Soundscape

The musician R. Murray Schafer defines soundscape as a “sonic environment.” During the 1970’s, he had been actively engaged in environmental movements that focused on noise pollution. The 21st century happens to be the age of industrialization. Traffic, transportation and construction sounds play a major role in city life. Schafer believes that the industrial way of life has polluted nature’s soundscape. However, the ideas of soundscape have to be looked at more thoroughly.

Soundscape can be defined as an aural landscape. There are similarities between landscape and soundscape. They enable individuals to perceive their surrounding environment. They are both cultural constructions. A soundscape does not only consist of acoustical sounds, it also deals with physical objects that create and or impact various sounds. In addition, the way a person listens should be taken into consideration as well. For instance, a person associates sound with their cultural surroundings as well as their relationship to a particular space.

Both soundscape and landscape have more to do with areas of human activity than nature itself. Both are forever changing and are susceptible to human manipulation. Scientists and engineers have tried to find ways to manipulate sound in a given space. By utilizing the architectural medium, scientists and engineers can control the frequency and scale of sound among other things. The more a confined a space is, the more denser the sound and vice versa.

Works Cited

Thompson, Emily. The Soundscape of Modernity: Architectural Acoustics and the Culture of Listening. New York: MIT Press, 2004.

A test on sound manipulation. I recorded the sound of airplanes and other mechanical objects. I then layered the recorded sounds on top of each other. It is interesting to see how sound manipulation can create a totally different environment.

Another test on sound manipulation. This time I recorded the sound of trains and layered it over a programmed beat.