Acoustic search for 'The Witches Valley'

Abstract

The city of Benevento is famous for the legend of witches as they gathered in a place outside the city and danced under a magical Walnut tree. This legend was resumed in 1639 in Piperno's book "De Nuce Maga Beneventana" which describes this place located in the valley of the river "Sabato". Another hypothesis states that this legend is due to the invasion of the Longobards (Germans people) during the Middle Ages, as the city was their capital Centre. The Longobards were used to perform rituals dancing under a tree accompanied by the rhythm of drums. The Longobards selected a place where the sound could be amplified by the natural conformation of the landscape in order to impress the participants. This paper deals with the sound analysis typical of various places located in the valley of the river Sabato. The presence of rocks naturally amplifies the sound. The acoustic measurements have been performed by using firecrackers and the impulse response was acquired with a Brahma microphone. The acoustic analysis confirms that these places are characterized by a development of sound reflections, a phenomenon that can explain why a drum roll is perceived as a very reverberant sound.