The influence of noise on the quality of the urban living environment has traditionally been studied focusing on negative effects on man, such as noise annoyance and sleep disturbance. Recently a more holistic approach, including positive and negative aspects as well as non-residential functions of the urban environment, has gained renewed interest. The label ‘‘urban soundscape’’ is often used ...

Soundscape is a sound environment that emphasizes the awareness of auditory perception and social or cultural understandings. The case of spatial perception is significant to soundscape. However, previous studies on the auditory spatial perception of the soundscape environment have been limited. Based on 21 native binaural-recorded soundscape samples and a set of auditory experiments for subjec...

In this paper we discuss the use of graphical alternatives to stave notation, which has become a hot topic of debate within the arena of children’s musical creativity. Here we focus upon such graphical alternatives through a program called SoundScape, designed as a collaborative, creative music composition environment developed for school children. SoundScape replaces traditional stave notation...

The role and application of the concepts of soundscape planning, vis-à-vis those of environmental noise management, need elaboration. In noise control, sound is a waste product managed to reduce the immision of sounds that cause human discomfort. The soundscape approach, by contrast, considers the acoustic environment as a resource, focussing on sounds people want, or prefer. Quiet is not a cor...

In this paper we present an ambient audio notification system for multi-user environments. It provides unobtrusive notification by embedding audio cues in an ambient soundscape consisting of specially arranged pieces of music. The audio cues are distinct either in their instrumentation or in their rhythmic pattern and complement a musical core of the soundscape. To test the effectiveness of our...

A purely aesthetic approach may be problematic when artists wish to deal with the external world as part of their work. The work of R. Murray Schafer in formulating soundscape studies is described, as well as the author’s extension of that work within a communicational framework. Soundscape composition is situated within a continuum of possibilities, each with its own practice of mapping or rep...

The role and application of the concept of the soundscape, vis-à-vis that of environmental noise management, needs elaboration. In noise control, sound is a waste product, managed to reduce the immision of sounds that cause human discomfort. The soundscape approach, by contrast, considers the acoustic environment as a resource, focussing on sounds people want, or prefer. Quiet is not a core req...

Employing components of Murray Schafer’s soundscape typology from his inimitable 1977 work, The Soundscape: Our Sonic Environment and the Tuning of the World, my exploratory study qualitatively and comparatively explores the sonic landscape and noise pollution ‘texture’ of Bangkok, Thailand and Los Angeles, California. By employing Schafer’s soundscape concepts to explain how people subjectivel...

The introduction of effective auditory warnings into a shared environment requires a prior understanding of the existing soundfield and soundscape. Reifying the physical and perceptual auditory environment enables a form of preauditioning, as well as the evaluation of any auditory augmentation. This paper describes the development of a visualisation technique for soundscape mapping. Building on...

In this paper we report on the results of a three days workshop whose goal was to combine interactive sounds and soundscape design to simulate the sensation of walking in a specific location of Porto. We discuss advantages and disadvantages of the different solutions proposed in terms of the technology used, and issues of how sonic interaction combined with soundscape design affects presence in...