Editing Soundscape (section)

{{short description|Audible characteristics, resonances of an acoustic environment}}
{{for multi|the study of the acoustic relationships|Soundscape ecology|the PC sound card brand|Ensoniq#Soundscape|the Cedar Walton album|Soundscapes (album)}}
{{Original research|date=July 2020}}
A '''soundscape''' is the acoustic [[Biophysical environment|environment]] as [[hearing|perceived]] by [[humans]], in context. The term, originally coined by Michael Southworth,<ref name=":3" /> was popularized by [[R. Murray Schafer]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schafer |first1=R. Murray |title=The Soundscape: Our Sonic Environment and the Tuning of the World |date=1977 |publisher=Alfred Knopf}}</ref> There is a varied history of the use of soundscape depending on discipline, ranging from urban design to [[wildlife]] [[ecology]] to [[computer science]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Aiello | first1=Luca Maria | last2=Schifanella |first2=Rossano|last3=Quercia |first3=Daniele|last4=Aletta |first4=Francesco|title=Chatty maps: constructing sound maps of urban areas from social media data|journal=Royal Society Open Science|volume=3|issue=3|url=http://rsos.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/3/3/150690|doi=10.1098/rsos.150690 |pmid=27069661 |bibcode=2016RSOS....350690A |pmc=4821272 |year=2016 |page=150690}}</ref> 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. ([https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#iso:std:iso:12913:-1:ed-1:v1:en ISO 12913-1:2014])

A soundscape is a [[sound]] or combination of sounds that forms or arises from an [[:wikt:immersive|immersive]] [[built environment|environment]].  The study of soundscape is the subject of  [[acoustic ecology]] or [[soundscape ecology]]. The idea of soundscape refers to both the natural [[acoustics|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]]. The anthropophony comprises 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, which Truax describes as "how that environment is understood by those living within it"<ref>{{cite book |title=Acoustic Communication |url=https://archive.org/details/acousticcommunic00trua_214 |url-access=limited |last=Truax |first=Barry |publisher=Ablex Publishing Corporation |year=2001 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/acousticcommunic00trua_214/page/n37 11] |isbn=9781567505375}}</ref> and therefore mediates their relations. The disruption of these acoustic environments results in [[noise pollution]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Voices of the Wild: Human Din, and the Call to Save Natural Soundscapes |last=Krause|first=Bernie |publisher=Yale University Press|year=2016 |pages=all |isbn=978-0-30020631-9}}</ref>

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 object (music)|found sounds]] (sounds derived from objects not standardly used for music) of an acoustic environment, either exclusively or in conjunction with musical performances.<ref>{{cite book |title=Background Noise: Perspectives on Sound Art |last=LaBelle |first=Brandon |publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group |year=2006 |pages=198, 214 |isbn=978-0-8264-1845-6}}</ref><ref name="Paynter">{{cite book |title=Companion to Contemporary Musical Thought |editor-last=Paynter |editor-first=John |publisher=Routledge |year=1992 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/companiontoconte0000unse/page/374 374–398] |isbn=978-0-415-07225-0 |chapter=Electroacoustic Music and the Soundscape: The inner and the Outer World |first=Barry |last=Truax |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/companiontoconte0000unse/page/374 }}</ref>

[[Pauline Oliveros]], composer of post-[[World War II]] [[electronic art music]], defined the term "soundscape" as "All of the waveforms faithfully transmitted to our audio cortex by the ear and its mechanisms".<ref name="oliveros18">{{cite book |title=Deep Listening: A Composer's Sound Practice |last=Oliveros |first=Pauline |year=2005 |publisher=iUniverse |page=18 |isbn=978-0-595-34365-2}}</ref>

{{Listen
|filename     = Coquíes1.ogg
|title        = "Soundscape from Puerto Rico" <!--PLEASE do not change spelling - Shared by [http://elcloquido.com/ El Cloquido] -->
|description  = Shared by [https://web.archive.org/web/20131207050408/http://www.elcloquido.com/english-overview// El Cloquido] <!--PLEASE do not change spelling - -->
}}