Developing Soundscapegraphy for the Notation of Urban Soundscape: Its Concept, Method, Analysis and Application

Abstract

The establishment of the concept of soundscape has brought about a new aspect for sound environment, and many conceptual and practical researches have been performed around the world. However, the notation of soundscape, in other words, the way how we can record, describe or express the soundscape, still need to be studied furthermore. Soundscape is the concept of an environment of sound (sonic environment) with emphasis on the way how it is perceived and understood by individual, or by a society, and thus it depends on the relationship between individual and any such environment. Therefore, the notation of soundscape should put emphasis on not only the physical characteristics but also the perception of the people, as well as the relationship between them. In this paper, firstly the notation of soundscape was reviewed with the concept of soundscapegraphy, which was composed of objective information, subjective information, environmental information and analysis information. Then, the methodology of making soundscapegraphy was discussed from the stage of data collection, data processing, mapping to analysis, and in the data processing GIS technique was applied. Next, with the case study of Saga urban areas, the analysis of urban soundscape was performed by means of soundscapegraphy. Finally, the applications of soundscapegraphy and the prospect for future research were discussed. Soundscapegraphy can be a proper and applicable method for the notation and analysis of soundscape.