Hi Barry and welcome to the list. I'm pretty well convinced that
humans and many animals have the ability to "image" the space around
them functionally if not very accurately. The most impressive
evidence for me has come from spending some time with sight impaired
friends as they hear their way through spaces. In the wild, creatures
navigate very well through pitch blackness and use local resonances
to magnify their calls. Technically, its my opinion that current
sound recording systems are challenged to record acoustic details on
the order that animals can perceive, but these are some of the topics
we discuss from time to time. I'll take a look at your sample chapter
and table of contents on the link you provided. Rob D.
At 7:33 PM -0500 12/2/06, Barry Blesser wrote:
>Dear Colleague,
>
>Now that we have the technology available to record natural sounds, we can
>preserve our soundscapes, which parallels the century old tradition of
>paintings and photographs. Cave art captured an image of ancient
>environments. Only now can we do the same for aural environments. However,
>recording a soundscape, which includes spatial acoustics as well as natura=
l
>sounds is not trivial or even possible. Those that have been recording mus=
ic
>in concert halls during the last century are well aware that spatial
>acoustics is extremely important and extremely difficult to record.
>
>What we experience when we walk through a forest listening to the sounds o=
f
>birds includes nature's acoustic geography. Forests have there own unique
>reverberation, including sonic turbulence, thermal inversion sound channel=
s,
>diffused reflections, and so on.
>
>During my 5 years of research into auditory spatial awareness, which is
>discussed in my book Spaces Speak, Are You Listening? Experiencing Aural
>Architecture, I considered the importance of the aural properties of space=
s
>within which the sound source and listener exist. There is strong, but
>speculative, evidence that most species are very aware of nature's aural
>architecture.
>
>My book established the foundation for cultural earcons but I need help in
>advancing the discussion. Additional information about the book can be fou=
nd
>at the MIT Press web site:
>http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=3D2&tid=3D10947 and=
I
>will send a copy of the Introduction and Table of Contents to anyone who
>requests them.
>
>I would be delighted to open a dialog on how those who are recording natur=
al
>sounds are dealing with the issue of natural acoustics.
>
>Barry Blesser (former MIT Prof)
>
--
Rob Danielson
Peck School of the Arts
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
http://www.uwm.edu/~type/audio-art-tech-gallery/
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