Sound ecology

Soundscape ecology is the study of the acoustic relationships between living organisms, human and
other, and their environment, whether the organisms are marine or terrestrial. Soundscape ecologists
also study the relationships between the three basic sources of sound that comprise the soundscape:
those generated by organisms are referred to as the biophony; those from non-biological natural
categories are classified as the geophony, and those produced by humans, the anthropophony.

One of the main tasks of soundscape ecology is to determine whether and how the sonic environment
can maintain its acoustic balance and ideally how its quality may be improved.

an ecologically balanced soundscape where the relationship between the human community and its
sonic environment is in harmony.

sound ecologists eventually may help to design healthier and more pleasant sonic environments by
combining the resources of such seemingly diverse areas as acoustics, architecture, linguistics, music,
psychology, sociology, and urban planning. Continual sensitization of the ear, creative town planning,
legislative action (e.g., noise abatement regulations), the design of acoustic parks and playgrounds, and
the innovative preservation of worthwhile sounds of past and present may be among the means to
achieve such ends.

“objectifiable ecosystem” whose subject is excluded. Schafer, through his acoustic ecology approach,
somehow paradoxically reproduces the very attitudes of the acoustical engineers that he criticized, who
favor naturalizing acoustic phenomena and relieving the subject of his or her responsibility to listen,4 by
creating a passive subject who suffers the surrounding acoustic environment

Soundscape ecology also borrows heavily from some concepts in landscape ecology, which focuses on
ecological patterns and processes occurring over multiple spatial scales

Soundscape
The term "soundscape" indicates how the environment is understood by those living within it. Indeed,
the individual listener within a soundscape is part of a dynamic system of information exchange.
Soundscape ideology recognizes that when humans enter an environment, they have an immediate
effect on the sounds; the soundscape is human-made and in that sense, composed. Soundscape is the
acoustic manifestation of "place," in the sense that the sounds give the inhabitants a "sense of place"
and the place's acoustic quality is shaped by the inhabitants' activities and behavior.

Thus, the sonic environment (or soundscape), which is the sum total of all sounds within any defined
area, is an intimate reflection of the social, technological and natural conditions of the area. Change in
these conditions means change in the sonic environment. One of the main tasks of soundscape ecology
is to determine whether and how the sonic environment can maintain its acoustic balance and ideally
how its quality may be improved.

studying a specific soundscape, it becomes apparent that the "image" of the soundscape is shaped by
the listener's perception of it. The analysis of this "image" is based on cognitive units such as
foreground, background, contour, rhythm, space, density, volume and silence. From these units have
been derived such analytical concepts as keynote, signal, soundmark, sound object and sound symbol.

soundscape can no longer be considered purely for its remarkable aspects that need to be protected or
its musical essence, but instead must be recognised for its social and anthropological dimensions.

A soundscape is the acoustic environment as perceived by humans, in context. The term was originally
coined by Michael Southworth,[1] and popularised by R. Murray Schafer.[2] There is a varied history of
the use of soundscape depending on discipline, ranging from urban design to wildlife ecology to
computer science.[3] An important distinction is to separate soundscape from the broader acoustic
environment. The acoustic environment is the combination of all the acoustic resources, natural and
artificial, within a given area as modified by the environment. The International Organization for
Standardization (ISO) standardized these definitions in 2014

The idea of soundscape refers to both the natural acoustic environment, consisting of natural sounds,
including animal vocalizations, the collective habitat expression of which is now referred to as the
biophony, and, for instance, the sounds of weather and other natural elements, now referred to as the
geophony; and environmental sounds created by humans, the anthropophony through a sub-set called
controlled sound, such as musical composition, sound design, and language, work, and sounds of
mechanical origin resulting from use of industrial technology. Crucially, the term soundscape also
includes the listener's perception of sounds heard as an environment: "how that environment is
understood by those living within it"[4] and therefore mediates their relations. The disruption of these
acoustic environments results in noise pollution.

The term "soundscape" can also refer to an audio recording or performance of sounds that create the
sensation of experiencing a particular acoustic environment, or compositions created using the found
sounds of an acoustic environment, either exclusively or in conjunction with musical performances.

Sound object
A sound object, as defined by Pierre Schaeffer, who coined the term ("l'objet sonore"), is "an acoustical
object for human perception, and not a mathematical or electro-acoustical object for synthesis." The
sound object is the smallest self-contained particle of a soundscape.

A basic unit of musical structure, generalizing the traditional concept of note to include complex and
mutating sound events on a time scale ranging from a fraction of a second to several seconds.

which must be described and analysed objectively. It emphasises the physical and, above all, spatial
aspects of the landscape: what is studied here, therefore, is the phenomenon of the physical production
of a territory by human societies, and the result thereof, not its representation. This vision, generally
defended by the earth sciences and planning-related disciplines, finds its climax in the definition of the
landscape in the field of ecology

Elements composing the soundscape according to Murray Schafer

Signals, a term borrowed from communication theory, are foreground sounds, usually
listened to consciously, often encoding certain messages or information.

Soundmarks, analogous to landmarks, are unique sound objects, specific to a certain

A sound object, as defined by Pierre Schaeffer, who coined the term ("l'objet sonore"),
is "an acoustical object for human perception, and not a mathematical or electro-
acoustical object for synthesis." The sound object is the smallest self-contained particle
of a soundscape.

Sound symbols, a more general category, are sounds that evoke personal responses
based on collective and cultural levels of association.

According to Schafer there are three main elements of the soundscape:

Keynote sounds

This is a musical term that identifies the key of a piece, not always audible ... the key
might stray from the original, but it will return. The keynote sounds may not always be
heard consciously, but they "outline the character of the people living there" (Schafer).
They are created by nature (geography and climate): wind, water, forests, plains, birds,
insects, animals. In many urban areas, traffic has become the keynote sound.

Sound signals

These are foreground sounds, which are listened to consciously; examples would be
warning devices, bells, whistles, horns, sirens, etc.

Soundmark

This is derived from the term landmark. A soundmark is a sound which is unique to an
area. In his 1977 book, The Soundscape: Our Sonic Environment and the Tuning of the
World, Schafer wrote, "Once a Soundmark has been identified, it deserves to be
protected, for soundmarks make the acoustic life of a community unique."

The elements have been further defined as to essential sources:

Bernie Krause, naturalist and soundscape ecologist, redefined the sources of sound in terms of their
three main components: geophony, biophony, and anthropophony.[19][20][21]

Geophony
Consisting of the prefix, geo (gr. earth), and phon (gr. sound), this refers to the soundscape sources that
are generated by non-biological natural sources such as wind in the trees, water in a stream or waves at
the ocean, and earth movement, the first sounds heard on earth by any sound-sentient organism.

Biophony

Consisting of the prefix, bio (gr. life) and the suffix for sound, this term refers to all of the non-human,
non-domestic biological soundscape sources of sound.

Anthropophony

Consisting of the prefix, anthro (gr. human), this term refers to all of the sound signatures generated by
humans.

Murray Schafer
Canadian composer, writer and acoustic ecologist who popularized the term "soundscape," died on Aug.
14 following a struggle with Alzheimer's disease.