenz, Austria)
Every summer thousands of people from all over the world flock to the small Austrian town of Bregenz for the opera festival, which centers around a floating stage. Bregenz festival takes place since 1946, but in recent years it has become extremely popular. Its success is due to the stage in the middle of the waters of Lake Constance. The unusual stage offers theater directors new opportunities, and so the productions in Bregenz are famous for their scenic designs and the most unpredictable sets. An open-air auditorium with a capacity of 7,000 people is the ideal place to see all this beauty at once. Apart from the main – floating – stage, there are other stages, which allows the festival to hold about a hundred events during a month. Check out the festival program at www.bregenzerfestspiele.com.

In addition to the performances there is a lot to see in Bregenz. In the Upper Town it is worth paying attention to the ancient buildings XIII-XVI centuries, the tower of St. Martin, the symbol of Bregenz, Town Hall in 1662 and the Gothic Church of St. Gall, built, however, already in the XVIII century.

Hollywood Bowl (Los Angeles, USA)
Los Angeles, the show business capital of the world, simply must have the largest amphitheater in the United States. Rock stars perform in the Hollywood Bowl, it often hosts theatrical productions – opera, ballet, symphonic concerts, in particular the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra play. Sometimes concerts are accompanied by fireworks for special effect.

You’ll find Fred Astaire and Rudolph Nureyev dancing, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, Andrea Boccelli and Placido Domingo, Cher and Elton John, the Beatles and the Doors, Arthur Rubinstein and Vladimir Horowitz and many, many others singing. For a poster and to purchase tickets, visit www.hollywoodbowl.com. When you go to the evening concert, bring a sweater – nights in California can be chilly even in the summer, and take something to eat: traditionally, the audience has a picnic before the concert.

The Baths of Caracalla (Rome, Italy)
There are quite a few ancient baths preserved in Rome, but the Thermae of Caracalla is the most famous. Once it was a kind of spa where people came not only to steam, bathe, swim in the pool and do sports, but also to communicate with friends, discuss the latest news and even to meet lovers. In the social life of ancient Rome, the Thermae played a huge role. Today the Thermae of Caracalla attract lovers of ancient ruins and music lovers – against the natural scenery of ancient ruins and under the southern Italian sky the familiar works look very different.

In 1990 it was in the Thermae of Caracalla that a concert of the Three Tenors – Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and José Carreras – took place. To find out what’s going on at the Caracalla Thermae, visit the Roman Opera’s website: www.operaroma.it.

Waldbühne (Berlin, Germany)
The Forest Open-air Theatre, which seats 22,000 people, usually hosts rock musicians, but once a year they give way to classical performers: the famous Berlin Philharmonic plays its season finale on the popular rock stage, aided by opera stars Plácido Domingo, René Fleming, Anna Netrebko and others. Listeners sit on the stairs of the amphitheater or on the grass, and the concert traditionally ends with Paul Linke’s march “In the Air of Berlin,” the unofficial anthem of the German capital. In a united impulse, thousands of people light the Bengal lights.

However, in the history of the Waldbühne was not only music, but also sports. The Forest Theater was originally built as a sports facility for the 1936 Olympics and was used as a venue for gymnastics competitions. Then there were movies, boxing matches, and then rock concerts. During the performance of the Rolling Stones on 15 September 1965, fans literally demolished the Waldbühne, and the stage was not reconstructed until seven years later.

Nebworth House (Hertfordshire, UK)
Nebworth House is one of Britain’s oldest residential castles and one of its most prestigious open-air concert venues. It’s been in the hands of the old Leighton family for over 500 years, but today the doors are open to those who aren’t part of the British aristocracy. You can visit the main house and gardens at Nebworth House, but the main thing many people come here for is the concerts of star rock and pop performers, which are held every weekend in the summer. It’s just more proof that Britain honors tradition while keeping up with, and sometimes ahead of, the times.

Even if you don’t like rock music and prefer a quieter pastime, you’ll still enjoy Nebworth House’s steeped history and its Neo-Gothic image, looking as if you’ve read an English novel or a painting by an English master. Nebworth House has a beautiful garden, a dinosaur theme park and a children’s railroad.

Arena di Verona (Rome, Italy)
The Roman amphitheater was built in Verona around the year 30 for gladiatorial fights. An earthquake in 1117 almost completely destroyed the outer ring of the amphitheater and the stones from its walls were used as building material for other buildings. Centuries later the willing quenched their need for spectacle here. Today it is the most famous open-air opera house and a perfectly preserved ancient amphitheatre, second in size only to the Colosseum in Rome.

Renowned for its incredible acoustics, the Arena di Verona was reopened in 1913, when the entire world was preparing to celebrate the centenary of Giuseppe Verdi’s birth – an unusual venue was needed to stage his opera Aida. In 1947, Maria Callas performed here. Many opera stars, including Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti and Renata Tebaldi, have performed under the Verona sky.

From June to September the Arena di Verona hosts opera productions and concerts by international stars. The summer music festival is enormously popular, so buy your tickets in advance. You can do so at www.arena.it.

Dubrovnik Summer Festival (Dubrovnik, Croatia)
In summer, Dubrovnik becomes an open-air concert venue – a summer festival is held in the city, and the scenery for concerts, theatrical performances, operas and ballets are the historic buildings of the Old Town – the Cathedral, St. Vlasija Cathedral and the 15th century Knežev Palace. The cultural program is usually designed for evening, while during the day you can sunbathe on the Adriatic and explore the sites. The starry sky, the light breeze from the sea, the majestic works of ancient masters perfectly complement the impression of the divine sounds of music. The festival has been held since 1950 and historically emerged as a cultural bridge between Western and Eastern Europe, which were on opposite sides of the barricades after World War II. Until now European culture is one of the main focuses of the festival. Check www.dubrovnikfestival.hr for dates.

Meredith Amphitheater (Australia)
In December, when it’s winter in the northern hemisphere, Australia is in the height of summer and time for the massive three-day Meredith Music Festival. It takes place at the Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre, an open-air theater located on a private farm in the small town of Meredith near Melbourne, Australia’s Capital of Culture.

The city hosts a huge number of events, and Melbourne ranks first in the country for the number of theaters. The National Ballet of Australia and Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Orchestra are based here so if you’re not interested in rock and pop at the Meredith Festival you’ll still find music to suit your tastes.

The festival has been running since 1991 and is extremely popular. It’s not easy to get in: some tickets are sold by lottery on a subscription basis, others are sold in Melbourne record stores, and only what’s left goes on public sale online.

The post World amphitheaters and outdoor performances appeared first on Vzwamp.

Walls and ceilings play an important role in how we hear music. They absorb or reflect sound waves, or do both bit by bit. A sound engineer’s main job is to control these reflections, because they make a big difference in the audible sound. Imagine a large concert hall: long and narrow, with a hard surface. It’s no accident.

“In a concert hall, you hear reflections from the walls and ceilings,” says Trevor Cox, professor of acoustic engineering at Salford University in England and author of “The Sound Book: The Science of Sound Wonders of Light. “Those extra seconds of sound embellish the music and give you a sense of encompassment. Outdoors, the sounds go away.

So, how can you make the most of an acoustically suboptimal situation?

First, stick to fast music. Some genres need reverb – those that reflect sound waves. Slow-moving pieces benefit from three seconds of lingering sound. It blends the notes together, creating an ethereal feel. That’s why cavernous churches with hard, stone-like reflective surfaces are great places for organ music. Dynamic music, like rock ‘n’ roll and hip-hop, needs less: you don’t want to hear the aftermath of notes when the musicians are already four bars ahead of you.

Outdoor venues usually have little natural reverberation. Sound waves travel up and outward without bumping into anything, and the random objects they bump into, such as grass and human flesh, are absorbing. Even if reverberation were possible, sound engineers wouldn’t necessarily want to use it. They might have to prevent sound from penetrating nearby houses. They also worry about the weather: with temperature inversion-when cold air is trapped under a layer of warmer air-the sound rising up can be reflected back into the audience, fighting unpredictably against new sounds coming from the speakers. The best tactic in these circumstances is to create a focused sound beam.

“Expanded speakers send music in a certain direction, like a spotlight,” Cox says. “You can place speakers with different directivity to create patterns and confine the sound to a very focused area. When you’re swept up in an explosion of that kind of sound, you want rock ‘n’ roll or more upbeat jazz. If you have to go to an outdoor classical concert, try something bright, like baroque music.

Some outdoor environments provide better sound than others. The best place is a seating area with a slant and a stage below. There’s a reason why amphitheaters have been set up this way for thousands of years, and not just to help people from behind see.

“Greek amphitheaters are amazing places,” Cox says. “They seem to have used stage space to add reflections from the floor, and the high seats keep the sound from going through too many heads.”

Position yourself in a spot with an unobstructed line between you and several speakers to improve your listening experience. But that’s not the only factor to consider when holding an outdoor concert.

First, don’t sit too close to the speakers. The sound they produce is intended for people hundreds of feet away, often over several obstacles. Standing only a few feet away is the sound equivalent of drinking from a fire hydrant.

Then find the mixing desk. The sound engineer is usually about two-thirds of the distance between the stage and the back of the auditorium. If you sit close by, you get the sound exactly as the engineer thinks it should be heard.

If the sound engineer is moved away from the stage, you should wander around before deciding where to sit. Different surfaces absorb sound at different frequencies. (For example, manufacturers stuff car doors with materials that absorb high frequencies, so you hear a distinct thud when you close the door, Cox writes in his book.) and high frequencies. It helps to stop and close your eyes once in a while: our heavy reliance on sight undermines our subtle listening skills.

The post Want to really hear music at an open-air concert appeared first on Vzwamp.

The theater, dating back to the 4th century B.C. and arranged in 55 semicircular rows, remains the great masterpiece of Polycletus the Younger. Audiences of up to 14,000 have long been able to hear the actors and musicians without amplification, even from the back row of the architectural masterpiece.

How this sound quality was achieved has been the source of academic and amateur speculation, with some theories suggesting that prevailing winds carry the sounds or mask the amplified voices.

Echoes in the seats
Now researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have discovered that the limestone material of the seats provides a filtering effect by suppressing the low frequencies of voices, thereby minimizing the background noise of the crowd. In addition, rows of limestone seats reflect high frequencies back to the audience, amplifying the effect.

Researcher Nico Declerk, a mechanical engineer, initially suspected that the tilt of the theater had something to do with the effect.

“When I first encountered this problem, I thought the great acoustic effect had to do with the surface waves rising through the theater with virtually no attenuation,” Declerk said. “While the performers’ voices were sounding, I didn’t expect that the low frequencies of speech would also be filtered out to some degree.”

However, ultrasonic wave experiments and numerical models showed that frequencies up to 500 hertz (cycles per second) were reduced and frequencies above 500 hertz were not reduced, he said.

Acoustic traps.
The corrugations on the surface of the seats act as natural acoustic traps. Although this effect would also seem to remove low frequencies from actors’ voices, listeners actually fill in the missing part of the sound spectrum through a phenomenon known as virtual pitch. The human brain reconstructs the missing frequencies, creating a virtual pitch phenomenon, as when listening to someone speaking on the phone without low frequencies.

Surprisingly, the Greek theater builders themselves did not understand the principles that led to the exceptional audibility of sound from the stage.

Attempts to recreate the design of the Epidaurus never matched the original. Later seating used other materials, such as wood for benches, which may have ultimately thwarted efforts to duplicate the design.

The post The mystery of the amazing sound of the Greek amphitheater is solved appeared first on Vzwamp.

There really is something to admire here: the Pula Arena proudly bears the title of the sixth largest amphitheater in the world – in the days of its glory, more than 20 thousand spectators came here to crave bread and circuses. Today, the amphitheater continues the glorious traditions of the stage venue: concerts of music of all genres are regularly held here – from classical to rock, and in the summer, “gladiator” fights are held weekly – to the delight of the resting public, whose passion for spectacles has not changed at all over the past two thousand years .

In the summer, every week in the amphitheater of Pula, the historical Spectacvla Antiqva performance is held, which includes gladiator fights in the arena and an initiation into the intricacies of ancient Roman life.

A bit of history
The construction of the Arena began in the 1st century AD – then Pula was the crossroads of trade routes of the Adriatic and further – the Mediterranean. A large number of local and working for the benefit of the Roman Empire population had to be somehow distracted from the painful thoughts about their daily bread (which flowed into the bins of the metropolis) – and so it was decided to build an amphitheater in which gladiator fights would be regularly held. The arena accommodated up to 23 thousand spectators, located on three floors of stands.

The arena performed its direct function until the 5th century, when gladiator fights were prohibited, and began to gradually fall into decay.In the Middle Ages, cattle grazed here, jousting tournaments and fairs were held, and the amphitheater was slowly taken away for building materials.
The restoration of the building took place in the 18th and early 20th centuries, today the number of spectators is about 5 thousand.

The Pula Arena is perfectly visible from afar against the backdrop of low-rise urban development. Coming closer, pay attention to the four towers, as if fused into the contours of the amphitheater on the four cardinal points – they served as the supporting structure of the entire building. The arches of the three tiers of the Arena are supported by columns with capitals of three architectural orders – Doric, Ionic and Corinthian.

Once inside, be sure to take a walk along the elliptical arena, whose dimensions are 68 by 41 meters – once blood flowed here and the audience, hungry for reprisals, announced the walls of the amphitheater with excited exclamations. Steep stairs lead down to the dungeon and view the chambers where gladiators and wild animals were kept in anticipation of a fight. There is also a small exposition telling about the history of the amphitheater. Be sure to go up to the spectator stands and the top tier of the Arena for superb views of the surrounding countryside and the sea.

In the summer, every week in the amphitheater of Pula, the historical Spectacvla Antiqva performance is held, including gladiator fights in the arena and initiation into the intricacies of ancient Roman life – the opportunity to taste food and wine according to ancient recipes, as well as try on clothes of those times.

The post Pula Amphitheater appeared first on Vzwamp.

Over time, the appearance of the amphitheaters changed. For example, the external staircases that provided access to the public in early amphitheaters such as the amphitheater in Pompeii were later removed inside, and the facade was decorated with arches, semi-columns and statues. Such are the amphitheaters built approximately from the turn of the old and new eras and later – the Colosseum, the amphitheaters in El Jem, Verona, Pula, Nimes and others.

The arena (from the Latin “arena” – “sand”) of the amphitheater was an elliptical surface sprinkled with sand with approximate dimensions of 65–80´35–50 m. , however, they were necessary for the solemn procession (pomp) and the persecution of animals (venatio). In most amphitheaters, the arena was not located directly on the ground, but on a special wooden platform. Under the arena, there was a whole complex of separate rooms and passages, called the hypogeum.There were warehouses with scenery and weapons, dressing rooms, wild animals and their attendants were housed, there were also elevators on which the participants of the performances were lifted for their more spectacular appearance in the arena (see below for the design of elevators using the example of the Colosseum). In addition to the underground hypogeum complex, behind the high wall of the podium there was a number of rooms, some of which had access to the arena. This gallery, going around the arena, was called the punishment cell. Usually the punishment cell carried only an additional function, but in amphitheaters without an underground floor, the punishment cell served as a hypogeum.

Caligula and Nero at magnificent games showed a colored arena – “red lead and mountain greens” were poured over the sand, as a result of which the arena acquired a red or green color. These colors reflected the passions of the two parties of fans of chariot races in the circus – “Red” and “Green”.

Sometimes for performances on a mythological theme, animal hunts or theatrical executions in the arena, a landscape was erected from mountains, trees and buildings. In some amphitheaters, including the Colosseum before the construction of the hypogeum, special pools were made under the arena, designed to be filled with water. During most of the usual performances, they were covered with plank flooring. Pools of water were intended to represent mythological subjects and to hunt sea and river “monsters” (crocodiles and hippos). Sometimes they also held mini-naumachias with the participation of small boats and ship models.However, the arena was too small for real naumachia, and they were arranged on natural or artificial lakes.

To protect spectators from wild animals and gladiators, the arena was surrounded by a high wall (from 2.2 to 4 m). However, some animals from the cat family could take this height. Therefore, during performances with them, the height of the podium wall was additionally increased with a stretched net or poles with a net stretched between them were installed in the arena at a distance of 2 to 4 m in front of the wall. The latter option was preferable: on the one hand, the animals could not even approach the wall of the podium, and on the other, there was no possibility that any action would take place right next to the wall of the podium in an area invisible to some.

To protect against bad weather or the bright sun, a mirmillon awning was stretched over the stands of the amphitheater. Velarius was a strip of fabric attached to special masts. Depending on the position of the sun, it was moved, involving professional sailors for this.
The seats in the amphitheater (loka, kavea) were organized in such a way as to emphasize the social hierarchy of society. For the first time, senators received seats separate from the people at the games of 194 BC. Then it gave rise to a lot of talk: some supported such a division, others fiercely criticized, accusing the senators of excessive pride. In the end, the side of the latter was taken by Scipio Africanus himself, who proposed this innovation. However

The post Design of amphitheaters appeared first on Vzwamp.

Auditorium seating
The classic auditorium in the theater is divided into several parts.

The parterre, the seats in front of the stage on the lower level, are some of the most comfortable in the auditorium: from here you have an even view of the stage, especially from the center seats in the row. Many experienced theater fans believe that the ideal seats in the parterre – the middle of 5-7 rows.

Amphitheater – seats behind the parterre. As a rule, they are located in a semicircle and may have several tiers. The stage is well visible, but since the seats are at the very end of the hall, we recommend you to use theatrical binoculars – they will certainly be useful to look closely at the scenery, the finest nuances of the actors’ mimicry and acting.

The Benoître boxes are at the same level with the stage on each side of the parterre. The boxes are separated from each other by partitions. Some halls have not only boxes in the Benoire, but also classical rows.

The mezzanine level is the tier above the Benoir. Bel étage” in French sounds like “beautiful floor”, and the word itself came from architecture: in rich houses it was the second floor, located above the plinth, that was customary to decorate ornamentally. In the theater, the mezzanine is also very convenient for watching plays and belongs to the expensive seats in the auditorium.

By the way, it is in the center of the mezzanine that the so-called royal boxes are usually located: in former times they were used by monarchs, and today such boxes are open for famous and honorable guests. The royal boxes are rarely available for free sale.
Balcony – seats above the mezzanine. Depending on the size of the hall, the balcony may consist of one or more tiers. Seats on the upper tier of the balcony are called the gallery: from here the scene is much less visible than, for example, from the stalls, but the ticket price is noticeably lower.

How to choose comfortable seats in a theater
The scheme is valid for large auditoriums, especially in the old theaters with a history. But in modern theaters halls can be completely different, for example, consisting only of the parterre or parterre with several boxes at the balcony level.

Before buying a ticket, it is recommended to carefully study the information on the official website of the theater. Many of them offer virtual tours, which clearly show the scale of the hall, its arrangement – the aisles, the distance between the rows and different parts of the hall, the proximity of the first row to the stage and other nuances.

The post How the auditorium is set up appeared first on Vzwamp.