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The Tuning of the World
The soundscape--a term coined by the author--is our sonic environment, the ever-present array of noises with which we all live. Beginning with the primordial sounds of nature, we have experienced an ever-increasing complexity of our sonic surroundings. As civilization develops, new noises rise up around us: from the creaking wheel, the clang of the blacksmith’s hammer, and the distant chugging of steam trains to the “sound imperialism” of airports, city streets, and factories. The author contends that we now suffer from an overabundance of acoustic information and a proportionate diminishing of our ability to hear the nuances and subtleties of sound. Our task, he maintains, is to listen, analyze, and make distinctions.
As a society we have become more aware of the toxic wastes that can enter our bodies through the air we breathe and the water we drink. In fact, the pollution of our sonic environment is no less real. Schafer emphasizes the importance of discerning the sounds that enrich and feed us and using them to create healthier environments. To this end, he explains how to classify sounds, appreciating their beauty or ugliness, and provides exercises and “soundwalks” to help us become more discriminating and sensitive to the sounds around us. This book is a pioneering exploration of our acoustic environment, past and present, and an attempt to imagine what it might become in the future.
As a society we have become more aware of the toxic wastes that can enter our bodies through the air we breathe and the water we drink. In fact, the pollution of our sonic environment is no less real. Schafer emphasizes the importance of discerning the sounds that enrich and feed us and using them to create healthier environments. To this end, he explains how to classify sounds, appreciating their beauty or ugliness, and provides exercises and “soundwalks” to help us become more discriminating and sensitive to the sounds around us. This book is a pioneering exploration of our acoustic environment, past and present, and an attempt to imagine what it might become in the future.
301 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1977
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About the author
R. Murray Schafer
44 books33 followersRaymond Murray Schafer (1933-2021) was a Canadian composer, writer, music educator, and environmentalist perhaps best known for his World Soundscape Project, concern for acoustic ecology, and his book The Tuning of the World (1977). He was the first recipient of the Jules Léger Prize in 1978.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
February 27, 2013
This is mostly a pretty fun book with some sections that inspired a good deal of thought. There are some really interesting maps & data scattered throughout the book that's fun too...
His conservative, finger-wagging tone is kind of galling though. I keep saying the title of the book could have also been "The Way Things Ought to Sound". R. Murray is unhappy with the world as it sounds, and he wants qualified people to change it.
The takeaway is that people trained in acoustics & music should be the ones in charge of any technology that emits a sound. In one section he complains about the ring of a telephone saying that his idea of acoustic design could lead to everyone having their own "personalized" telephone ring. Now that this is a ubiquitous fact, I can't say that the soundscape is better for it. Can't wait 'till all our cars make a "personalized" vroom.
His conservative, finger-wagging tone is kind of galling though. I keep saying the title of the book could have also been "The Way Things Ought to Sound". R. Murray is unhappy with the world as it sounds, and he wants qualified people to change it.
The takeaway is that people trained in acoustics & music should be the ones in charge of any technology that emits a sound. In one section he complains about the ring of a telephone saying that his idea of acoustic design could lead to everyone having their own "personalized" telephone ring. Now that this is a ubiquitous fact, I can't say that the soundscape is better for it. Can't wait 'till all our cars make a "personalized" vroom.
May 10, 2022
I have a few books that I love and return to every five years, often when I am about to write a new talk or article. R. Murray Schafer's The Soundscape is in my Top Ten books of all time.
It is remarkable. It developed and expanded our conceptualization of 'the soundscape', and Soundscape Studies. A radically interdisciplinary book, it offers profound and innovative codings and layerings of sound, and provides sample sound notation systems.
Every time I read it, I discover something new. A new texture. A new argument. For this reading, I was fascinating to explore 'covering': how sounds block or marginalize other sounds.
The idea that this book exists in the world to read, to think with and through, continues to give me hope, energy and excitement. The tragedy is that R. Murray Schafer died last year. But what a legacy.
What a legacy...
It is remarkable. It developed and expanded our conceptualization of 'the soundscape', and Soundscape Studies. A radically interdisciplinary book, it offers profound and innovative codings and layerings of sound, and provides sample sound notation systems.
Every time I read it, I discover something new. A new texture. A new argument. For this reading, I was fascinating to explore 'covering': how sounds block or marginalize other sounds.
The idea that this book exists in the world to read, to think with and through, continues to give me hope, energy and excitement. The tragedy is that R. Murray Schafer died last year. But what a legacy.
What a legacy...
June 13, 2014
At times I found myself laughing, frowning and completely disagreeing with the autor and in a matter of seconds, completely inspired.
I absolutely loved this book.
I absolutely loved this book.
December 11, 2024
A Afinação do Mundo — 4.0*
A Paisagem Sonora (na Literatura) / The Soundscape in Fiction.
Se não fosse por uma descompromissada leitura inspecional, não teria concluído este livro. Não sou músico, captador sonoro, nem nada parecido, e meus gêneros musicais prediletos são ou barulhentos e ruidosos, ou distrativos, ambos problematizados (de maneira muito inteligente) pelo Schafer. O que eu gosto, no entanto, é de literatura — e de literatura e erudição, surpreendentemente, este livro é abundante; Schafer passa pelos primeiros registros literários sumérios, pelos chineses, pelos gregos e romanos, pela idade média, chegando até aos clássicos modernos, observando como diversos autores de diferentes tempos se relacionavam com o som ambiente e com a paisagem sonora circundante.
Observamos testemunhos auditivos feitos por grandes escritores ao longo de gerações, sempre se apoiando nos trechos dos próprios e auxiliados por toda bagagem e conhecimento do Schafer acerca da paisagem sonora, termo cunhado por esse canadense; ele lê conosco “as elaboradas descrições auditivas” da Bíblia e das Mil e uma Noites, e nos mostra como são perceptíveis e indicativos, nesses relatos, o fato desses antigos povos possuírem uma competência ''sonológica'' melhor desenvolvidas que a nossa. E de que maneira (e por quais fatores) a nossa percepção sonora se dteriorou e está se deteriorando.
É sabido que na ficção não precisamos imitar a realidade, mas a questão da paisagem sonora quando se quer ficcionalizar outros tempos, me parece muitíssimo interessante, e aqui não faltam exemplos: temos trechos "narrativos" dos mais diversos ambientes, desde as praias das Eclógas de Virgilio até a era moderna das máquinas.
interiorizar um som e depois exteriorizá-lo, da maneira que soe mais representativa, me parece bonito, de certa forma; principalmente quando se trata de sons da infância, talvez até extintos, que só na ponta do lápis perdurarão. Ou mesmo som imaginativos, afinal, até para eles, é preciso ter um referencial. Há um trecho muito bom, mas muito longo para colocar aqui, da descrição minuciosa do som de um terremoto; é preciso saber ouvir, e também, saber expressar.
Ele (o Schafer) apresenta algumas formas e até exercícios — voltados para os músicos, mas… — que também podem ser uteis à todas as pessoas. E, até, foca-se mais atentamente nos escritores numa breve seção de um dos capítulos finais, sobre alguns sons que acompanham o corpo: muitos instrumentos musicais ou mesmo ferramentas de trabalho se adéquam a respiração e aos batimentos, e através da sua leitura de Proust e Virgilio, diz: “Surpreendo-me com o fato de os críticos literários não terem desenvolvido (ainda) a relação entre respiração e escrita.”
O escopo do livro é grande, e o desbravar do Schafer contra o ruído, que mostra ser um problema sério e, quase paradoxalmente, ‘silencioso’, no sentido de desapercebermo-lo, é louvável. Você pode ler esse livro para diversos fins, e se ater aos capítulos que mais lhe interessarem; vou passar por alto em apenas alguns desses pontos, que ficaram na minha memória:
— Há a questão do silêncio ao longo do tempo; em outros tempos e culturas, era buscado, hoje, no homem moderno, é temido:
Temendo a morte como ninguém antes dele a temera, o homem moderno evita o silêncio para nutrir sua fantasia de vida eterna, Na sociedade ocidental, o silêncio é uma coisa negativa, um vácuo. O silêncio, para o homem ocidental, equivale à interrupção da comunicação. Se alguém não vem nada para dizer, o outro falará, Daí a garrulice da vida moderna, que se estende à toda sorte de algaravia.
— O arquiteto moderno está fazendo projetos para os surdos. (esquecem do ruído; esquecem do ambiente sonoro; esquecem da paisagem sonora; que nos tempos antigos, era levado em conta)
— A única lei anti-ruído que funcionou até hoje foi a posta em voga pelos deuses sumérios: “apresentava-se na forma de punição divina, Na Epopéia de Gilgamesh lemos: ‘‘Naqueles dias o mundo proliferou, as pessoas se multiplicaram (...) e o grande deus se ergueu com o clamor. Enlil ouviu o clamor e disse aos deuses no Conselho: “O ruído da espécie humana é intolerável e é impossivel dormir por causa da babel”, Então, os deuses soltaram o dilúvio.
— Os sons ameaçados de extinção deveriam ser registrados de modo especial e gravados antes de seu desaparecimento: “Todos temos uma lista semelhante à essa. Ouvimos retroativamente, à la recherche du temps perdu [em busca do tempo perdido], e notamos quantos desapareceram sem que percebesse-mos. Onde? Onde estão os museus de sons desaparecidos? Mesmo os sons mais comuns serão lembrados com afeto depois de desaparecerem. ”
— Na atual paisagem lo-fi a razão de sinal/ruído um por um, onde sons não mais se propagam e tornam-se indistinguivéis; diferente dos antigos ambientes hi-fi, como a pequena cidade de Goethe, onde um único guarda se fazia ouvir por toda população, bastando erguer a voz.
— Símbolos e marcos sonoros; os sons da vida; a floresta e a voz das árvores; o vento e o mar como evocativos de ilusões auditivas; as transformações da água e as vozes do mar; passando sempre por: Homero e Hesiodo, até os Edas Escandinavos e escritores modernos canonizados, como Ezra Pound, Mann, Herman Hesse, e muitos outros…
A Paisagem Sonora (na Literatura) / The Soundscape in Fiction.
Se não fosse por uma descompromissada leitura inspecional, não teria concluído este livro. Não sou músico, captador sonoro, nem nada parecido, e meus gêneros musicais prediletos são ou barulhentos e ruidosos, ou distrativos, ambos problematizados (de maneira muito inteligente) pelo Schafer. O que eu gosto, no entanto, é de literatura — e de literatura e erudição, surpreendentemente, este livro é abundante; Schafer passa pelos primeiros registros literários sumérios, pelos chineses, pelos gregos e romanos, pela idade média, chegando até aos clássicos modernos, observando como diversos autores de diferentes tempos se relacionavam com o som ambiente e com a paisagem sonora circundante.
Observamos testemunhos auditivos feitos por grandes escritores ao longo de gerações, sempre se apoiando nos trechos dos próprios e auxiliados por toda bagagem e conhecimento do Schafer acerca da paisagem sonora, termo cunhado por esse canadense; ele lê conosco “as elaboradas descrições auditivas” da Bíblia e das Mil e uma Noites, e nos mostra como são perceptíveis e indicativos, nesses relatos, o fato desses antigos povos possuírem uma competência ''sonológica'' melhor desenvolvidas que a nossa. E de que maneira (e por quais fatores) a nossa percepção sonora se dteriorou e está se deteriorando.
"É possível medir as mudanças históricas na paisagem sonora mundial, bem como as relações sociais que elas implicaram. Então podemos aprender, por exemplo, que Virgílio, Cicero e Lucrécio não gostavam do som da serra, que era relativamente novo em seu tempo Ce 70 a. C), mas que ninguém se queixava do barulho da fábrica até cerca de cem anos após à erupção da Revolução Industrial (Dickens, Zola)."
É sabido que na ficção não precisamos imitar a realidade, mas a questão da paisagem sonora quando se quer ficcionalizar outros tempos, me parece muitíssimo interessante, e aqui não faltam exemplos: temos trechos "narrativos" dos mais diversos ambientes, desde as praias das Eclógas de Virgilio até a era moderna das máquinas.
interiorizar um som e depois exteriorizá-lo, da maneira que soe mais representativa, me parece bonito, de certa forma; principalmente quando se trata de sons da infância, talvez até extintos, que só na ponta do lápis perdurarão. Ou mesmo som imaginativos, afinal, até para eles, é preciso ter um referencial. Há um trecho muito bom, mas muito longo para colocar aqui, da descrição minuciosa do som de um terremoto; é preciso saber ouvir, e também, saber expressar.
Ele (o Schafer) apresenta algumas formas e até exercícios — voltados para os músicos, mas… — que também podem ser uteis à todas as pessoas. E, até, foca-se mais atentamente nos escritores numa breve seção de um dos capítulos finais, sobre alguns sons que acompanham o corpo: muitos instrumentos musicais ou mesmo ferramentas de trabalho se adéquam a respiração e aos batimentos, e através da sua leitura de Proust e Virgilio, diz: “Surpreendo-me com o fato de os críticos literários não terem desenvolvido (ainda) a relação entre respiração e escrita.”
"A correspondência entre a respiração e o movimento das ondas foi percebida por Virgílio, Em suas Eclógas, ele nos fala de que modo os argonautas procuravam um jovem perdido, “até que a própria longa praia chamasse Hylas e novamente Hylas”. A cada grito uma respiração. A cada onda um grito, Perfeita sincronia."
O escopo do livro é grande, e o desbravar do Schafer contra o ruído, que mostra ser um problema sério e, quase paradoxalmente, ‘silencioso’, no sentido de desapercebermo-lo, é louvável. Você pode ler esse livro para diversos fins, e se ater aos capítulos que mais lhe interessarem; vou passar por alto em apenas alguns desses pontos, que ficaram na minha memória:
— Há a questão do silêncio ao longo do tempo; em outros tempos e culturas, era buscado, hoje, no homem moderno, é temido:
Temendo a morte como ninguém antes dele a temera, o homem moderno evita o silêncio para nutrir sua fantasia de vida eterna, Na sociedade ocidental, o silêncio é uma coisa negativa, um vácuo. O silêncio, para o homem ocidental, equivale à interrupção da comunicação. Se alguém não vem nada para dizer, o outro falará, Daí a garrulice da vida moderna, que se estende à toda sorte de algaravia.
— O arquiteto moderno está fazendo projetos para os surdos. (esquecem do ruído; esquecem do ambiente sonoro; esquecem da paisagem sonora; que nos tempos antigos, era levado em conta)
— A única lei anti-ruído que funcionou até hoje foi a posta em voga pelos deuses sumérios: “apresentava-se na forma de punição divina, Na Epopéia de Gilgamesh lemos: ‘‘Naqueles dias o mundo proliferou, as pessoas se multiplicaram (...) e o grande deus se ergueu com o clamor. Enlil ouviu o clamor e disse aos deuses no Conselho: “O ruído da espécie humana é intolerável e é impossivel dormir por causa da babel”, Então, os deuses soltaram o dilúvio.
— Os sons ameaçados de extinção deveriam ser registrados de modo especial e gravados antes de seu desaparecimento: “Todos temos uma lista semelhante à essa. Ouvimos retroativamente, à la recherche du temps perdu [em busca do tempo perdido], e notamos quantos desapareceram sem que percebesse-mos. Onde? Onde estão os museus de sons desaparecidos? Mesmo os sons mais comuns serão lembrados com afeto depois de desaparecerem. ”
— Na atual paisagem lo-fi a razão de sinal/ruído um por um, onde sons não mais se propagam e tornam-se indistinguivéis; diferente dos antigos ambientes hi-fi, como a pequena cidade de Goethe, onde um único guarda se fazia ouvir por toda população, bastando erguer a voz.
— Símbolos e marcos sonoros; os sons da vida; a floresta e a voz das árvores; o vento e o mar como evocativos de ilusões auditivas; as transformações da água e as vozes do mar; passando sempre por: Homero e Hesiodo, até os Edas Escandinavos e escritores modernos canonizados, como Ezra Pound, Mann, Herman Hesse, e muitos outros…
September 21, 2023
Really interesting in its presentation of sound as a defining (but underappreciated) part of reality. Schafer illustrates all of his points with the help of a vast catalogue of soundscapes, described with a vocabulary rich almost to the point of making the reader hear some parts of the book rather than read them. I enjoyed the more poetic ventures (found mostly in the first third) but was disappointed with Schafer’s tendency to spend as much time prescribing sound as he does describing them. Bordering on the authoritarian, his vision of the sonic society as it should be is often centred on institutional sounds, especially those embedded in nationalism and religion. However, if there is one thing that we can all agree on, it is that the greatest sonic tragedy in human history has been the decline of the varied and dynamic soundscape in the post-Industrial world, a decline that can only be reversed through a greater consciousness of our sonic environment and the systems that affect it.
Essential read for anyone interested in acoustic ecology :-)
Essential read for anyone interested in acoustic ecology :-)
August 25, 2021
Tried to revisit this cover-to-cover but I just could't persist. Schafer's unscholarliness would be tolerable if he wasn't also trying to trojan horse his fears of a chaotic modernity under the cover of ecological awareness-raising. Schafer suggests many interesting connections between sounds and the evolution of human social organisation and industry but they mostly lack the poeticism required to paper over their lack of rigour. Three stars to acknowledge the work's role is provoking attention to sound in the world but thankfully sonic scholarship has come a long way since 1977.
March 18, 2024
The first two parts of the book develop an understanding of the soundscape historically, moving through natural sounds and sounds of life, to the rural and then city soundscape, to the sounds of the industrial, and finally 'electric revolution'. The third part, labeled 'Analysis' works its way through the various tools we have for grasping, measuring, identify elements of the soundscape, from notation, to classification, perception, and morphology. Finally, the fourth part, titled 'Toward Acoustic Design', suggests ways in which we might be more attentive to our soundscape, designing it purposefully and mindfully.
In short, the first two parts are descriptive, the fourth is prescriptive, and between them sits a toolkit that may be used in either way.
The book is wide-ranging and detail-rich, not only in historical considerations, the forming of concepts and methods, but also in the way it opens our ears and minds to an aspect of our surroundings that we usually take for granted or actively (seek to) ignore. In fact, the book is so much of a resource that, as I neared the end, I couldn't bear to hear any more about sirens and horns and birds and wind howls and water rushes and... —a perverse objection that, nonetheless, says something about the book's excesses. Perhaps Schafer should have written a few dozen pages less, or perhaps the otherwise entertaining, erudite prose veered deliberately into a cloying aural surfeit in service of a cadential meta-philosophical point.
A recommended read for all interested in hearing more, differently and better.
In short, the first two parts are descriptive, the fourth is prescriptive, and between them sits a toolkit that may be used in either way.
The book is wide-ranging and detail-rich, not only in historical considerations, the forming of concepts and methods, but also in the way it opens our ears and minds to an aspect of our surroundings that we usually take for granted or actively (seek to) ignore. In fact, the book is so much of a resource that, as I neared the end, I couldn't bear to hear any more about sirens and horns and birds and wind howls and water rushes and... —a perverse objection that, nonetheless, says something about the book's excesses. Perhaps Schafer should have written a few dozen pages less, or perhaps the otherwise entertaining, erudite prose veered deliberately into a cloying aural surfeit in service of a cadential meta-philosophical point.
A recommended read for all interested in hearing more, differently and better.
September 30, 2022
Some of this was a bit dated due to it having been written in the 70s, but overall was really fantastic - he goes the perfect depth into a broad variety of topics under the soundscape
special shoutout to the two pages near the end he dedicates to the idea of people having personalized ringtones (how cool would that be?? he says) - interesting to think we had such a craze with those only for most people now to automatically keep the one their phone already has
special shoutout to the two pages near the end he dedicates to the idea of people having personalized ringtones (how cool would that be?? he says) - interesting to think we had such a craze with those only for most people now to automatically keep the one their phone already has
January 23, 2022
mind blowing non me lo aspettavo
January 26, 2022
Rip. Fuck Alzheimer.
October 26, 2023
“for the majority of humans today music no longer functions as the antennae of the spirit but as a sensory anchor and stabilizer against future-shock”
one of the most well-researched books I’ve ever read + author is brilliant and clearly loves this stuff
-1 star because a ruthless editor could’ve cut 50% of this thing
4 stars I say 🗣️
one of the most well-researched books I’ve ever read + author is brilliant and clearly loves this stuff
-1 star because a ruthless editor could’ve cut 50% of this thing
4 stars I say 🗣️
November 10, 2018
I loved this book! Obviously the first book one must read when studying and producing soundscape design. There is so much information here with a high degree of historical breadth. While one must certainly read further into more specified histories, this is the best introduction on the topic. Highly recommended for all interested in sound design, noise, music, silence and everything else heard and unheard.
May 19, 2021
An excellent study of environmental sound and the role we play within the "acoustic ecology". Picking up where Marshall McLuhan left off with how society traded the ear for the eye and is being shocked back into using its ears again, he delivers a very comprehensive study of how we perceive (or don't perceive) sounds, noise, and the different ways we currently and may possibly listen.
September 14, 2013
I knew it was bound to be a little a bit dated when I chose it (it was published in the 70's), but a lot of what must have been inspirational about it at the time remains that way. I found it frequently to be on the right side of poetic overstatement and despite the anti-noise argument frequently relying on rhetoric rather than reason I found it an enjoyable and informative read.
May 2, 2014
Leido en la versión en castellano El Paisaje sonoro y la afinación del mundo que salió a través deIntermedio.
Un libro antiguo pero que habla del sonido desde una perspectiva única. Reconozco que el tema del paisaje sonoro me interesa mucho, pero creo que es un libro que puede interesar a todo el mundo.
Un libro antiguo pero que habla del sonido desde una perspectiva única. Reconozco que el tema del paisaje sonoro me interesa mucho, pero creo que es un libro que puede interesar a todo el mundo.
May 20, 2008
I was assigned this book for a class. For a textbook it reads really well. I read it fron to back no problem bc it is filled with interesting ideas on sounds, memory, experience, emotions, psychology, etc.
January 29, 2025
“Today all sounds belong to a continuous field of possibilities lying within the comprehensive dominion of music. Behold the new orchestra: the sonic universe! And the musicians: anyone and anything that sounds!”
I read The Soundscape as part of my sociology seminar on sound, and it was both an insightful and thought-provoking read. R. Murray Schafer’s exploration of the sonic environment—how we listen to and are shaped by the sounds around us—offers a compelling perspective on modern life. His concept of "acoustic ecology" sheds light on how human-made noise has dramatically altered our relationship with sound, from the natural rhythms of pre-industrial societies to the mechanical and electronic soundscapes of today. The book effectively argues that sound is not just a passive background to human activity but an integral part of how we experience and interact with the world.
I rated this book 4 stars because while Schafer’s observations are fascinating and still relevant today, some parts of the book feel overly prescriptive, particularly in how he critiques modern soundscapes. His nostalgia for pre-industrial sound environments, while understandable, sometimes veers into a romanticized longing for the past. That said, his discussion of "schizophonia" (the disconnection between a sound and its source) remains an important concept in understanding how technology has reshaped our auditory experiences.
Despite these critiques, The Soundscape is an essential read for anyone interested in sound studies, urban environments, or media theory. Schafer’s work has had a lasting impact on the study of sound, and his call for a more conscious, intentional relationship with our auditory world is one that still resonates today.
I read The Soundscape as part of my sociology seminar on sound, and it was both an insightful and thought-provoking read. R. Murray Schafer’s exploration of the sonic environment—how we listen to and are shaped by the sounds around us—offers a compelling perspective on modern life. His concept of "acoustic ecology" sheds light on how human-made noise has dramatically altered our relationship with sound, from the natural rhythms of pre-industrial societies to the mechanical and electronic soundscapes of today. The book effectively argues that sound is not just a passive background to human activity but an integral part of how we experience and interact with the world.
I rated this book 4 stars because while Schafer’s observations are fascinating and still relevant today, some parts of the book feel overly prescriptive, particularly in how he critiques modern soundscapes. His nostalgia for pre-industrial sound environments, while understandable, sometimes veers into a romanticized longing for the past. That said, his discussion of "schizophonia" (the disconnection between a sound and its source) remains an important concept in understanding how technology has reshaped our auditory experiences.
Despite these critiques, The Soundscape is an essential read for anyone interested in sound studies, urban environments, or media theory. Schafer’s work has had a lasting impact on the study of sound, and his call for a more conscious, intentional relationship with our auditory world is one that still resonates today.
October 2, 2020
Un libro que ayuda a reflexionar sobre nuestra interacción con el entorno acústico que nos rodea. Tiene pasajes muy interesantes, que analizan el "paisaje sonoro" desde un punto de vista antropológico. En ellos, Schafer nos desvela las asociaciones culturales que distintos grupos humanos han atribuido a ciertos sonidos en todo el mundo.
En otros pasajes, sin embargo, el compositor derrapa de especulación a especulación, haciendo asociaciones más bien arbitrarias y con un trasfondo nostálgico que agota (ese tipo de pesimismo sobre el progreso y la tecnología que parece que se estila entre ciertos "progresistas").
En otros pasajes, sin embargo, el compositor derrapa de especulación a especulación, haciendo asociaciones más bien arbitrarias y con un trasfondo nostálgico que agota (ese tipo de pesimismo sobre el progreso y la tecnología que parece que se estila entre ciertos "progresistas").
January 6, 2025
Recommended by a tutor in the background in sound studies. Really a must-read for anyone who is interested in soundscape and its relationship with humanbeings. Murray Schafer as a founder of acoustic ecology has given a universal introduction of soundscapes in urban and rural, before and post industrial revolution, also a range of classification tools (keynotes, signals, soundmarks etc.). Really wonder how sound ecology has evolved nowadays after 48 years of the book's publishing. How the technology changed the soundscape and the way we convey it? Are there any format other than sound recording and experimental drama to serve as the research outcome?
February 2, 2024
Defines the Soundscape in terms of keynotes (the base sounds of an environment, not typically noticed consciously), signals (foreground sounds that are listened to consciously - figure rather than ground, in art terms), and soundmarks (derived from "landmarks" - unique or with qualities that make it regarded or noticed by people in a community, e.g. the local railroad whistle). He includes many, many quotes from books and music. He was clearly very well read! They are specifically related to sounds or description of sounds. It's not light reading.
March 8, 2025
3.5
There are some very interesting and strong ideas, theories, and passages in this book. I think its very interesting to interpret the world through sound, and learn, understand people through sounds we hear in our daily lives, which is gives each persons live individuality. I did have to read this for an ANTH class I was in, it was an interesting read but just not for me
There are some very interesting and strong ideas, theories, and passages in this book. I think its very interesting to interpret the world through sound, and learn, understand people through sounds we hear in our daily lives, which is gives each persons live individuality. I did have to read this for an ANTH class I was in, it was an interesting read but just not for me
March 26, 2025
Crazyyyy book. Will never be able to hear the same - especially with how loud our cities are. Discussed the sounds we hear everyday and how they have changed over time - and then how post industrial revolution we’ve rly just gotten destroyed with the sound level. Talks about ways to analyze sound scapes and potential remedies.
October 21, 2025
Fez me pensar em como é que interpreto os sons à minha volta, alguns insights interessantes de como, por exemplo - "o vento ouve-se de maneira diferente em florestas diferentes, porque o que faz o barulho é o ar a colidir com as árvores" mas, em questões práticas, tem muitas notações de música o que é algo que pra mim, não me interessou.
August 21, 2019
This is a fascinating book about the music of the world around us. As a composer it has literally tuned me in to how musical materials surround us, making it easier to find accessible compositional ideas from nature and from technology.
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October 26, 2020"But the designer does not redesign a whole society: he merely shows society what it is missing by not redesigning itself." 💖💖💖
January 24, 2021
A must-read for anyone learning or interested in Cultural Studies and Environmental Psychology.
July 15, 2021
Interesting book. A bit dense at times. The content is somewhat dated but it is a good read.
September 14, 2021
An important and helpful book. But not without some considerable flaws.
July 13, 2022
Really eye-opening, a new conceptual perspective on sound and modernity.
October 26, 2022
best book ive ever read ,, love u r murray schafer <3
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