Product Description

Schafer contends that we suffer from an overabundance of acoustic information, and explores ways to restore our ability to hear the nuances of sounds around us.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #135323 in Books
• Published on: 1993-10-01
• Released on: 1993-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Review
The Soundscape widens the sense of what music can be, including acoustic design as well as activism to protect the fragile soundscapes of our increasingly noisy Earth. The single most essential volume in this field. -- Whole Earth, Spring 1998

Review
" . . . an unusual sensory experience that will raise your consciousness of the soundscape to a level of sensitivity you never experienced before."
(The New York Times )

From the Back Cover

MUSIC

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.

A well-known Canadian composer, R. MURRAY SCHAFER is the author of several books, including The Music of the Environment.

Customer Reviews

The most important book on sound in 150 years.
When R. Murray Schafer first published TUNING OF THE WORLD (the subtitle of this edition) in 1977, it had a stunning and lasting affect on musicians and recordists throughout the world. Every facet of this work is important to know about and the narrative still reads like a contemporary novel - impossible to put down and never dated. He informs us how to re-train our ears to listen better and more wisely. He defines, for the first time, the soundscape and the myriad ways it fits into and affects our lives.

This book is seminal to my work as a naturalist and sound designer and I have read it many times in the past three decades. It is that important.

Bernie Krause, PhD

The Soundscape by Murray Schaffer
It is a great book about the sounds that build our enviroment, from nature to cities. It does so in a very poetic, well informed, and beautifull way.
Very easy to read. A very inspiring book for musicians, architects and installation artists.

soundscape
bought for a class, am glad to own it. (can be a little fruity at times.)