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AnIntroductionToAcouticcolog

KendallWrighton
Itrtolitento
thetill,mallvoicewithin
utIcanthearit
aovethedin
fromLittleAudretorlizaWard
Aareaderofthiooklet,itipoilethatouattachacertainignificancetoound.Youmahave
noticed how important ound can e in communicating mood, meaning, and context. Perhap when
liteningtoa"oundcape"oundheardinarealor"virtual"environmentouhaveeentranportedto
anothertime,anotherplace.Converel,perhapouhaveexperiencedthe"here-and-now"evenmore
acutelaareultofliteningintentl.Yourawareneofoundpecificallourlevelofawareneof
theacouticenvironmentatangiventimeianiuecentraltotheinterdiciplineofAcouticcolog
(aloknownacoacoutic).
ThephiloophunderpinningAcouticcologiimple,etprofound:itauthor,R.Murrachafera
muician,compoerandformerProfeorofCommunicationtudieatimonFraerUniverit(FU)in
urna,.C.,Canadauggetthatwetrtoheartheacouticenvironmentaamuicalcompoition
and, further, that we own reponiilit for it compoition (chafer 1977a, 205). Like man iue
emergingfromtheexploionofideologieinthelate1960,theprofunditofchafermeageinow
hiddenehindaingle,oundite-friendliue:noiepollution.Thiiunfortunateincechaferhafar
more to offer. However, ome 22 ear after hi idea were firt full articulated in print, the remain
unknown to the general pulic and motl unknown to environmental acoutician. Where chafer i
wellknownwithinthecontemporarmuiccommunit,itimotlforhilarge-cale,oftenitepecific,
muical/theatricalworkratherthanhiacouticecolog.CompoerJohnCagewaawareofoth;when
akedifheknewofangreatmuicteacher,hereplied"MurrachaferofCanada"(Truax1978,leeve
note).
owhatdidchaferaandwhatiitrelevanceattheeginningofacentur?

eCulture
chafer tarting point wa to note the incredile dominance of the viual modalit in ociet"ee
culture" a it ha een termed elewhere [1]and to reveal that children ailit to liten wa, in hi
experience,deteriorating.oconcernedwachaferaoutthiprolemthathearguedpaionatelfor

litening kill to ecome an integral part of the national curriculum. chafer oth demontrated and
addreed the iuewhich he termed "onological competence" through the practical exercie he
developedinworkingwithmuictudent,ucha:litanfiveenvironmentalound(notmuic)that
ourememerhearingtoda;andlitfiveound(notmuic)oulikeandfiveoudonot.
AaformerlecturerinMuicTechnolog,IofteneganalectureeriewiththeeexercieandIcan
confirmchaferexperience:mantudentdonotrecall"concioul"havingheardanoundduring
theda,andmandonotcompletetheoundlitevenafterfifteenminute.chaferreponetothe
prolemwatodeveloparangeof"earcleaning"exercieincluding"oundwalk,"awalkingmeditation
wheretheojectitomaintainahighlevelofonicawarene(eechafer1967and1969).
theearl1970,chaferhadenrolledhicolleagueatFUintohiworkandtheWorldoundcape
Project(WP)wacreated,itfirtmajorprojecteingafieldtudoftheVancouveroundcape.The
tudinvolvedlevelmeaurement(producingioelmap),oundcaperecordingandthedecription
of a range of onic feature. The tud reulted in oth a ook[2] and a collection of recording [3].
FurtherWPfieldtudieinuropeledtothepulicationofFiveVillageoundcape(chafer,1978)
anduropeanoundDiar(chafer,1977).chaferTheTuning of the World(1977a)[4], remain the
etknownandthemotcomprehenivetextonAcouticcolog.

oundcapeFeature
Afacinatingook thatchangedm undertanding ofand relationhip withound, The Tuning of the
WorldformaliedtheoundcapeterminologchaferhaddeviedduringhifieldtudiewiththeWP:
ackground ound he defined a "kenote" (in analog to muic where a kenote identifie the
fundamentaltonalitofacompoitionaroundwhichthemuicmodulate);foregroundound(intended
toattractattention)aretermed"oundignal."oundthatareparticularlregardedacommunit
anditviitorarecalled"oundmark"inanalogtolandmark.Naturalexampleofthelatterinclude
geer, waterfall, and wind trap while cultural example include ditinctive ell and the ound of
traditionalactivitie.(chafer1977a:9,55-56,173-175,272-275;Truax1978:68,119,127;1984:22,58-60).
chafer terminolog help to expre the idea that the ound of a particular localit (it kenote,
oundignalandoundmark)canlikelocalarchitecture,cutomanddreexpreacommunit
identit to the extent that ettlement can e recognied and characteried their oundcape.
Unfortunatel, ince the indutrial revolution, an ever increaing numer of unique oundcape have
diappeared completel or umerged into the cloud of homogenied, anonmou noie that i the
contemporarcitoundcape,withituiquitoukenote:traffic.
The contrat etween pre-indutrial and pot-indutrial acoutic environment i well expreed in
chafer ue of the term "hi-fi" (high fidelit) to characterie the former and "lo-fi" (low fidelit) to
decriethelatter(1977a,272).Hedefineahi-fioundcapeaanenvironmentwhere"oundoverlap
le frequentl; there i more perpective-foreground and ackground" (1977a, 43). In trancriing

recordingofhi-fienvironment,chaferteamnotedthatthelevelofnaturalenvironmental ound
uch aweatherandanimalvariedin repeating ccle. The team created a rudimentar level veru
timediagramchartingthemoreprominentonicfeatureoftheoundcapeoveratwelve-monthperiod
(reproducedhereaFigure1).

Figure1:TheccleofthenaturaloundcapeofthewetcoatofritihColumiahowingtherelativelevelofound
(fromTruax1984:142).

chafer concluded that the vocal "give and take" etween pecie (evident in Figure 1) i proal a
characteriticfeatureofnaturaloundcape.Inadditiontotherhthmicalanceinoundlevelchafer
identifiedinnaturalhaitat,Kraue(1993)uggetedanequiliriumialoapparentacrotheaudio
pectrum.The poiilit of a natural pectral alance occurred to Kraue during long ojourn in the
wilderne a he attempted to record the vocaliation of pecific creature. Litening intentl to the
oundcape to capture pecific ound (often waiting for up to thirt hour in one itting), Kraue
noticed that "When a ird ang or a mammal or amphiian vocalied, the voice appeared to fit in
relationtoallthenaturaloundintermoffrequencandprood(rhthm)"(1993,159).
Acoutical pectrographic map trancried from 2,500 hour of recording confirmed hi upicion:
animal and inect vocaliation tended to occup mall and of frequencie leaving "pectral niche"
(andoflittleornoenerg)intowhichthevocaliation(fundamentalandformant)ofotheranimal,
ird or inect can fit. A uran area pread Kraue uggeted that the accompaning noie might
"lock" or "mak" pectral niche and, if mating call go unheard, a pecie might die out (1993,158).
While there ha een little corroorative reearch into Kraue "Niche Hpothei," (or into chafer
uggetionthatgiveandtakeoccurintermofoundlevel),arecentRoalocietfortheProtection
ofird(RP)tuduggetedthatirdlivingnearroad"...cannothearoneanotherwhichleadto
difficultinlearningongandcommunicatingwithpotentialmate"(arot1999).
In acoutic, the word "mak" ha a ver pecific meaning [5]. The relevance of thi effect for the
oundcapeithatincequieterounddonotgenerallmakeachother(unletheirfrequencieare
cloe together), a hi-fi oundcape can e characteried it lack of making from noie and other
ound,withthereultthatalloundofallfrequencie"caneheardditinctl"(chafer,43).AFU
colleagueHildegardWeterkampputit,therei"noanonmouound."Thelackofmakingfacilitate
thepropagationof"acouticcolouration"cauedechoeandrevererationthatoccuraoundi

aoredandreflectedfromurfacewithintheenvironment,andduetotheeffectofweatherrelated
factoruchatemperature,wind,andhumidit.Thereultingcolourationofferignificantinformation
forthelitener,providingcuerelatingtothephicalnatureoftheenvironmentandexpreingitize
in relation to the litener. Thi foter a ene of place for individual a the move around the
communit.FUcolleaguearrTruaxconvethiconceptwellwhenhetate"...theoundarriving
attheearitheanalogueofthecurrenttateofthephicalenvironment,ecaueathewavetravel,
itichargedeachinteractionwiththeenvironment"(Truax1984,15).
Another characteritic of the pre-indutrial revolution, hi-fi oundcape, i that the "acoutic horizon"
maextendformanmile.Thuoundemanatingfromalitenerowncommunitmaeheardata
coniderale ditance, reinforcing a ene of pace and poition and maintaining a relationhip with
home. Thi ene i further trengthened when it i poile to hear ound emanating from adjacent
ettlement,etalihingandmaintainingrelationhipetweenlocalcommunitie.
Inthelo-fioundcape,meaningfulound(andanaociatedacouticcolouration),canemakedto
uchanextentthatanindividual"auralpace"ireduced.Wheretheeffectiopronouncedthatan
individualcannolongerhearthereflectedoundofhi/herownmovementorpeech,auralpaceha
effectivelhrunktoencloetheindividual,iolatingthelitenerfromtheenvironment.Ifthemakingof
reflectedanddirectoundioeverethatanindividualcannothearhi/herownfoottepwhichi
common on the treet of man citie"... one aural pace i reduced to le than that of human
proportion"(Truax1984,20).Underuchextremecondition,oundieithermothered(intheene
that particular ound are not heard)or ound merge and onic information mutate into antiinformation:"noie."
While the hi-fi oundcape i, a Acoutic cologit ugget, alanced in term of level, pectra and
rhthm, the lo-fi oundcape feature an almot contant level. Thi create a "ound Wall" (chafer
1977a,93),iolatingthelitenerfromtheenvironment.pectrall,thecontemporarlo-fioundcapei
iaedtowardthelowfrequencrange(thanktotheinternalcomutionengineandoundrelatedto
electricpower).Duetothetwent-fourhourociet,therhthmofdailroutineare,inomelocalitie,
ignificantleroded.

Theoundcapeandociet
In decriing the oundcape capacit to conve information, Truax (1984) decrie ound a a
mediatoretweenlitenerandtheenvironment.ThirelationhipiillutratedinFigure2.

Figure2:Themediatingrelationhipofan
individualtotheenvironmentthrough
ound(modifiedfromTruax1984,11).

Atheoundcapedeteriorate,oawareneoftheutletieofenvironmentaloundhawitheredin
proportion.Aareult,themeaningoundholdforthelitenerincontemporaroundcapetendto
e polaried into extreme"loud" and "quiet", noticed or unnoticed, good (I like) or ad (I dont like).
Comparethilevelofonicawarene(andthereultoftheliteningtetmentionedearlier)withthe
KalulimenofPapuaNewGuineawho,accordingtoFeld(1994)can"...imitatetheoundofatleat100
ird, ut few can provide viual decriptive information on nearl that man." In other word,
environmentaloundfortheKalulitriecomprieacontinuumofferingalimitlerangeofutletie.
Inthedevelopedworld,oundhaleignificanceandtheopportunittoexperience"natural"ound
decreaewitheachgenerationduetothedetructionofnaturalhaitat.oundecomeomething
thattheindividualtrietolock,ratherthantohear;thelo-fi,lowinformationoundcapehanothingto
offer.Aareult,manindividualtrtohutitoutthroughtheueofdouleglazingorwithacoutic
perfumemuic.Muicthevirtualoundcapei,inthicontext,uedaameantocontroltheonic
environment rather than a a natural expreion of it. roadcat peech and muic provide the ame
opportunit for control, turning the onic environment into a commodit. Network, tranmitter and
atelliteextendtheacouticcommunitacrothe entire planet, a factthat ha eenutilied forfair
deedandfoul.chaferrefertothelatterueofounda"oundimperialim"(1977a,77).
A 1993 urve of pulic attitude to noie in the United Kingdom lit "neighour" and pecificall,
ource of roadcat or recorded ound (which chafer call "chizophonic" ound) a the premier
ourceofirritation,topplingtrafficfromthenumeronepotithadoccupiedformanear(Grimwood,
1993). A lapper (1996) report: "Nationall, council now receive 300 complaint a da aout
unacceptalenoiefrom neighour" andmore dituringl "Over the pat four ear, 18 people have
eenkilled"[duetodiputeovernoineighour].
The pchological ignificance of ound ued a a controlling forcea an (offenive) weapon or a a
(defenive) arrier againt the oundcapei that the environment and the communit ecome the
enem.Awithanwar,theenvironmentecomeaattlegroundandufferamuchaitinhaitant.
chafer etimated that the attle etween onic expreion and control wa helping to increae
environmentaloundlevelaround0.5to1decielperear-a"noiegenerator"aillutratedinFigure
3.

Figure3:TheNoieGenerator(ource:the
author).

InnerNoie
If communit and environmental noie i the enem without, the noie of unwanted thought and
feeling repreent the enem within. The ue of ound a an "audioanalgeic" (chafer 1977a, 96)a
oundwalltolocktheunceaing(andoftencritical)innerdialogueandtheuncomfortaleemotionthe
dialogue evinceprovide the illuion of mater over emotion. A aic tenet of the pchoanaltical
approach i the notion that unexpreed thought and feeling can reult in inappropriate action
ranging from a urt of anger over an inignificant event, to the kind of horrific incident that eem
increaingl,tomakethefrontpageofnewpapertheworldover.Depiteanincreaedawareneof
pchotherapeuticprinciple,theeliefthatemotioniomehowcontrolledthroughditractionprevail.
The phical and pchological cot of unexpreed emotion i an epidemic of tre related illnee
thatreflectatruggletoadapttoanewwaoflivingthepeed,u-neandutainedaroualof
citlife.uchithecontratetweenthecharacteroflifeintownandcitiecomparedtothatinrural
and tranquil area, that Newman & Londale (1995) refer to cit dweller a "homo uranu".
Appreciativedecriptionofthe"uzz"ofthecitfrequentlrefertoitnoie,awellaitpeedand
activit(Newman&Londale1995,34).Athecitrepreentexcitement,othecountride,theplain
andwilderneareahavecome,forman,torepreentoredomandincredil,adiconnectionfrom
life,ince"life"haecome aociated with continuou noie and activit. The corollar to thi i that
"quiet" and highl differentiated environmentcharacteritic of hi-fi oundcapeare equated with
oredom,conformit,laitude,lackofchoice"...andmotimportantl,thefearofeingoutoftouch"
(Newman & Londale 1995, 10). The latter expreion i a materl example of ophitr ince while
eing"intouch"withthe noie of opinion and technolog (ojectivit), the quiet realit of how "I" feel
now(ujectivit)idevaluedorignored.
In m view, the hi-fi environment repreent a deep pchological fear for anone whoe purpoe
(concioul or unconcioul) i to avoid their feeling. In a wide variet of pchotherapeutic
experience, I have witneed man timein melf and otherhow eing quiet tend to ring

emotiontotheurface.ApchologitJamewanquotedinGallagher(1993,203)offer:"Jutitting
quietl in that atmophere [a quiet place] allow mot people to proce a lot of emotion and iue
thehaventeendealingwith."
Itinocoincidencethatinmuchartandliterature,nature i ued to molie emotion: oth are wild
anduncontrollaleandthehitorofhumanitcouldedecriedintermofaneedtodominateoth.
Thidominationhatakentheformofephemeralrealitieuiltuponlife-a-it-i.Inthecaeofnature,
the contruction refer to electricall powered communitie whoe ephemeralit i a function of their
powerource.Contemporarocietcannotoperatewithoutelectricit;iftheplugipullednature,
terrorit or the depletion of natural reource, ociet will collape. A for emotion, the ephemeral
contruction are the "chizophonic" ound, televiion picture and eventuall, the "data uit" and
other"cerene"technologiethatarecreatinga"virtual"realit.uiltontopoftheelectricociet,
cer-realititwiceaephemeral,doulfragile.

AcouticcologToda
chaferuggetthattherearetwowatoimprovetheoundcape.Thefirtitoincreaeonological
competence through an education programme that attempt to imue new generation with an
appreciationofenvironmentalound.Thi,heelieve,willfoteranewapproachtodeigntheecond
wathat will incorporate an appreciation of ound and thu reduce the wated energ that noie
repreent.
chafer idea are laudale and I endore them. However, it i vital that Acoutic cologit do not
underetimatewhatchaferiaking;inordertolitenweneedtotoporatleatlowdown(phicall
andpchologicall)ecomingahumaneinginteadofa"humandoing.""eherenow"ioneofthe
mainmeagetoemergeduringthe1960,andamajortenetofthemultitudeofaternphiloophie
thathaveeenimportedintotheweteverince.Forhomouranu,toppingandliteningiatough
call,thoughmantrandkeeptring.Forother,eingherenow,liteningotheoundcape,valuingthe
oundcape,ianathema.Porteou(1990)confirmthiinhicritiqueoftheoriginalWPurvenoting
that"expert"alwaringwiththemtheirownagenda.Inthicae,hea,theagendaithatpeople
houldvaluetheoundcape,pecificallaalancedone;urveof pulic opinion, he note, indicate
thatthepeoplethe"inpert"donot.
Toda,interetinAcouticcologigrowingthanktotheactivitieoftheWorldForumforAcoutic
colog(WFA),whichwafoundedduring"TheFirtInternationalConferenceonAcouticcolog"in
anff, Alerta, Canada, in Augut of 1993. Through newletter, thi oundcape journal, regular
conference(ince1993)andmorerecentlaliterverandweiteavailaletoanonewithacceto
theInternet,knowledgeofacouticecologandtheactivitieoftheWFAieginningtopreadtoa
wider audience; Weterkamp (1995) report that the WFA ha enrolled teering committee
repreentative in urope, Aia-Pacific, outh/Central America and the U..A. and ha had a wellfunctioninginternationaloardince1998.

Inummarthen,itimviewthatthevalueepouedAcouticcologthevalueoflitening,the
qualit of the oundcapeare value worth evangeliing. However, it i vital that we do not
underetimatetheenormitofwhatweareakingattheendoftheuiet,loudetcenturinrecorded
hitor.
Pulihed,withlightvariation,intheJournalOflectroacouticMuic,Volume
2,March1999,intherochureforthe"Drift:oundArt&Acouticcologvent,"Glagow,Novemer
1999,andinoundcape:TheJournalofAcouticcolog,Volume1,pring2000).
KendallWrightoniafreelancewriter.Formoreonhiwork,viit:kendallwrighton@mac.com.

Note
1.Thedominanceofeecultureattheexpeneoftheauralmodalitiexploredinerendt,J..[tran.Nevil,T.]TheThird
ar,HenrHolt,NewYork,1988.
2.chafer,R.M.[d].TheVancouveroundcape,ARCPulication,1978a.
3. Now availale a a doule CD et including a 1996 comparative tud: The Vancouver oundcape1973/oundcape
Vancouver1996,Camridge,1996.RecordCR-2CD9701.
4. chafer, R.M. The Tuning of the World, Knopf, New York, 1977. [repulihed in 1994 a The oundcape-Our onic
nvironmentandtheTuningoftheWorld,Detinook,Rocheter,Vermont].
5.Overarelativelnarrowfrequencrange,quietoundwilleinaudile(i.e."maked")inthepreenceofloudoundof
alowerfrequenc.Ifthefrequencieoftwooundarewithinafewhertz,aeatingeffectiheardwhichmakeiteaierto
detectthemakedone(acku,1977,pp.101-103).

Reference
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arot,T.1999."ongirdforgettheirtuneincacophonofroadnoie,"TheundaTime,Januar10th.
erendt,J.1988TheThirdar,tran.T.Nevill.NewYork:HenrHolt.Feld,.1994."Fromethnomuicologtoecho-mueecolog,"TheoundcapeNewletterNo.8,WFA,imonFraerUniverit,urna,.C.,Canada.
Gallagher,W.1993.ThePowerofPlace,NewYork:HarperPerennial.Grimwood,C.J.1993."ffectofenvironmentalnoie
onpeopleathome,"uildingReearchtalihment,InformationPaperNo.IP22/93,Decemer1993.
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healthofhaitat,"ThexplorerJournal,Winter1993,pp.156-160.
Newman,P..,and.Londale1996.TheHumanJungle,London:urPre.
Porteou,J.D.1990.LandcapeoftheMind,Toronto:UofTPre,pp.49-65.
chafer,R.M.1967.arCleaning.MICanada.

--.1969.TheNewoundcape:AHandookfortheModernMuicTeacher,MICanada.
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eContact! 5.3 NAIA New Adventure in ound Art. Montral: Communaut lectroacoutique canadienne / Canadian
lectroacouticCommunit.

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