Acoustic Ecology Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Throughout recorded human history, experiences and observations of the natural world have inspired the arts. Within the sonic arts, evocations of nature permeate a wide variety of acoustic and electronic composition strategies. These strategies artistically investigate diverse attributes of nature: tranquility, turbulence, abundance, scarcity, complexity, and purity, to name but a few. Within the 20th century, new technologies to understand these attributes, including media recording and scientific analysis, were developed. These technologies allow music composition strategies to go beyond mere evocation and to allow for the construction of musical works that engage explicit models of nature (what has been called ‘biologically inspired music’). This paper explores two such deployments of these ‘natural sound models’ within music and music generation systems created by the authors: an electroacoustic composition using data derived from multi-channel recordings of forest insects (Luna-Mega) and an electronic music generation system that extracts musical events from the different layers of natural soundscapes, in particular oyster reef soundscapes (Stine). Together these works engage a diverse array of extra-musical disciplines: environmental science, acoustic ecology, entomology, and computer science. The works are contextualized with a brief history of natural sound models from pre- antiquity to the present in addition to reflections on the uses of technology within these projects and the potential experiences of audiences listening to these works.

- by
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- Embodiment, Soundscape Studies, Acoustic Ecology, Soundscape (Music)

ΠΕΡΙΛΗΨΗ Το άρθρο αυτό αφορά την καταγραφή και µελέτη Ελληνικών ηχοτοπίων ως κοινό σηµείο αναφοράς κατά την υλοποίηση διαφορετικών µαθηµάτων ανώτατης εκπαίδευσης. Στα πλαίσια µιας συνολικής, διεπιστηµονικής προσέγγισης, οι καταγραφές ηχοτοπίων της Κεφαλονιάς περιγράφονται ως προς το περιεχόµενο και τις µεθοδολογίες εφαρµογών και σκιαγραφούνται συµπεράσµατα και προοπτικές αξιοποίησης του περιεχοµένου από διαφορετικές επιστηµονικές οπτικές. ABSTRACT This paper refers to the recording and studying of Greek soundscapes as a common ground for different academic modules in higher education. Through a interdisciplinary approach, the recording of Cephalonia soundscapes are described in terms of context and recording methodology, and a number of conclusions and possible applications are highlighted through different scientific perspectives.

- by Minas Emmanouil and +1
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- Soundscape Studies, Electroacoustic Music, Acoustic Ecology, Soundscape (Music)

Landscape sounds. Sounds are an intrinsic dimension of human environmental relatedness. While contemporary urban landscape planning practice focuses only on the defensive treatment of unwanted sounds, we should rather prepare for the active design of acoustic qualities for public spaces, which become increasingly important. Through fieldwork-based study, culminating in experimental landscape miking and mixing methods that enable sensory experience and design experimentation, the doctoral study Cultivating Sound – The Acoustic Dimension of Landscape Architecture elucidates and makes tangible landscape-related attributes that are profoundly linked to sonic impressions, but concealed behind the abstract formulations of 'noise' and 'silence'.

Planting bushes and trees in and around sound generating sources is an effective solution for noise pollution.
Urban Planning, Public Education and Awareness.
Regular servicing and tuning of automobiles/ machinery can effectively reduce the noise pollution.
Alteration of roadway surface texture.
Buildings can be designed with suitable noise absorbing material for the walls, windows, and ceilings.
Soundproof doors and windows can be installed to block unwanted noise from outside.
Factories and industries should be located far from the residential areas.
Workers should be provided with equipments such as ear plugs and earmuffs for hearing protection.
Control in the Transmission Path, Control at Source, Control over Vibrations.
Exposure Reduction
Enclosure of machines can reduce noise levels at its source very effectively.
Leakage where pipes pass through walls as well as acoustic leaks between walls, screens or enclosures, can produce large variations in the attenuation achieved. It is therefore important to seal air gaps carefully
Putting major noise sources at one place & separating it from quieter area.
Using acoustic barriers, sound absorbing linings & sound insulating partitions.
Complete or partial enclosure of noisy equipment.
Providing silencers on the intake as well as exhaust side of flow machines like blowers, fans etc.
Insertion of damping material between machine bases and foundations and use of anti vibration mountings.
Regulations should be imposed to restrict the usage of play loudspeakers in crowded areas and public places.
International Co-operation
www.realcopowerprojects.com

- by Ameya realco
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- Acoustic Engineering, Acoustics, Acoustic Modelling, Acoustic Communication

The purpose of the North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat) is to create a continent-wide program to monitor bats at local to rangewide scales that will provide reliable data to promote effective conservation decisionmaking and the long-term viability of bat populations across the continent. This is an international, multiagency program. Four approaches will be used to gather monitoring data to assess changes in bat distributions and abundances: winter hibernaculum counts, maternity colony counts, mobile acoustic surveys along road transects, and acoustic surveys at stationary points. These monitoring approaches are described along with methods for identifying species recorded by acoustic detectors. Other chapters describe the sampling design, the database management system (Bat Population Database), and statistical approaches that can be used to analyze data collected through this program.

- by Thomas Rodhouse and +2
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- Environmental Monitoring, Acoustic Ecology, Bats (Mammalogy), Chiroptera

The sounds of modernity are increasingly moving into natural habitats. With an influx of new technologies designed to utilise and extract material from nature, the natural soundscape is becoming masked by the mechanical and technological. This article addresses an experience of listening and recording which took place in the summer of 2015, within two different natural landscapes: the southern region of Iceland and the north eastern region of Spain. The field trip exposed a significant keynote sound within each space; a sound produced by renewable technologies. The sounds produced by these technologies, wind farms and hydroelectric power stations, were significantly louder than had been expected. This lead to an analysis of whether the soundscapes of environmentally friendly technologies can or should be critiqued, even if they have a demonstrable impact on the ecosystem.

- by Dr Linda Keeffe
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- Sociology, Soundscape Studies, Acoustic Ecology
- by Sam Hurn
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- Anthropology, Anthrozoology, Soundscape Studies, Sound studies
- by Vacua Moenia
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- History, Architecture, Soundscape Studies, Acoustic Ecology
- by Vacua Moenia
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- History, Architecture, Soundscape Studies, Acoustic Ecology

Exploring the duplicitous spatial politics of intercultural land ownership in Australia, I question the ongoing impact of colonialism through a critique of the politics of traditional Australian cultural practices and environments. Intersecting architectural and performance practices, this design research examines how site-specific performance can activate engagement in the spatial politics of contested landscapes. The paper is centered on a performance event titled Cultural Burn that took place in 2016, on an 8000-hectare property acquired by the Indigenous Land Corporation⁠1 as part of a compensatory land bank established for the dispossession of Aboriginal people. Drawing a comparison between the traditional Aboriginal land management practice of cultural burning,⁠2 and the burning of a western cultural artefact,⁠3 the research explores the cultural, ethical and political resonance of burning a piano⁠ on Barkanji⁠ 4 Country⁠ 5 within an ephemeral billabong.⁠6 Structured in three parts, part one examines the motivations for burning the instrument and contextualizes it within an existing community of practice in which a range of creative practitioners incorporate burning pianos in their performance works. Part two draws a comparison between the Aboriginal land management practice of cultural burning, and the burning of pianos within contemporary arts practice. It draws on Jacques Rancière’s concept of The Distribution of the Sensible as an analytical framework within which to explore the operative potential of intersecting aesthetic and political practices within the field of site-specific performance.7 Further, the research builds on the concept of ‘acoustic ecologies;’ part three provides a close reading of the live Cultural Burn event in relation to the staged juxtaposition of Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultural practices, the piano, and the Australian bush.8 Subverting common understandings of two traditional cultural forms, I seek to address how we are positioned at the interface of different knowledge systems, histories, traditions, and cultural practices.

This paper presents The Quiet Walk, an interactive mobile artwork for sonic explorations of urban space. The goal of TQW is to find the “quietest place”. An interface on the mobile device directs the user to avoid noisy areas of the city, giving directions to find quiet zones. Data collected by the system generates a geo-acoustic map of the city that facilitates the personal recollection of sonic memories. The system is comprised of 3 components: a smartphone running a custom application based on libpd and openFrameworks, a web server collecting the GPS and acoustical data, and computer in an exhibition space displaying a visualisation of the sound map. This open- ended platform opens up possibilities of mobile digital signal processing, not only for sound art related artworks but also as a platform for data-soundscape compositions and mobile, digital explorations in acoustic ecology studies.

- by Alessandro Altavilla
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- Education, Music Technology, Mobile Technology, Sound and Music Computing

A dissertation examining increasing loudness within music and broadcast by examining its manipulation through technology in the commercial market. The history of our relationship to loudness and the key reasons for its incremental rise and development are uncovered; a current analysis shows the problem, examples, academic debate and the commercial function and changing listening habits of consumers. The implications of hyper-compressed music for engineers and consumers are presented, covering technical and socioeconomic aspects before solutions are explored in reducing excessive loudness. A summary of the primary research is presented before ending with a conclusion.

- by Nicholas Granville-Fall (Ideosound)
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- Music, Music Technology, Psychoacoustics, Capitalism
- by Joanna Kusiak
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- Space and Place, Postsocialism, Soundscape Studies, Sound studies
- by John L Drever
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- Soundscape Studies, Acoustic Ecology, Dartmoor, Sound Archive

Among the myriad of writings on Takemitsu, the theme of the Japanese garden, conceptualized here as the “Musical Garden”, is not infrequent, but is seldom examined as an aesthetic end in Takemitsu’s works. This essay’s goal will be to provide and conclude on a comprehensive synthesis of previous analysis on the subject, in order to understand the concept of the Musical Garden and how it sheds light on Takemitsu’s music, especially in regards to the listener’s experience. Unlike other publications on Takemitsu which deal with advanced analysis of musical notation, this essay will be focusing mainly on the aesthetic principles which frame both his music and the Japanese garden and give meaning to our encounters and exposure to these artforms. In this study, and in a concern of aesthetic heritage, cultural Japanese specificities will be written in kanji characters. Ultimately, this subject is abstract and metaphorical, and one must not expect a rigorously scientific or demonstrative approach, but rather a free, hypothetical yet strongly supported one.

- by Romain ROCH
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- Musicology, Aesthetics, Zen Buddhism, Environmental Aesthetics
- by Kendall Wrightson
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- Music Technology, Transpersonal Psychology, Acoustic Ecology

This paper recounts and analyzes a performance of John Zorn's Cobra––a 'game' piece for improvisers––from a first person perspective. I examine the process of rehearsal and performance making reference to relevant literature in music psychology; and I offer some tentative possibilities for how we might understand musical communication in the context of free improvisation. To conclude I consider the pedagogical applications of the piece. While the account offered here is largely anecdotal, it is my hope that this paper may offer some useful insights into the nature of musical improvisation and perhaps inspire more sustained and rigorous inquiries into this fascinating and under-researched area of musical practice.

- by Dylan van der Schyff
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- Music, Music Education, Musicology, Performing Arts

This research explores the sonic relationships between humans and geography, particularly the urban vs the natural experience. By examining the literature on noise, soundscape, urban living, and conceptions of music, this research aims to illuminate questions, including what is noise, how people relate to their sonic environment, how the natural coexists with the urban in cities, and where do the multifaceted soundscapes we inhabit end and music begin? Using practice-led research as a framework, this project explores this line of inquiry through soundscape composition and complimentary writing. The research concludes that composed music often imitates nature, even when using man made sound. The question of what can be considered noise is also raised. Noise is often used to dismiss undesirable sound, but this is not an objective measure of sound, as what is called noise can be used to create musical works that are aesthetically enjoyed and appreciated by many listeners. In conclusion, the researcher is in favour of being more accepting of whichever soundscape is the one they find themselves in. Additionally, the binary separation between the soundscape and music composed by humans is more of a spectrum, and that more research is needed to uncover why they may be more alike than not.

- by Theo Lezzeri
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- Music, Musical Composition, Psychogeography, Soundscape Studies

Michael D. Fowler presents an interdisciplinary approach to investigating the sound world of traditional Japanese gardens by drawing from the diverse fields of semiotics, acoustic ecology, philosophy, mathematical modelling, architecture, music, landscape theory and acoustic analysis. Using projects – ranging from data-visualisations, immersive sound installations, algorithmically generated meta-gardens and proto-architectural form finding missions – as creative paradigms, the book offers a new framework for artistic inquiry in which the sole objective is the generation of new knowledge through the act of spatial thinking.

- by MICHAEL FOWLER
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- Computer Music, Acoustic Ecology, Sound Art, Japanese gardens

Η συχνότατη χρήση του ηλεκτρισμού σε όλες τις εκφάνσεις των ηχητικών φαινομένων από τη δημιουργία τους έως την πρόσληψη από τον ακροατή, έχει αλλάξει σημαντικά τα ηχοτοπία των σύγχρονων δυτικών πόλεων και τις ακουστικές εμπειρίες των ακροατών (ανθρώπων και άλλων ζώων). Αναπόφευκτα έχει επηρεάσει και την αισθητική του ήχου και της μουσικής, αλλά και τη μουσική εκπαίδευση των παιδιών και νέων. Η προτεινόμενη Οικολογική Ακουστική Αγωγή εμπλουτίζει την ηχητική παλέτα με ήχους της φύση και του πολιτισμού και μεταφέρει μέρος του μαθήματος της μουσικής στα 'εργαστήρια' της φύσης και της κοινότητας. Αντλεί πρωτίστως ιδέες και πρακτικές από την Aκουστική Oικολογία και ιδιαίτερα από το έργο του R. M. Schafer, και σε δεύτερο επίπεδο από το χώρο της ψυχολογίας. Παρέχει πλούσιες εμπειρίες για την ανάπτυξη της αντιληπτικής ευαισθησίας και ευελιξίας στην ακρόαση και( παραγωγή( ήχων( και μουσικής με ή δίχως ηλεκτρονική διαμεσολάβηση. Μέσω πολλαπλών αντιληπτικών ασκήσεων, ακροάσεων, συνθέσεων και αυτοσχεδιασμών ηχοτοπίου αλλά και μέσω ηχοπεριπάτων και επίλυσης πραγματικών προβλημάτων ήχου/μουσικής στην καθημερινή ζωή, παρέχει στους μαθητές ευκαιρίες για ανάπτυξη υψηλών αισθητικών κριτηρίων ώστε να 'απαιτούν' την ποιότητα στις ηχητικές/μουσικές τους εμπειρίες. Η κατανόηση των φυσιολογικών μηχανισμών του ανθρώπου και άλλων ζώων για την παραγωγή και πρόσληψη ήχων καθώς και της σημασίας του ήχου στη ζωή τους, μέσα από έρευνα και συστηματικά επαναλαμβανόμενες επισκέψεις στο πεδίο, συμβάλλει στην ψυχολογική ταύτιση των νέων με τους άλλους οργανισμούς. Έτσι δυνητικά οδηγεί με φυσικό τρόπο στην επιθυμία προστασίας τους από πιθανά προβλήματα ηχορύπανσης. Η Οικολογική
Ακουστική Αγωγή ξεκινάει ως 'ηχητική' εκπαίδευση και είναι συμβατή και συμπληρωματική μιας δημιουργικής μουσικής εκπαίδευσης από την προσχολική ηλικία έως και μετασχολικά, τόσο σε τυπικά όσο και σε άτυπα πλαίσια.

- by Ioanna Etmektsoglou
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- Education, Acoustic Ecology

The intersections between music, society and nature are complex and differ greatly from one culture to another, but there is no doubt that all three form important aspects of our lives as humans. The world has always been filled with natural sounds and for early humans these would have been our earliest musical inspiration. This means the initial relationship between music and nature would have been very close, with both being intrinsic parts of each other. In many cultures this is still the case, however in our western culture we have been getting more and more disconnected from nature, and in cities our acoustic surroundings consist largely of man-made soundscapes, rather than natural ones. This leads to the question: what impact does the acoustic and natural environment have on music-making practises in different cultures? In this essay I aim to explore the ways in which music is used to interact with the environment and discuss how this reflects the relationship between societies and nature.

Alguns princípios são fundamentais para construirmos uma sociedade acusticamente saudável, onde possamos viver dentro dos sons da vida. O respeito pela voz e pela palavra, a consciência sonora, o despertar da audição. Preservar os sons que tendem a desaparecer, mas ter abertura para os sons que nascem com cada novo passo tecnológico. Construir uma linguagem sonora que interprete o seu simbolismo. Aceitar o silêncio, impondo-o nas alturas certas. E, acima de tudo, ouvir.

- by Raquel Castro
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- Soundscape Studies, Acoustic Ecology

The interdisciplinary Sounding Soil project explores the soil’s soundscape and renders experienceable and investigable the activity and diversity of soil life in an artistic-acoustic observatory. The main aim is to increase soil awareness in the general population as well as among decision-makers involved in soil policies and food producers. While moving through or digging the soil matrix, the soil fauna produces noises. Moreover, some animals seem to use the soil as a communication medium, forming a complex soundscape. Land use and agricultural management may have marked effects on the soil soundscape. Thus, the (acoustic) richness of a local soil animal community may serve as an indicator of the functioning of a soil ecosystem. In the scientific module of the Sounding Soil project, we implement and test acoustic indices to assess soil biodiversity and community composition. In the art and citizen science module, several Swiss farmers and subsequently the broader public record the soundscapes of their soils with a low-cost recording device. The result is a sound art installation as a publicly accessible observatory, integrating our scientific findings with recordings by participants in the citizen science module. This article describes the character of soil soundscapes in agricultural land and forests and reports on our research design and first insights into the relations between land use, soil types, biodiversity, and soil soundscapes.

Sound is the primary sensory modality for dolphins, yet policies mitigating anthropogenic sound exposure are limited in wild populations and even fewer noise policies or guidelines have been developed for governing dolphin welfare under human care. Concerns have been raised that dolphins under human care live in facilities that are too noisy, or are too acoustically sterile. However, these claims have not been evaluated to characterize facility soundscapes, and further, how they compare to wild soundscapes. The soundscape of a wild dolphin habitat off the coast of Quintana, Roo, Mexico was characterized based on Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) recordings over one year. Snapping shrimp were persistent and broadband, following a diel pattern. Fish sound production was pulsed and prominent in low frequencies (100 -- 1000 Hz), and abiotic surface wave action contributed to noise in higher frequencies (15 -- 28 kHz). Boat motors were the main anthropogenic sound source. While sporadic, boat motors were responsible for large spikes in the noise, sometimes exceeding the ambient noise (in the absence of a boat) by 20 dB root-mean-squared sound pressure level, and potentially higher at closer distances. Boat motor sounds can potentially mask cues and communication sounds of dolphins. The soundscapes of four acoustically distinct outdoor dolphin facilities in Quintana Roo, Mexico were also characterized based on PAM, and findings compared with one another and with the measurements from the wild dolphin habitat. Recordings were made for at least 24 hours to encompass the range of daily activities. The four facilities differed in non-dolphin species present (biological sounds), bathymetry complexity, and method of water circulation. It was hypothesized that the greater the biological and physical differences of a pool from the ocean habitat, the greater the acoustic differences would be from the natural environment. Spectral analysis and audio playback revealed that the site most biologically and physically distinct from the ocean habitat also differed greatly from the other sites acoustically, with the most common and high amplitude sound being pump noise versus biological sounds at the other sites. Overall the dolphin facilities were neither clearly noisier nor more sterile than the wild site, but rather differed in particular characteristics. The findings are encouraging for dolphin welfare for several reasons. Sound levels measured were unlikely to cause threshold shifts in hearing. At three of four facilities, prominent biological sounds in the wild site -- snapping shrimp and fish sounds -- were present, meaning that the dolphins at these facilities are experiencing biotic features of the soundscape they would experience in the wild. Additionally, the main anthropogenic sounds experienced at the facilities (construction and cleaning sounds) did not reach the levels of the anthropogenic sounds experienced at the wild site (boat motor sounds), and the highest noise levels for anthropogenic sounds fall outside the dolphins' most sensitive range of hearing. However, there are anthropogenic contributors to the soundscape that are of particular interest and possible concern that should be investigated further, particularly pump noise and periodic or intermittent construction noise. These factors need to be considered on a facility-by-facility basis and appropriate mitigation procedures incorporated in animal handling to mitigate potential responses to planned or anticipated sound producing events, e.g. animal relocation or buffering sound producing activities. The central role of bioacoustics for dolphins means that PAM is a basic life support requirement along with water and food testing. Periodic noise is of highest concern, and PAM is needed to inform mitigation of noise from periodic sources. Priority actions are more widespread and long-term standardized monitoring, further research on habituation, preference, coupling and pool acoustics, implementation of acoustics training, standardization of measurements, and improved information access.

- by Heather Spence
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- Marine Biology, Acoustics, Bioacoustics, Conservation Biology
- by Nasir Iyad
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- Acoustic Ecology
- by Zoe Dionyssiou
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- Acoustic Ecology

This paper traces dominant ideologies of nature, starting with Aristotle's inclusive formulation, which incorporated all things, biotic or abiotic. This view was lost with the Roman division of society into the domestic (domus) and savage (silva). Abrahamic religions proposed an originary paradise, an Eden corrupted by humans, who nonetheless are granted superiority over nature. The providential ideology holds that nature is a resource without value, until tamed and managed. In the 18th century, the Romantics valorised nature as moral good, a wellspring of aesthetic and spiritual inspiration. This paper will explore how these ideologies are expressed in R. Murray Schafer’s The Soundscape, using sources from anthropology and human geography (Jedediah Purdy, Philippe Descola). The goal is to understand how Schafer relies on a dichotomy between nature and humanity that is inherently problematic in the Anthropocene. A clear understanding of the limitations of the soundscape will enable the development of sustainable sound practices.

- by Robin Parmar
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- Soundscape Studies, Acoustic Ecology, Nature, Anthropocene studies

In this paper I introduce two recent and ostensibly competing acoustic theories, Barry Blesser and Ruth-Linda Salter's 'aural architecture' and Barry Truax and R. Murray Schafer's notion of ‘soundscape’. I examine the structural differences between the theories and track their potential impact on architectural design. I also reflect on the difficulties in utilising auditory experience as a design parameter in the urban arena due to the current bifurcation between architectural design and applied acoustics, and further offer some thoughts on the manner in which critical listening will need to play an important role in any new approaches to integrating auditory design into architectural praxis.

- by MICHAEL FOWLER
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- Soundscape Studies, Architectural Theory, Acoustic Ecology, Aural Architecture

Recent years have seen an exponential increase in the number of composers and sound artists directly responding to global environmental issues, such as biodiversity loss, pollution and climate change, through their creative practice. The... more

- by Jono Gilmurray
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- Music, Music Technology, Bioacoustics, Narrative

The central concern of this thesis is upon the processes by which human beings
perceive sound and experience emotions within a computer video gameplay
context. The potential of quantitative sound parameters to evoke and modulate
emotional experience is explored, working towards the development of structured
hypothetical frameworks of auditory processing and emotional experience.
Research relevant to computer game theory, embodied cognition,
psychophysiology, emotion studies, fear processing and acoustics/psychoacoustics
are reviewed in detail and several primary experimental trials are presented that
provide additional support of the hypothetical frameworks: an ecological process of
fear, a fear-related model of virtual and real acoustic ecologies, and an embodied
virtual acoustic ecology framework.
It is intended that this thesis will clearly support more effective and efficient sound
design practices and also improve awareness of the capacity of sound to generate
significant emotional experiences during computer video gameplay. It is further
hoped that this thesis will elucidate the potential of biometrics/psychophysiology to
allow game designers to better understand the player and to move closer towards
the development of an automated computer system that is capable of interpreting
player-emotion and adapting the game environment in response, to create a
continuously evolving and unique, player-centred game experience.

- by Tom A Garner
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- Emotion, Psychophysiology, Fear, Video Games
- by Kendall Wrightson
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- Music Technology, Transpersonal Psychology, Acoustic Ecology

Due to the ongoing increase in the urbanization rate, people are exposed to various environmental pollutions. One of the most threatening types of these environmental pollutions is noise pollution which has increased, especially in urban areas with the development of transportation and industries. According to the World Health Organization, after air and water pollution, noise pollution is considered to be the third most serious pollution type in metropolises. In this study, noise measurements were made on a ring road passing through an urban area and is the reason why people are exposed to noise pollution in nearby settlements. According to analysis results, it was determined that plant groups absorbed the traffic noise at different levels and as the distance between the sound source and landscape plants reduced, plants absorbed more amount of sound. In the result of test measurements, it was determined that the highest amount of noise reduction in the current situation among the selected 6 reference points was 2.8 dBA. When the distance was reduced, the measurement results detected that the mitigated sound level increased to 4.6 dBA by bringing the sound source closer to the plant groups to determine the effects of distance on sound mitigation level. In light of these research results, suggestions were made related to the planting design studies to decrease the negative effects of traffic noise.

- by Ahmet Akay
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- Acoustic Engineering, Human Geography, Acoustics, Landscape Architecture
- by John L Drever
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- Soundscape Studies, Acoustic Ecology, Soundwalk, Soundwalking

While the acoustic environment and urban soundscapes shape our everyday life, architecture practice usually neglects the experience of acoustic space in its design process. My research addressed the challenge of integrating spatial acoustics and the experience of environmental sound in architecture practice. Drawing from acoustic ecology, creative approaches embody the aural experience of the environment into the design process of architecture. The research was guided by my site-oriented sound practice, to create unusual encounters and connections between human and non-human beings, for their relationship through the acoustic space. It experimented with the physical experience of vibrational forces in environmental sound, enhanced by acoustic resonance.
The research was carried out by the creation of four artworks, employed as practical case studies, to experiment with concepts such as: resonant soundscape, space as resonator (Vibrational Fields), space as relation (Radio Sonores), soundscape for attunement (Shores) and space as energetic geometry (Passage). The artworks were used to develop sets of design methods to draw an aural architecture intervention. The first set guides the experience of site through context analysis, participation, soundwalking, field recording and sensory variation, for a transformation of the ambiance dynamic, to accentuate differences and multiple relationships. The second set offers different approaches in designing aural architecture through the recomposition of urban soundscape and architectural agency based in resonance, dynamic relation and energetic geometry, for an operation of translation. The third set concerns the acoustic spatialisation of vibrational forces, to open communication channels and symbiotic relationships, for an operation of attunement. My research explored the enhancement of an innate capacity of attunement (Morton 2014) to self and other beings (human, non-human, things). It resulted in the creation of a diversity of experiences of environmental sound, enhanced by acoustic space, as a way to foster an ecology of affect.

- by Cláudia Martinho
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- Design, Architecture, Soundscape Studies, Sound studies

Speech is arguably the most basic form of human communication, but since the 20 th century it has become an increasingly disembodied element within the soundscape through amplification, recording and broadcasting. However the same technology that eliminates the face-to-face role of speech within the acoustic community, making it part of the soundscape, has also provided the means for a creative use of vocal material in electroacoustic composition. Just as the concept of "soundscape" embraces all forms of sound and emphasizes how sound is understood by listeners, so too soundscape composition creates simulated environments of sound within which the distinctions between voice, music and environmental sound are blurred. Examples are drawn from the work of the World Soundscape Project at Simon Fraser University and the author's electro-vocal soundscape compositions.

- by Barry Truax
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- Digital Media, Acoustic Ecology, Soundscape composition, Voice

Sound and space—however one defines these terms—are phenomenologically and ontologically intertwined.

- by Andrew J Eisenberg
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- Ethnomusicology, Space and Place, Anthropology of space, Soundscape Studies

In the present work we will try to analyze in detail some Environmental Impact Studies, hereinafter EsIA, with noise impacts as one of the main factors to be taken into account. These ESIAs will deal with studies carried out for airports, specifically those analyzed here are:" EsIA of the Gran Canaria Airport Expansion " and " EsIA of the Tenerife North Airport Expansion ". The first of these is the one that will be discussed in more detail, analysing each of the sections contained in the synthesis document. Special attention will be paid to the sections in which noise is involved as the main impact factor and what are the appropriate measures to prevent these noise events that are harmful both to humans and wildlife. As for the second of the EIAs presented, the intention is to analyze some of its sections based on the shortcomings of the first EIA, since both are synthesis documents and do not contemplate the complete report of the EIAs.

- by John L Drever
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- Soundscape Studies, Acoustic Ecology

The enactive approach to cognition is developed in the context of music and music education. I discuss how this embodied point of view affords a relational and bio-cultural perspective on music that decentres the Western focus on language, symbol and representation as the foundations of cognition and meaning. I then explore how this 'life-based' approach to cognition and meaning-making offers a welcome alternative to standard Western academic approaches to music education. More specifically, I consider how the enactive perspective may aid in developing deeper ecological understandings of the transformative, extended and interpenetrative nature of the embodied musical mind; and thus help (re)connect students and teachers to the lived experience of their own learning and teaching. Following this, I examine related concepts associated with Buddhist psychology in order to develop possibilities for a contemplative music pedagogy. To conclude, I consider how an enactive-contemplative perspective may help students and teachers awaken to the possibilities of music education as ontological education. That is, through a deeper understanding of ‘music as a manifestation of life’ rediscover their primordial nature as autopoietic and world-making creatures and thus engage more deeply with musicality as a means of forming richer and more compassionate relationships with their peers, their communities and the ‘natural’ and cultural worlds they inhabit.

- by Dylan van der Schyff
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- Music, Music Education, Musicology, Education