SoundScape

"Soundscape is a sound or combination of sounds that forms or arises from an immersive environment." 

In my own understanding, soundscape is about blending of all sounds that are formed by any objects that produces in a certain setting or situation. Soundscape can be produced in any kind of situation whether it is natural or manmade. It can be produced anywhere whether is indoor or outdoor.

So we were given an requirement that is all about soundscape. We need to produce a soundscape and it should be an indoor soundscape, outdoor(natural) soundscape and outdoor(man-made) soundscape. It was hard to decide at first if what kind of setting and situation to choose for each category. I was having a hard time to decide since it must fit the elements that a soundscape requires. It must have the soundmark, sound signal and the keynote.

Luckily, I got the best site for getting sound effects although there is sometimes a voice over that endorses the website. I got my sound effects at pond5.com and its really a helpful site especially for the animators.

So for the indoor setting, I chose the coffee shop. In a coffee shop, I included the sound of the coffee machine, cash register sound, coffee being poured to the cup, the small crowd and the blender. The coffee machine, cash register sound and the pouring coffee sound is considered to be the sound signal because it is consciously heard and its really the focus of the soundscape. I consider the crowd to be the keynot. The soundmark could be the coffee machine and the pouring coffee into the cup because they are unique to the setting and it describes to what kind of place the soundscape is.

For the oudoor(natural) settings, I chose the sea gulls in the beach. I added the sound of the sea gulls playing around, the calm waves and the sound of the sea breeze. Its really a relaxing combinations of sounds that is why I chose this setting. The soundsignal are the sea gulls because you could really hear their voices. The keynote would be the sound of the waves and the sea breeze. The soundmark could be the sea gulls because  it makes it unique and it says what setting the soundscape is trying to portray.

And lastly, I chose the seaport station for the oudoor(man-made) sounds. The ship horns are the soundmark.  It actually tells you if what place the soundmark is. It is unique among all and the first time you would hear it, you would really say that the place is in the seaport. The sound signal would be the passing forklift truck and the truck reversing. The keynote would be the busy people over the streets and it could be the passing trucks.