Soundscape, Acoustic Communication and Environmental Sound Composition

Abstract The problems of introducing environmental sound into the compositional process are discussed, including its acoustic character, syntactic organization, contextually based meaning, and resultant listening patterns.Gaps in traditional disciplinary approaches in dealing with environmental sound are identified, and an acoustic communicational model is proposed as an interdisciplinary alternative. The research activities at Simon Fraser University in this area, including soundscape studies, acoustic communication, soundscape composition, and the granulation of sampled sound, are summarized, along with examples drawn from the author's compositions, and the work of R. Murray Schafer, Hildegard Westerkamp and the World Soundscape Project.