The soundscape.

soundscape is the sounds of the environment all around you. where ever you are there is a soundscape... whether it be in a classroom, at the seaside or in the forest. the sound scape is the sounds that make up the land scape. 

Environment and the soundscape:

The word "soundscape" was coined by composer R. Murray Schafer to identify

sounds that "describe a place, a sonic identity, a sonic memory, but always a 

sound that is pertinent to a place"  


The soundscape is composed of several types of sound: keynotes sounds, signals,
soundmarks, and archetypal sounds. The keynote is equivalent to the tonal center in music in that it represents the anchor and reference point to all other sounds. It may be listened to unconsciously, but its omnipresence suggests the deep influence it may have on  the characters' behavior and moods. The signal is considered the figure of foreground sound to be consciously heard. A soundmark establishes a particular place, as does a landmark, possessing some unique quality for only that location. Archetypal sounds our ancestral memories, bringing us into an environment through a universal emotional reaction. Thus, the natural soundscape can create not only a wide range of emotional spaces, it can also link with our human environments through analogy or simply because of our tendency to seek meaning in all stimuli. 

Moreover, when we heard some sound, like the wind, the sea, and the waterfall. Our brain will have same frequencies and associate with these sound. If want to show a farm, we can use dairy cow mooing to be milked, the defending watchdog bark. So if we want to establish a place, we can use common sonic symbols to show it. Sometimes, locations can be distinguished through such subtleties as the king of train whistles, police, sirens, car horns, and even electrical hums. 

The use of sound can put manmade climes into motion; the size of an indoor space will also influence the speed of information that can be conveyed and the sounds of the spaces themselves can be characteristics of their era, function and style.