What does soundscape mean?
A soundscape is the characteristic collection of sounds associated with a place, environment, period, or situation. It includes natural sounds such as wind, birds, and water, as well as human sounds such as traffic, machinery, voices, and bells. The word presents these sounds as a unified acoustic environment whose combination can reveal where or when a scene is situated. In music and sound art, a soundscape may also be a composition or recording that evokes a particular environment. The term is commonly associated with the Canadian composer and environmental music theorist R. Murray Schafer, who introduced it in the 1970s while developing the idea of acoustic ecology. Today it is useful when attention is paid not only to individual noises but also to the overall sound texture of a place.
nounThe characteristic sound environment of a place, situation, or period. The term can also refer to a composition or recording organized around an evocative combination of sounds.
- The total or distinctive combination of sounds heard in a particular place or setting.
- A composition, performance, or recording arranged to evoke a particular environment or auditory experience.
"Early-morning birdsong and distant traffic formed the city's changing soundscape."
"The harbour has a distinctive soundscape of gulls, engines, rigging, and wind."
"The album uses field recordings to create an immersive soundscape of a disappearing rainforest."
The regular plural is soundscapes, with the ending pronounced /z/.
"The soundscapes of coastal villages vary with the weather and the seasons."
The Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer popularized the word in the 1970s as part of his pioneering study of how sound shapes our experience of the world.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does soundscape come from?
The word soundscape was introduced by the Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer in the 1970s as part of his work on acoustic ecology. It combines the English word sound with landscape, adapting the idea of a landscape to describe an environment defined by its sounds. Related terms such as sonic landscape and acoustic landscape subsequently became common alternatives.
How soundscape is actually used
The term is especially common in environmental studies, acoustics, music, and sound art. It usually treats sound as a feature of a landscape rather than merely as background noise.