Soundscapes and the Sonic Environment
声景与声音环境/Sheng1 Jing3 Yu3 Sheng1 Yin1 Huan2 Jing4
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Discovering the soundscapes all around us.
Wherever we are, we are surrounded by sound. Soundscapes (just like landscapes) can be urban, rural, industrial, technological, busy or quiet, etc.
Even though we are constantly surrounded by sounds, it is not very often that we stop and listen to them.
Soundscapes can change over the course of a day, and the soundscape that we hear will change as we ourselves move about.
Challenge One•Let's close our eyes and listen to the sounds that are around us for a few minutes (you may need to remove your headphones!).
The basic properties of sound might prove useful starting points:
◦Pitch – the quality of a sound or tone ranging from high to low.
◦Dynamics – the relative volume of a sound ranging from quiet to loud.
◦Duration – the length of a sound from short to long.
◦Rhythm – a pattern of strong and weak sounds.
Stop, look and LISTEN
We often rely on our ability to listen to aspects of the soundscape, but do not really recognise when we are doing it.
Every young person learns the famous saying:
"Stop, look and LISTEN before you cross the road."
Not paying attention to sounds can be dangerous. For example, someone riding a bicycle and listening to loud music, won't be able to hear the sounds of their environment (nearby cars, pedestrians). They will miss out on information about these potential dangers, perhaps until it is too late.
Fact
Road crossings play a beeping sound to tell us when it when it is safe to cross.
Extra
Some people even argue that subtleties of our sonic environment can affect how people feel and interact (for example, the way that we feel if we are in the busy city vs. the quiet countryside).
Keywords:
Abstract Sounds, Acoustic Ecology, Contextual listening, Environmental sound, Field Recording, Sound source, Sound Walk
EARS 2: MT / MySQL (beta) at CHEARSdotinfo.co.uk
Discovering the soundscapes all around us.
Wherever we are, we are surrounded by sound. Soundscapes (just like landscapes) can be urban/rural, industrial/agricultural, busy/quiet, and so on.
Even though we are constantly surrounded by sounds, it is not very often that we stop and listen to them.
Fact
By recording the sounds at a particular location we capture its unique sonic environment. We can then listen back to the soundscape free from any visual distractions or dangers.
What can you hear in the following soundscapes? Are there any similarities? What is different?
Hover your mouse over the images to play the local soundscapes
Soundscapes can change over the course of a day, and the soundscape that we hear will change as we ourselves move about.
Hover your mouse over the images to play the local soundscapes
Challenge One
Let’s close our eyes and listen to the sounds that are around us for a few minutes (you may need to remove your headphones!).
The basic properties of sound might prove useful starting points for describing what you can hear, identify a sound and then try to describe it in terms of:
Pitch – the quality of a sound or tone ranging from high to low.
Loudness – the relative volume of a sound ranging from quiet to loud.
Duration – the length of a sound from short to long.
Rhythm – a pattern of strong and weak sounds.
Sounds All Around Us
Everything that moves or works makes a sound. This makes the world full of sounds.
The sounds that we hear in a certain location will relate directly to the ‘things’ in that place. Even with our eyes closed we can recognise a certain location based only on its sounds.
Certain sounds will very clearly identify a particular location, these recognisable sounds are called Keynote Sounds. When we hear a keynote sound we recognise a specific time, place, or location.
Listen to this example of a Keynote sound:
Where do you think it was recorded? Did it make you think of a specific place?
Because every location is different, the sounds in it will also be different. This means that there is a unlimited variety of soundscapes and sonic environments just waiting to be discovered.
Activity
Test your listening skills by taking the Soundwalks listening quiz.
With the Compose with Sounds software we can invent our own completely new sonic environments from pre-recorded sounds.
Stop, look and LISTEN – Sounds as Signals.
We often rely on our ability to listen to aspects of the soundscape, but do not really recognise when we are doing it. Sounds can send us information.
For example:
Road crossings play a beeping sound to tell us when it when it is safe to cross.
Busses have a bell sound that rings when someone requests a stop.
The clock in the town centre will ring to signal the hour (and possibly parts of the hour)
When we hear these sounds they send us a message. And we can sometimes use these sounds to try and send messages to other people.
Fact
Every young person learns the famous saying:
“Stop, look and LISTEN before you cross the road.”
Not paying attention to sounds can be dangerous. For example, someone riding a bicycle and listening to loud music, won’t be able to hear the sounds of their environment (nearby cars, pedestrians). They will miss out on information about these potential dangers, perhaps until it is too late.
Summary
Sounds are all around us. They can tell us a lot about our environment: where we are, what is going on.
All soundscapes sound different, they will change over the course of a day and as the weather changes. The sounds we hear come from the activities and actions taking place in that space. Keynote Sounds are very recognisable and linked to a specific activity or location.
By recording a soundscape, or by listening with our eyes closed, we can focus on the sounds of the sonic environment itself.
Try to listen to the sounds around you, there are hundreds of exciting soundscapes for you to explore.
Keywords:
Abstract Sounds, Acoustic Ecology, Contextual listening, Environmental sound, Field Recording, Sound source, Sound Walk
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