Page 41 - Winter2014

There is a striking congruency between architectural design and sound recording for music in the application of sound- scape methods. How can the designer/composer ensure that their work will be successful? As Schafer said, “Orchestration is a musician’s business. I am going to treat the world as a macrocosmic musical composition” (Schafer, 1977). To quote Cage, “Music is sounds, sound around us whether we are in or out of concert halls”(Warner and Cox, 2004). The answer to these questions is intriguing.
So many soundscapes – found, archived, preserved or com- posed – consist of multiple sound elements. The interaction among these individual sounds can conflict and obscure, or complement and harmonize. The creation of sound record- ings through the multi-track production process offers a point of view into how an overall soundscape can be successfully created, and multiple sounds effectively orchestrated (Case, 2013). The parallels between the music production process and the architectural design process offer insights about how soundscape methods may help the composer/designer to cre- ate a meaningful “sense of place” within the listener.
What’s next?
The link between the fruits of soundscape research and their application to sonic environments which provide a sense of comfort and well-being is currently being developed. The focus of project soundscape designers is to establish consistent means to gain the stakeholder acceptance needed to imple- ment these exciting, effective and creative tools.
The ultimate goal here is for the soundscape tool to be rec- ognized as so powerful, so effective, and so influential that private developers, architects and urban planners will under- stand that they must use it, or risk the failure of their project. Perhaps too large a goal? We think not. The soundscape method is the logical and practical extension of an idea that was decades in the making, yet just now coming of age. There are many precedents to this approach in the built environ- ment community, which are now coming to the fore. The timing is propitious and the benefits are enormous.
Stay Tuned!
biosketches
Bennett M. Brooks is President of Brooks Acoustics Corporation (BAC). He believes that environments should provide a sonic dimension which promotes a sense of well- being. He is a licensed Professional En- gineer, Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America, Member of the Institute of Noise Control Engineering, and Past President of
the National Council of Acoustical Consultants.
Brigitte Schulte-Fortkamp is Professor of Psychoacoustics and Noise Effects at the Institute of Fluid Mechanics and Engi- neering Acoustics, Technical University of Berlin, Germany and ASA Vice President, 2011-2012. She received the European Soundscape Award in 2012.
Kay S. Voigt was research assistant
in the department of Psychoacoustics and Noise Effects of the Institute of Fluid Me- chanics and Engineering Acoustics in the Technical University of Berlin, Germany. Currently he is working as freelance re- searcher in acoustics and sound engineering.
Alex U. Case is Associate
Professor of Sound Recording
Technology at the University of
Massachusetts Lowell, USA, a
member of the Audio Engineer-
ing Society, and a Fellow of the
Acoustical Society of America.
He is a former Chair of the AES Education Committee and the ASA Technical Committee for Architectural Acoustics.
| 39