The problems of introducing unvironmcntal sound into the compositional process arc discussed, including its acoustic character, syntactic orgmization, contextuaIly based meaning,and resultant listening patterns. Gaps in traditional discipIinary approaches in dealing with environmental sound arc identified, and an acoustic communicational model is proposed as an interdisciplinary alternative. Th...

The aim of this work was to investigate the validity of laboratory soundscape reproduction and the robustness of soundscape dimensional analysis. The soundscapes in four urban locations in Manchester (UK) were recorded with a soundfield microphone. The soundscapes were reproduced through an ambisonic 3D loudspeaker system in a semianechoic chamber. Fifteen listeners rated the reproduced soundsc...

Intelligent measurement nodes offer the opportunity to perform advanced soundscape analysis, instead of just logging the sound pressure level. A model which mimics human auditory system is proposed and applied to analyze urban soundscapes. It is constructed as a combination of two types of neural networks: a Self Organizing Map that allows –after extensive training– to identify cooccurring soun...

The SoundScape Renderer (SSR) is a versatile software tool for real-time spatial audio reproduction. It is capable of generating driving signals for a variety of loudspeakerbased and headphone-based reproduction methods. Due to its extensive remote-control possibilities, it can be conveniently used as an audio backend in psychoacoustic listening and conversational experiments, for example in th...

Candidate's Name: John Levack Drever B. Mus, M. Mus Title of Thesis: Phonographies: Practical and Theoretical Explorations into Composing with Disembodied Sound This is PhD submission is both practical and theoretical. The practical element consists of nine electroacoustic compositions. The dissertation acts as a discursive accompaniment to the compositions, addressing many of the contextual an...

This paper offers a new approach to understanding, improving and designing soundscapes. “Soundscape” means all the sounds that can be heard in a specific location. Soundscapes can be understood only through peoples’ perceptions, and this paper proposes using those perceptions to link soundscape improvement and design with traditional noise control methods. Decades of experience have yielded in-...

Efficient methods of biodiversity assessment and monitoring are central to ecological research and crucial in conservation management; technological advances in remote acoustic sensing inspire new approaches. In line with the emerging field of Soundscape Ecology (Pijanowski et al., 2011), the acoustic approach is based on the rationale that the ecological processes occurring within a landscape ...

This paper identifies a gap in the research agenda of the auditory display community – the study of work practice and the uses (current and potential) of the workplace ‘soundscape’. The paper presents a case study derived from a one year activity theory-oriented ethnographic study of information gathering work at a UK daily newspaper. We consider the soundscape aspects of mediating collaborativ...

The role of soundscape design to enhance the sense of presence in virtual reality is discussed and tested. Preliminary results which compare real versus virtual soundscapes are reported.