Natural Sounds Research Articles

Analisis Pengaruh Soundscape terhadap Kenyamanan Pengunjung di Taman Kota Sewaka Dharma, Denpasar, Bali

Analysis of the Effect of Soundscape on Visitor’s Comfort in Sewaka Dharma City Park, Denpasar, Bali. Sound is non-physical element that get less attention in creating sense of place. Very difficult to find good soundscape quality in urban landscape because of the negative impacts of noise. The existence of Sewaka Dharma City Park as public green open space should be a solution of these problems. This study aims to identify sound, analyze effect of soundscape on visitor’s comfort, and provide recommendation to improve the soundscape quality. The study method used is survey, with data collection technics used were observation, questionnaires, and literature study. The data analyzed by quantitative and descriptive analysis. Soundscape of this city park created by combination of natural sounds, human sounds, sounds and society, mechanical sound, and sound as indicator. The most dominant sound heard is the sound of vehicles. Measurement of SPL (Sound Preassure Level) reached 67.5 dB and it exceed the regulation for green open space. Sound assessment indicated natural sounds and sounds from worship place were considered as quite comfortable. Most of human sound and society are considered as not disturbing. Sounds that quite disturbing are people screaming, vehicles and horns. Noise control recommended in zone I and J, because it result the highest SPL and considered disturbing visitor’s activities, by adding barriers and filters with plants, pavement and water.

Эмоциональная составляющая воспринимаемого качества акустических событий

<p>The article represents the description of the results of the empirical research of the peculiarities of the acoustic events interpretation by the tuvans living in different regions of the Republic of Tuva. This article includes the analytical statistics of the emotions that have been felt by the respondents while listening to the natural sounds of the surrounding area. It has been revealed that the research participants prefer describing the perceived acoustic events in terms of “pleasant-unpleasant” and the most widely spread basic emotions are fear and happiness.</p>

Development of audio-guided deep breathing and auditory Go/No-Go task on evaluating its impact on the wellness of young adults: a pilot study.

Numerous studies indicate that deep breathing (DB) enhances wellbeing. Multiple deep breathing methods exist, but few employ audio to reach similar results. This study developed audio-guided DB and evaluated its immediate impacts on healthy population via self-created auditory Go/No-Go task, tidal volume changes, and psychological measures. Audio-guided DB with natural sounds to guide the DB was developed. Meanwhile, audio-based Go/No-Go paradigm with Arduino was built to measure the attention level. Thirty-two healthy young adults (n=32) were recruited. Psychological questionnaires (Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), Cognitive and Affective Mindfulness Scale-Revised (CAMS-R), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)), objective measurements with tidal volume and attention level with auditory Go/No-Go task were conducted before and after 5 min of DB. Results showed a significant increment in tidal volume and task reaction time from baseline (p=0.003 and p=0.033, respectively). Significant correlations were acquired between (1) task accuracy with commission error (r=-0.905), (2) CAMS-R with task accuracy (r=-0.425), commission error (r=0.53), omission error (r=0.395) and PSS (r=-0.477), and (3) RSES with task reaction time (r=-0.47), task accuracy (r=-0.362), PSS (r=-0.552) and CAMS-R (r=0.591). This pilot study suggests a link between it and young adults' wellbeing and proposes auditory Go/No-Go task for assessing attention across various groups while maintaining physical and mental wellness.

Impacts of sights and sounds on anxiety relief in the high-density city

Anxiety is one of the most common mental health disorders in the world. Although acoustic and visual environments are known to influence many other aspects of mental health, we know little about their independent and interactive effects on the levels of anxiety of high-density city dwellers. We conducted a laboratory experiment using a two-way factorial design (four visual environments × five acoustic environments) and randomly assigned participants to 20 treatment conditions. Before exposure to a condition, they engaged in the Trier Social Stress Test to induce a moderate level of anxiety. A total of 223 urban dwellers reported their anxiety level before and after a randomly assigned environmental treatment. The results showed that acoustic and visual environments had significantly interactive influence on anxiety relief. The impact of acoustic environments on anxiety relief was 4.67 times greater than the impact of visual environments. Environments with more natural features, regardless of whether they were acoustic or visual, played a greater role in reducing anxiety than environments with more artificial features. The combination of green scenes and fully natural sounds gave a significantly greater anxiety relief than any other acoustic-visual environments. The implications of these results for planning and design in high-density cities are discussed.

Automatic imitation of speech is enhanced for non-native sounds

Simulation accounts of speech perception posit that speech is covertly imitated to support perception in a top-down manner. Behaviourally, covert imitation is measured through the stimulus-response compatibility (SRC) task. In each trial of a speech SRC task, participants produce a target speech sound whilst perceiving a speech distractor that either matches the target (compatible condition) or does not (incompatible condition). The degree to which the distractor is covertly imitated is captured by the automatic imitation effect, computed as the difference in response times (RTs) between compatible and incompatible trials. Simulation accounts disagree on whether covert imitation is enhanced when speech perception is challenging or instead when the speech signal is most familiar to the speaker. To test these accounts, we conducted three experiments in which participants completed SRC tasks with native and non-native sounds. Experiment 1 uncovered larger automatic imitation effects in an SRC task with non-native sounds than with native sounds. Experiment 2 replicated the finding online, demonstrating its robustness and the applicability of speech SRC tasks online. Experiment 3 intermixed native and non-native sounds within a single SRC task to disentangle effects of perceiving non-native sounds from confounding effects of producing non-native speech actions. This last experiment confirmed that automatic imitation is enhanced for non-native speech distractors, supporting a compensatory function of covert imitation in speech perception. The experiment also uncovered a separate effect of producing non-native speech actions on enhancing automatic imitation effects.

Linking ecoacoustic indices to psychoacoustic perception of the urban acoustic environment

Research about human perception of the acoustic environment is dominated by the use of sound pressure levels (SPL) or proprietary psychoacoustic indicators, limiting the link between sound and perception to only these two approaches. The aim of this study is to make connections between soundscape perception descriptors and ecoacoustic indices so that a perceptual dimension of ecoacoustic indices is ascertained. The study employs a laboratory experiment where 309 participants were exposed to sound and imagery from nine different urban land uses (n = 2,781) according to the soundscape protocol DIN ISO 12913-2. Spearman’s correlation and ordinal logistic regression are used to analyze the relationship between continuous numeric ecoacoustic indices and Likert scale psychoacoustic perception outcomes. We find that the predictors median amplitude (M), acoustic richness (AR), number of peaks (NP), and acoustic evenness index (AEI) have significant correlations (r > 0.5: p ≤ 0.05) and effect sizes (β ≥ 0.1) for the psychoacoustic outcomes perceived affective quality (PAQ) of calm, pleasant, chaotic, annoying, and soundscape identifiers (SSI) traffic sounds and natural sounds. We find that between 59.4 % and 81.9 % of the variation within dependent SSI and PAQ variables is explained by ecoacoustic indices based on Nagelkerke’s R-Squared values. High M and AR values are indicators for sound environments with high median or consistent amplitude, such as traffic noise, and high NP and AEI values are indicators for high fidelity sound environments with natural sounds or human beings that may be perceived as calm or pleasant. We conclude that combinations of M, AR, NP, and AEI as composite indicators contribute to understanding nine of the 14 psychoacoustic perception outcomes in DIN ISO 12913-2.

Energy-based features and bi-LSTM neural network for EEG-based music and voice classification

AbstractThe human brain receives stimuli in multiple ways; among them, audio constitutes an important source of relevant stimuli for the brain regarding communication, amusement, warning, etc. In this context, the aim of this manuscript is to advance in the classification of brain responses to music of diverse genres and to sounds of different nature: speech and music. For this purpose, two different experiments have been designed to acquire EEG signals from subjects listening to songs of different musical genres and sentences in various languages. With this, a novel scheme is proposed to characterize brain signals for their classification; this scheme is based on the construction of a feature matrix built on relations between energy measured at the different EEG channels and the usage of a bi-LSTM neural network. With the data obtained, evaluations regarding EEG-based classification between speech and music, different musical genres, and whether the subject likes the song listened to or not are carried out. The experiments unveil satisfactory performance to the proposed scheme. The results obtained for binary audio type classification attain 98.66% of success. In multi-class classification between 4 musical genres, the accuracy attained is 61.59%, and results for binary classification of musical taste rise to 96.96%.

Investigating the mood effects of nature sounds and soothing images in adolescents: A proof-of-concept randomised control pilot study

Background: High prevalence of mental health problems in adolescents indicates a need for more accessible evidence-based interventions. Connection with nature and soothing imagery based on compassion focused therapy (CFT) have both been shown to offer mood benefits, with a recent study showing that both nature related sounds and soothing images were effective in reducing negative affect and depressive mood in adults. This pilot study aimed to extend this line of research by examining whether nature related sounds and soothing images could, independently and/or collectively, improve adolescents’ mood. Methods: Our online study included 88 adolescents, aged 13-17, randomly allocated into one of three experimental conditions (viewing soothing images, listening to nature related to sounds, or combined). They also completed pre- and post-assessments of positive affect, negative affect, serenity affect, state anxiety and state depression. Symptoms of depression and anxiety were indexed at baseline using standardised self-reported measures. Results: Adolescents, regardless of group, reported an increase in serenity affect and a reduction in negative mood states across time. Additionally, these mood changes appeared to be more pronounced in those with higher levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms at baseline. Conclusions: Our findings provide preliminary evidence that, upon further research development and replication, nature related sounds and soothing images could be incorporated into therapies such as CFT to support mental health in young people. Registration: ISRCTN16916695.

Exploring the feasibility of a mental health application (JoyPopTM) for Indigenous youth.

The purpose of the current study was to explore the acceptability and feasibility of a resilience-focused mobile application, JoyPop™, for use with Indigenous youth. A Haudenosaunee community-based research advisory committee co-developed the research project, in accordance with OCAP™ principles. Adopting a mixed-method approach, five youths from an immersion school used the JoyPop™ app for four consecutive weeks, as well as completed pre-test questions and weekly usage surveys. Most participants also completed post-test questions and a semi-structured interview. Based on a semi-structured interview protocol, youth responded to questions, and the most common themes were categorized to capture the experience of using the app. All youth reported a positive impression, used the app daily, found it easy to navigate, and indicated that they would recommend it to a friend. All features were uniformly positively endorsed. There were features that youth used most often (Deep Breathing, "SquareMoves" game, and Art features) and moderately (Rate My Mood, Journaling, and SleepEase). The social connection feature, Circle of Trust, was least utilized, with youth reporting a preference for in-person problem-solving. The drop-down menu of crisis helplines was not used. Youth recommended more gaming options. In terms of cultural resonance, appreciation for the app's use of water sounds in the SleepEase feature was expressed, as was cultural consistency with the "Good Mind" perspective. Recommendations included additional nature sounds, Indigenous design elements, the inclusion of Native language words, and traditional stories. The JoyPop™ app was positively received by Six Nations youth, and ways to ensure its cultural appropriateness were identified. Moving forward, it is recommended that Indigenous designers create a new version with community design co-creation. Additional research with various groups of Indigenous youth is warranted as a pan-Indigenous approach is not recommended.

Effect of sonification types in upper-limb movement: a quantitative and qualitative study in hemiparetic and healthy participants

BackgroundMovement sonification, the use of real-time auditory feedback linked to movement parameters, have been proposed to support rehabilitation. Nevertheless, if promising results have been reported, the effect of the type of sound used has not been studied systematically. The aim of this study was to investigate in a single session the effect of different types of sonification both quantitatively and qualitatively on patients with acquired brain lesions and healthy participants.MethodsAn experimental setup enabling arm sonification was developed using three different categories of sonification (direct sound modulation, musical interaction, and soundscape). Simple moving forward movements performed while sliding on a table with both arms were investigated with all participants. Quantitative analysis on the movement timing were performed considering various parameters (sound condition, affected arm and dominance, sonification categories). Qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews were also conducted, as well as neuropsychological evaluation of music perception.ResultsFor both the patient and healthy groups (15 participants each), average duration for performing the arm movement is significantly longer with sonification compared to the no-sound condition (p < 0.001). Qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews revealed different aspects of motivational and affective aspects of sonification. Most participants of both groups preferred to complete the task with sound (29 of 30 participants), and described the experience as playful (22 of 30 participants). More precisely, the soundscape (nature sounds) was the most constantly preferred (selected first by 14 of 30 participants).ConclusionOverall, our results confirm that the sonification has an effect on the temporal execution of the movement during a single-session. Globally, sonification is welcomed by the participants, and we found convergent and differentiated appreciations of the different sonification types.

Using multisensory virtual reality nature immersion as a therapeutic modality for improving HRV and cognitive functions in post-traumatic stress disorder: a pilot-study

Introduction: Immersive virtual reality (VR) applications are burgeoning within healthcare as they promote high levels of engagement. Notwithstanding, existing solutions only stimulate two of our five senses (audio and visual), thus may not be optimal in the sense of promoting immersion and of “being present”. In this paper, we explore the benefits of an immersive multisensory experience as a therapeutic modality for participants suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).Methods: In addition to 360-degree videos and corresponding natural sounds, nature smells are also presented by means of a portable ION 2 scent diffusion device attached to an Oculus Quest 2 VR head-mounted display. A 3-week 12-sessions protocol was applied to a sample of 20 participants diagnosed with PTSD.Results and discussion: We report the outcomes seen from a battery of qualitative metrics, including cognitive functioning tests, psychological symptoms, severity of PTSD, and several self-reported questionnaires and heart rate variability (HRV) metrics. Results are compared not only between pre-and post intervention, but also after a 3-month follow-up period. Results suggest a decrease in the severity of PTSD, as well as improvements in processing speed and sustained attention post-intervention, but also sustained decrease in the severity of PTSD and in dissociative tendencies at the 3-month follow-up. Overall, participants rated the experience as highly immersive and produced very mild to no symptoms of cybersickness, thus corroborating the feasibility and usefulness of the proposed multisensory immersive VR tool for reducing PTSD symptoms.

The effects of noise exposures on complex sound perception by laboratory mice

Using laboratory mice as models for humans with age-related or noise-induced hearing loss has been a widely accepted practice for many years. However, physiological and reflex-based methodologies are often limited in the stimuli that can be used to measure auditory processing. Behavioral tasks are informative for understanding acuity for ecologically relevant and naturalistic sounds and are more closely matched to measurements of auditory acuity by humans reporting hearing difficulties. Our laboratory has extended the utility of the aging mouse model by (1) assessing hearing across the lifespan using behavioral procedures in awake and trained mice, (2) determining how aging, blasts, and noise exposures affect hearing in mice, and (3) measuring the detection, discrimination, and categorization of complex sounds by mice including ultrasonic vocalizations. We have found differences in auditory acuity of laboratory mice across age, sex, stimulus type, noise exposure, traumatic blasts, and measurement techniques, highlighting the importance of studying complex sound perception in animal models using behavioral approaches. [Work supported by R01-DC012302 and R01-DC016641.]

A subjective evaluation of different types of music in music therapy using an emotion equalization app

Music therapy has been shown to be effective at improving mood (i.e., valence) in subjects in previous studies. In this study, we investigate five different ways of generating playlists of therapeutic music to see which is most effective at improving mood, tested over a large number of subjects. We conducted online experiments under three proposed approaches using playlists of consoling, relaxing, and uplifting music, and compared them to two baseline methods using natural sounds and a random mix of songs (i.e., music that could be either relaxing, uplifting, or consoling). We questioned subjects before and after listening to the music to see how valence and arousal changed, and analyzed the results with ANOVA. The results showed there were positive changes in listeners’ valence levels for natural sounds, as well as for consoling, relaxing, and uplifting music playlists. There were no significant changes in arousal for most sources, but there was a lowering in arousal with relaxing music and a rising in arousal with uplifting music. Additionally, relaxing and uplifting music playlists both showed significant effects in moving listeners from negative to more positive emotional states.

Natural Sounds in Management of Elderly Sleep Quality: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Natural Sounds in Management of Elderly Sleep Quality: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Soundscape of Sandiaoling Ecological Tunnel

The Sandiaoling Ecological Tunnel, originally an abandoned railway, has been transformed into a 1852 m long ecological bike path. Constructed with stones and bricks, the tunnel now features an elevated bike path supported by threaded iron rods, with a gentle water flow beneath. As the tunnel has two main sections and an open transition area in between it, the entrance (open), the middle of the tunnel (enclosure), near the tunnel exit (semi-open), and the transition area between the two main sections are selected as the four soundscape study locations. The study follows ISO-12913 soundscape study method to document essential sound sources, paths, and levels. Odeon Room Acoustic Software is used to study the simulated sound source propagations. The research documents a taxonomy of sound sources, encompassing both natural and man-made sounds. The tunnel's atmosphere is characterized by quietude, monotony, coldness, and resonance. The average equivalent sound pressure level in the four measured locations is 59dBA. Frequency spectrums and simulated reflection patterns are also examined. During the soundwalk, the overall listening impression of the tunnel is described as delightful, relaxing, peaceful, and harmonious with nature. The atmosphere inside the tunnel evokes a sense of serenity and tranquility.

Nature and City Sounds Influence Physiological and Psychological Markers in College Students

Worldwide, human population growth has led to a higher demand for urbanization. While this development is in accordance with our gregarious lifestyles, our availability and contact with nature has consequentially been minimized. The goal of this study was to evaluate whether sounds from nature versus urban environments affect vital signs (i.e., heart rate and respiration rate) and mood states of female college students. Emotional states were assessed using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) questionnaire. While nature sounds included a mixture of birdsongs and water sounds, urban sounds included traffic, construction, and sirens. Following a within-subject design, each participant listened to a 7-minute segment of nature sounds and a 7-minute segment of city sounds in a randomized order. Sounds were played through each participant’s own headphones and devices at a conversational volume of approximately 70 decibels. All dependent variables were recorded before and after listening to each type of sound. This study was performed throughout the COVID-19 pandemic (April-August 2020). To comply with health and safety guidelines, each participant met with the experimenter through a WebEx virtual conference, and variables were self-recorded by each of the participants. Exposure to 7-minutes of sounds from a natural environment resulted in statistically significant decreases in both respiration rate and negative affect schedule score when compared to the same time exposure to urban sounds. Furthermore, participants had a significantly higher preference for natural over urban environments according to a survey performed prior to listening to both types of sounds. Future research could help to better understand causes for variability in human responses to sound stimuli.

City, town, village: Potential differences in residents soundscape perception using ISO/TS 12913-2:2018

Soundscape studies aim to provide a comprehensive perspective to the acoustic environment, beyond noise, and its impact on quality of life, including the interrelationships between person, activity and place. The purpose of this study is to assess the influence of residence location (city, town, village) on the perception of soundscape and specifically on the dimensions of the soundscape circumplex. For this objective, residents (N = 90) from different areas of Greece (city: Athens, town: Chania, village: Dermatianika) participated in listening tests and principal component analysis (PCA) was applied in order to compare the results. The outcome was also compared with results from English participants (city: London, N = 32). In addition, the sound stimuli were clustered according to their content, based on the dominance of sounds embedded in their natural context into ‘technological’, ‘natural’ and ‘human’. Some of the main findings are: biggest differences between the participants were found for the perception of chaotic, vibrant, monotonous and uneventful; village residents perceived technological sounds as more chaotic than the city residents; city residents perceived natural sounds as more monotonous, more uneventful and less vibrant compared to village residents; responses to human sounds had the least differences among residence locations and sound clusters. In addition, results led to the re-evaluation of the conclusions of an earlier cross-cultural study where the location of residence was not taken into consideration. These findings provide an empirical basis for the residence location of subjects in the perception of soundscapes that should be taken into account in soundscape assessment, comparisons and cross-cultural studies, as well as potential interventions.

Effects of the acoustic characteristics of natural sounds on perceived tranquility, emotional valence and arousal in patients with anxiety disorders

As a supplement to music therapy, natural sounds have become an effective means of relieving anxiety. This research investigates the natural acoustic characteristics that affect the perceived tranquility, emotional valence, and arousal in patients with anxiety disorders. This research conducted a subjective assessment experiment of natural sound involving 46 participants with anxiety disorders. It designed 56 natural sound stimuli by controlling four acoustic characteristic factors of natural sound: foreground sound types, the number of sound sources, the foreground-to-background signal-to-noise ratio (FBSNR), and the foreground sound duration ratio. Results show that patients with higher levels of anxiety may have a lower tolerance for mixed natural sounds. Natural sounds composed of two sources brought the highest emotional valence. When the number of sound sources increased from 2 to 6, perceived tranquility and emotional valence increased, while emotional arousal decreased. Anxious patients had the highest perceived tranquility and emotional valence of mixed natural sounds with a 75% foreground sound duration ratio. As the proportion of natural sounds in the foreground increased, there was a gradual decrease in emotional arousal. The number of sound sources, FBSNR, and the degree of anxiety may be the important acoustic characteristics that lead to the difference in anxious patients' perception. The acoustic characteristics of natural sounds need to be considered when creating a healing environment for anxious people.

EXPLORING THE POSSIBILITY OF GAMES-JOURNEYS IN THE PROCESS OF DEVELOPING INTEREST IN MUSIC IN YOUNGER PRESCHOOLERS

This article is devoted to the problem of developing interest in music as one of the components of musical and aesthetic consciousness in young preschool children. It analyses theoretical studies, according to which the peculiarities of young preschool children are revealed, which determine the possibilities of developing interest in music through gamesjourneys into the world of sounds. The article pays attention to games-journeys into the world of sounds of nature. It is noted that the main didactic task of games-journeys into the world of sounds is the development of musical and sound experience of children, formation of the ability to distinguish sounds of nature, representativeness of music. Games-journeys are developed taking into account the age characteristics of younger preschool children. The article reveals the specifics of using games-journeys into the world of sounds: from the sound of nature to music, which conveys a phenomenon of nature (sounds of rain, wind, spring drops) by musical sounds, means of musical expression (tempo, dynamics, sound pitch). Music teachers can use games-journeys into the world of sounds in their practical activities in preschool educational organisations.

Data Augmentation to Improve the Soundscape Ranking Index Prediction

Predicting the sound quality of an environment represents an important task especially in urban parks where the coexistence of sources of anthropic and biophonic nature produces complex sound patterns. To this end, an index has been defined by us, denoted as soundscape ranking index (SRI), which assigns a positive weight to natural sounds (biophony) and a negative one to anthropogenic sounds. A numerical strategy to optimize the weight values has been implemented by training two machine learning algorithms, the random forest (RF) and the perceptron (PPN), over an augmented data-set. Due to the availability of a relatively small fraction of labelled recorded sounds, we employed Monte Carlo simulations to mimic the distribution of the original data-set while keeping the original balance among the classes. The results show an increase in the classification performance. We discuss the issues that special care needs to be addressed when the augmented data are based on a too small original data-set.