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Restoration of vulnerable marine habitats is becoming increasingly popular to cope with widespread habitat loss and the resulting decline in biodiversity and ecosystem services. Lately, restoration strategies have been employed to enhance the recovery of degraded meadows of the Mediterranean endemic seagrass Posidonia oceanica. Typically, habitat restoration success is evaluated by the persistence of foundation species after transplantation (e.g., plant survival and growth) on the short and long-term, although successful plant responses do not necessarily reflect the recovery of ecosystem biodiversity and functions. Recently, soundscape (the spatial, temporal and frequency attribute of ambient sound and types of sound sources characterizing it) has been related to different habitat conditions and community structures. Thus, a successful restoration action should lead to acoustic restoration and soundscape ecology could represent an important component of restoration monitoring, leading to assess successful habitat and community restoration. Here, we evaluated acoustic community and metrics in a P. oceanica restored meadow and tested whether the plant transplant effectiveness after one year was accompanied by a restored soundscape. With this goal, acoustic recordings from degraded, transplanted and reference meadows were collected in Sardinia (Italy) using passive acoustic monitoring devices. Soundscape at each meadow type was examined using both spectral analysis and classification of fish calls based on a catalogue of fish sounds from the Mediterranean Sea. Seven different fish sounds were recorded: most of them were present in the reference and transplanted meadows and were associated to Sciaena umbra and Scorpaena spp. Sound Pressure Level (SPL, in dB re: 1 μPa-rms) and Acoustic Complexity Index (ACI) were influenced by the meadow type. Particularly higher values were associated to the transplanted meadow. SPL and ACI calculated in the 200–2000 Hz frequency band were also related to high abundance of fish sounds (chorus). These results showed that meadow restoration may lead to the recovery of soundscape and the associated community, suggesting that short term acoustic monitoring can provide complementary information to evaluate seagrass restoration success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the role of music in Jewish thought, specifically its connection to Zionism and messianism. It focuses on the writings of Rav Kook and his belief that music is crucial for understanding the cosmic structure of the present and shaping the future. The article suggests that future works should also include an overview of music in the Sephardic and Mizrahi world, as well as in contemporary European and US Jewish diasporas. Overall, this article provides a theoretical overview of music in Jewish thought and is recommended for academic libraries. The book explores the efforts of the Kennedy administration to promote the concept of "freedom" as a prerequisite for creative achievement, particularly in contrast to the Soviet Union. The author, a cultural historian, examines the influence of figures like Arthur M. Schlesinger and Nicolas Nabokov in shaping this propaganda of freedom. The book delves into the music, composers, and events that were part of the cultural battles of the Cold War era, highlighting the ideological conflicts that mirrored the potential for armed conflict between the US and USSR. [Extracted from the article]

Copyright of Linguistic Landscape: An International Journal (LL) is the property of John Benjamins Publishing Co. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The writer muses on a past life in which piobaireachd – the most serious and complicated form of highland bagpipe music – played an important role in educating her literary sensibility. She now wonders if it is for this reason – the echo of the pipes' sound and scale still playing in her imagination – that she finds it hard to hear the music in Burns's poetry. She poses the question: Can a poet be said to be speaking for a nation when aspects of that nation are absent from his scale and sensibility? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is growing evidence that studying aquatic acoustic communities can provide ecologically relevant information. Understanding these communities may offer unique insights into species behaviour and ecology, while consolidating passive acoustic monitoring as a tool for mapping the presence of target species or estimating changes in aquatic biodiversity. Fish can be significant soundscape contributors, but most soniferous fish species are yet to be identified. Here, we crossed information of three key fish acoustic communities in the Lusitanian Province of the Temperate Northern Atlantic (the Madeira archipelago, the Azores archipelago and Arrábida in mainland Portugal) to unveil potential sources of unidentified fish sounds. We found that the three communities shared various sound types and we were able to narrow down the list of possible fish sound sources. Several sound types were suggested to be produced by species of the Pomacentridae, Scorpaenidae and Serranidae families. We also observed that the sound type /kwa/, associated with Scorpaena spp., exhibited more variations in the geographic area where more species of this genus are known to be present. This study showcases that, as databases of unidentified fish sounds continue to grow, future comparisons of multiple acoustic communities may provide insights into unknown fish sound sources and sound types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article introduces Visibilis 433, an audiovisual installation piece inspired by and conceived as an homage to John Cage's legendary 4′33″. The piece utilizes practically inaudible components of the ambient sound in the gallery to present an audible artificial soundscape and an accompanying virtual landscape in real time, aiming to reinterpret Cage's original intentions from a new perspective through signal processing and multimedia programming. In addition to introducing notable features of Visibilis 433, the article discusses its significance as a re-mediated synesthetic variation of 4′33″ that extends the limit of our auditory perceptions and crosses the border between audio and visual senses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article I suggest that a renewed emphasis on "attentive observation," as both a form of radical empiricism and a source of imaginative insight, might contribute towards building a more nuanced conception of fieldwork that is better attuned to the multisensory and multispecies textures of material geographies. I focus on interactions with nature, landscape, and nonhuman others in an urban context but my argument has wider connotations for concerns with embodied methodologies, critical phenomenology, and slower forms of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of the current soundscape research content is limited to the discussion of the restoration effect of single-element soundscapes, but it is the combination of sounds that is common in outdoor activities, and there is no evidence that the restoration of natural soundscapes is better with multi-element combinations. In this study, the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park in China was used as the research object, and the physiological indices of the subjects were collected through electroencephalogram signals, and the POMS short-form psychological scale was used to understand the subjective psychological responses of the subjects to the soundscape. The results showed that (1) The psychophysiological restorative ability of the natural soundscape of the National Forest Park was confirmed, and the subjects' psychological and physiological indices changed significantly and positively after listening to each section of the natural soundscape (p = 0.001). (2) The restorative effect of the multi-natural sound combination was ranked first in the overall ranking of the five natural soundscapes, and the multi-natural sound combination did indeed provide better restorative effects than the single-element sounds. (3) Gender does not usually have a significant effect on the restoration effect, and only Windy Sound among the four single-element nature sound landscapes and one multi-element combination of nature sound landscapes showed a significant gender difference, so in general, the effect of gender on the restoration effect of nature sound landscapes is not significant. In terms of research methodology, this study used cluster analysis to cluster the five types of natural soundscapes according to psychological and physiological recovery ability, and used ridge regression to construct mathematical models of the psychological and physiological recovery of each of the four natural soundscapes. The study of human physiological and psychological recovery from different types of natural soundscapes in China's national forest parks will provide a basis for soundscape planning, design, and policy formulation in national forest parks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eco-acoustic indices allow us to rapidly evaluate habitats and ecosystems and derive information about anthropophonic impacts. However, it is proven that indices' values and trends are not comparable between studies. These incongruences may be caused by the availability on the market of recorders with different characteristics and costs. Thus, there is a need to reduce these biases and incongruences to ensure an accurate analysis and comparison between soundscape ecology studies and habitat assessments. In this study, we propose and validate an audio recording equalization protocol to reduce eco-acoustic indices' biases, by testing three soundscape recorder models: Song Meter Micro, Soundscape Explorer Terrestrial and Audiomoth. The equalization process aligns the signal amplitude and frequency response of the soundscape recorders to those of a type 1 level meter. The adjustment was made in MATLAB R2023a using a filter curve generated comparing a reference signal (white noise); the measurements were performed in an anechoic chamber using 11 audio sensors and a type 1 sound level meter (able to produce a.WAV file). The statistical validation of the procedure was performed on recordings obtained in an urban and Regional Park (Italy) assessing a significant reduction in indices' biases on the Song Meter Micro and Audiomoth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article, titled "Introduction to the Soundscapes of Religion," explores the relationship between sound, music, and spirituality in various religious traditions and cultural contexts. It discusses the role of sound in evoking unique feelings and leading individuals to spiritual realizations. The article includes ten papers that cover topics such as the sounds of mountains, Romani communities, academic institutions, Christian churches, private chapels, and landscapes. The papers also discuss the interplay between senses, emotions, spirituality, and religious experiences. Overall, the article provides a comprehensive examination of how sound influences religious life and the perception of the sacred. [Extracted from the article]

Freshwater turtles exhibit temporary threshold shifts (TTS) when exposed to broadband sound, but whether frequency-restricted narrowband noise induces TTS was unknown. Underwater TTS was investigated in two freshwater turtle species (Emydidae) following exposures to 1 6 -octave narrowband noise (155–172 dB re 1 μPa2 s). While shifts occurred in all turtles at the noise center frequency (400 Hz), there were more instances of TTS and greater shift magnitudes at 1 2 octave above the center frequency, despite considerably lower received levels. These frequency-specific data provide new insight into how TTS manifests in turtles and expand empirical models to predict freshwater turtle TTS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous scholarship on Charlotte Perkins Gilman's novel Herland (1915) has compellingly argued that the ecological space in the novel reflects an extension of an idealized domestic sphere, as a site where Gilman's problematic eugenic beliefs manifest through the careful conservation of a park-like space. This analysis tends, however, to be wholly ocularcentric, grounded in the aesthetics of the verdant environment that features in Gilman's narrative. As a necessary sensory departure from a visually preoccupied body of scholarship, I examine the barren sonic portrait that Gilman creates through her essayistic prose, arguing that female autonomy, individual orality, and bio-diverse ecological space become problematically compromised. Drawing on the intersections between feminist scholarship on Gilman's novel, soundscape studies, and ecocritical frameworks in the environmental humanities, this essay aims to sonically deconstruct the problematic eugenic discourse that underpins Gilman's ultimate human fantasy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) through acoustic recorder units (ARUs) shows promise in detecting early landscape changes linked to functional and structural patterns, including species richness, acoustic diversity, community interactions, and human-induced threats. However, current approaches primarily rely on supervised methods, which require prior knowledge of collected datasets. This reliance poses challenges due to the large volumes of ARU data. In this work, we propose a non-supervised framework using autoencoders to extract soundscape features. We applied this framework to a dataset from Colombian landscapes captured by 31 audiomoth recorders. Our method generates clusters based on autoencoder features and represents cluster information with prototype spectrograms using centroid features and the decoder part of the neural network. Our analysis provides valuable insights into the distribution and temporal patterns of various sound compositions within the study area. By utilizing autoencoders, we identify significant soundscape patterns characterized by recurring and intense sound types across multiple frequency ranges. This comprehensive understanding of the study area's soundscape allows us to pinpoint crucial sound sources and gain deeper insights into its acoustic environment. Our results encourage further exploration of unsupervised algorithms in soundscape analysis as a promising alternative path for understanding and monitoring environmental changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acouscapes is a software designed as a simple educational solution for the creation of soundscapes and their use in the composition of soundscape music in primary and secondary education. The software has slots in which the user must place the sounds that will make up the desired soundscape, allowing them to make different soundwalks by interacting with the graphic interface. Acouscapes allows the content of these soundscapes to be modified by means of sound and structural processing, and includes a recording function. This article aims to present the conceptual and educational foundations of Acouscapes, to describe the software technically and functionally, and to offer some applications of this software as a mediation artefact in educational processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a dataset of audio-visual soundscape recordings at 62 different locations in Singapore, initially made as full-length recordings over spans of 9–38 min. For consistency and reduction in listener fatigue in future subjective studies, one-minute excerpts were cropped from the full-length recordings. An automated method using pre-trained models for Pleasantness and Eventfulness (according to ISO 12913) in a modified partitioning around medoids algorithm was employed to generate the set of excerpts by balancing the need to encompass the perceptual space with uniformity in distribution. A validation study on the method confirmed its adherence to the intended design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the engagement of national standards bodies and practitioners with the ISO 12913 series on soundscape. It reveals critical challenges in stakeholder engagement, communication, competence, and practical application. A strategic roadmap, aligned with the normalization process theory, is proposed, comprising meaningful stakeholder engagement, building workability and integration, and community building and reflective monitoring. Results underscore the influence of national priorities, communication gaps, limited resources, and the need for practical guidance. Future efforts should focus on promoting cross-disciplinary collaboration and developing tools to quantify the societal and economic impact of soundscape interventions, addressing the multifaceted barriers identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the relationship between art and entomology, showcasing the historical collaboration between the two fields. By combining art and science, researchers and educators can create engaging experiences that enhance understanding and appreciation of insects and science. The article provides examples of art-science collaborations, such as using music and immersive installations to disseminate research findings. Art that incorporates scientific knowledge can increase awareness of conservation efforts and foster a deeper connection with nature. The article suggests various activities for integrating art and entomology, emphasizing the importance of sustained support and funding for interdisciplinary initiatives. It encourages readers to explore the creative aspects of the scientific process and incorporate art-science integration in their own research, art, and education. [Extracted from the article]

In this paper, we propose teaching strategies grounded on an interdisciplinary teaching framework based on the holistic concept of soundscape ecology. The study explores the self-perceived level of understanding engineering and music students exposed to the same foundational course communicated and expressed before and after the course. Results showed that the teaching framework chosen provides a good umbrella for teaching technical, contextual and practical topics. Students seem to grasp better courses related to theory and context than practical activities involving detailed analysis and the use of audio software. Multifaceted topics such as sustainability and interdisciplinary were also difficult to grasp for most students. Compared results for music and engineering showed that, while engineering students showed a substantially more robust background in practical activities related to audio, music students were able to easily reach similar levels of knowledge of these topics by the end of the course. As a way of reducing this gap further, future versions of the proposed course should consider ways of blending engineering and music students in the same classroom environment to foster a greater level of collaboration and interaction among students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to explore the influence of spatial functional differences on the overall relationship between soundscape and visual landscape in the context of historical blocks and then propose design guidelines for audiovisual elements. Audiovisual stimulus materials were collected from 11 representative locations in typical urban historical blocks along the southeast coast of China and classified into residential, cultural leisure, and commercial spaces based on their primary function, activity, and visual environment characteristics. An evaluation environment was created in the laboratory using virtual reality technology, and a subjective evaluation questionnaire was administered to 71 volunteers regarding the perception of audiovisual elements and the evaluation of the overall environment. Structural equation modeling was used to elucidate the relationships between sound source perception, soundscape perception, visual landscape satisfaction, and overall harmony of the environment and to compare the effects of functional differences at different locations on the overall relationships. The results show significant differences in the types of perceived sound sources at different functional locations, which makes the sound sources affecting soundscape perception and visual landscape satisfaction different. Residential space is mainly affected by artificial sound and mechanical noise; in cultural and leisure spaces, all three types of sound sources have a significant impact, and only natural sound has enhanced subjective perception; the impact of artificial sound in commercial space is crucial. In addition, visual landscape satisfaction should be prioritized over soundscape pleasure to enhance the overall harmony of the environment. In residential and commercial spaces, reducing artificial and mechanical noise can effectively enhance the harmony of the environment; in cultural and leisure areas, reducing artificial sounds and increasing natural sounds or historical landscape elements can enhance the overall harmony of the environment. The results of this paper provide empirical evidence for understanding the overall relationship between soundscape factors in urban contexts and suggest that place function should be considered an important context when designing soundscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of a soundscape is found in both ecology and music studies. Nature soundscapes and soundscape compositions are analyzed by both disciplines, respectively, to understand their biological diversity and ecosystem functioning and to interpret their compositional structure. A major challenge for both disciplines is visualizing the information embedded in a large variety of soundscapes and to share it with different audiences, from non-professionals to experts. To analyze soundscapes, both disciplines have independently developed similarity visualizations. However, no attempt has been made yet to combine these two fields of research to improve our ecological and musical perception of environmental sounds through shared similarity analysis methods. In this paper, we introduce a new visualization tool, the soundscape chord diagram (SCD), a circular similarity representation method that can be applied to any type of soundscape, either in ecoacoustics or electroacoustic studies. Our approach consists of visualizing spectral similarities between predefined sound segments based on the computation of a b-diversity acoustic index and on automatic clustering. SCDs were tested on two ecoacoustic forest databases and two electroacoustic soundscape compositions. SCDs were performant for the identification of specific acoustic events and highlighted known diel periods for nature soundscapes and written parts for soundscape compositions. This new visualization tool allows us to easily decipher the structure of musical and ecological acoustic data. SCDs could be applied to a large variety of soundscapes and promote their knowledge and preservation. This study opens a new way of investigating soundscapes at the interface between ecology and music, bringing together science and the arts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the nineteenth century, many heard the afterlife before they could see it. These clairaudient forays took place in the context of spiritualism, a religious movement that facilitated communication between the living and the dead. Although the senses were important to spiritualism, sound was especially crucial for developing cosmologies of the afterlife. Sound can have powerful affective effects, especially in the realm of religion. In the case of spiritualism, however, notions of sound are complicated because of the inclusion of clairaudient and acousmatic sounds. This article analyzes spiritualist soundscapes in terms of acoustemologies, using personal narratives and instructional materials to demonstrate how spiritualists developed a sense of space through sound. Not only does my analysis demonstrate the importance of sound to these spiritual communities, but it also shows that spiritualist conceptions of sound require a special understanding of the nature of sound. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines two renditions of an artwork titled 100, which celebrate a historic radio transmission in 1916 during the Irish war for independence. The centenary artwork delves into the concept of radio transmission as an artistic expression rather than solely a practical function. The work explores the intersection of radio transmission with installation art, as well as its connections to sound art and sound design. Engaging with diverse theoretical frameworks, the article interrogates the boundaries of radio and its relationship with other media expressions. It also seeks to understand important historical works and events within radio, with a focus on exploring the roots of radio and its history in Ireland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Listeners recognizing environmental sounds must contend with variations in level due to the source level and the environment. Nonetheless, variations in level disrupt short-term sound recognition [Susini, Houix, Seropian, and Lemaitre (2019). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 146(2), EL172–EL176] suggesting that loudness is encoded. We asked whether the experimental custom of setting sounds to equal levels disrupts long-term recognition, especially if it creates a mismatch with ecological loudness. Environmental sounds were played at equalized or ecological levels. Although recognition improved with increased loudness and familiarity, this relationship was unaffected by equalization or real-life experience with the source. However, sound pleasantness was altered by deviations from the ecological level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sound is always an important medium for passing on knowledge and skills as well as for communicating information. Reading accompanies the use of the brain in the silent reading of words, an act that transforms textual information into verbal information. People can "listen" and "read" in a dark or low light environment. Learning and thinking in a quiet, dark environment is not only conducive to the formation of innovative thinking, but also the inheritance of ancient ideas of health and wisdom. Modern disciplines follow the human perception mechanism and advocate concepts of "Quiet Area" (in soundscape discipline) and "Dark Night Sky" (in lightscape discipline). It is in accordance with the ancients preference of thinking and learning in a "quiet, dark environment", which is consistent with the law of the matter and the origin of things. This also reflects the integration of human life wisdom and modern science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To expand the scope of soundscape ecology to encompass substrate-borne vibrations (i.e. vibroscapes), we analyzed the vibroscape of a deciduous forest floor using contact microphone arrays followed by automated processing of large audio datasets. We then focused on vibratory signaling of ground-dwelling Schizocosa wolf spiders to test for (i) acoustic niche partitioning and (ii) plastic behavioral responses that might reduce the risk of signal interference from substrate-borne noise and conspecific/heterospecific signaling. Two closely related species - S. stridulans and S. uetzi - showed high acoustic niche overlap across space, time, and dominant frequency. Both species show plastic behavioral responses - S. uetzi males shorten their courtship in higher abundance of substrate-borne noise, S. stridulans males increased the duration of their vibratory courtship signals in a higher abundance of conspecific signals, and S. stridulans males decreased vibratory signal complexity in a higher abundance of S. uetzi signals. A large-scale Passive Acoustic Monitoring of the vibroscapes on the forest floor suggests that ground-dwelling spiders may evolve behavioral strategies to avoid acoustic niche overlap with their sister species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article delves into Don McKay's audiobook "Songs for the Songs of Birds," examining its interplay with soundscape ecology and political sound studies while discussing McKay's use of technology to blend recorded bird songs with poetry. It focuses on the environmental and technological mediation in McKay's work, drawing parallels with R. Murray Schafer's contributions to acoustic ecology and highlighting the broader ecocritical implications.

Raymond Murray Schafer, a composer, writer, environmentalist, and long-time leading figure in acoustic ecology, would have celebrated his 91st birthday this year. A versatile artist and theorist, he expanded his musical compositions to include a layer of natural-environment sound and took interpretations of his concert-hall compositions outdoors. This text works with Schafer's approach to acoustic ecology. By drawing on acoustic-ecological research mapping and the relationships between people and their environment, it shows Schafer's approaches to the investigation of our sound environment and updates of some of his theories with the soundscape of the city centre of Brno, Czech Republic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of OPUS Journal of Society Research is the property of OPUS - International Journal of Society Research and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Housing Environment / Środowisko Mieszkaniowe is the property of Chair of Housing Environment, Faculty of Architecture, Cracow University of Technology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article offers an insight into a creative process that relies on ways of engaging creatively with a folk approach to sound. It discusses the adoption of elements of the Calabrian use of bells for herd animals in a composition titled All'Erva Radicchia. Positioned at the intersection between ethnographic and artistic practice in the wake of Steven Feld's 'mixed genre', the piece complements the author's research into Calabrian animal bells. The piece draws on the network of relationships that animal bells initiate between various agents in Calabria and reproduces in performance the sound of a goat flock. The article discusses the adoption of structural elements of a sound tradition and the exploration of new composition and performance practice to generate music that is able to communicate knowledge about folk phenomena that would unlikely be communicated otherwise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perceived relationships between timbres are critical in electroacoustic music. Most studies assume timbres have fixed inter-relationships, but we tested whether distinct tasks change these. Thirty short sounds were used, from five categories: acoustic instruments, impulse responses, convolutions of the preceding, environmental sounds and computer-manipulated instrumental sounds. In Task 1, 46 non-musicians formed a 'cohesive' sonic ordering of unlabelled icons (sounds attached). In Task 2, they categorised the icons into four boxes. In Task 3 listeners separately ordered the sounds from each of Task 2's boxes using the approach of Task 1. Tasks 1 and 2/3 revealed distinct orderings, consistent with conceptual flexibility. To analyse the orderings, we replaced conventional distance by adjacency measures, and described each system as a network (rather than spatial positions), confirming that the two task outcomes were distinct. Network analyses also showed that the two systems were mechanistically distinct and allowed us to predict temporally changing networks, modelling the observed networks as successive perceptions. Further simulated networks generated with the temporal model readily encompassed all possible pairings between the sounds and not just those we observed. The temporal network model thus confirms conceptual flexibility even in untrained listeners, clearly suitable for a composer to use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The empirical assessment of the quality of the sound landscape in restaurants and how it affects the overall customer experience has only recently begun to be addressed. Noise from recreational activities, such as discos, restaurants, bars, hotels, etc., characterizes the soundscape of tourist centers, where there is a need to ensure the coexistence of noisy commercial activities and the right to rest of citizens customers of accommodation facilities, often already compromised by traffic. Although there is a renewed sensitivity to the issue of noise, restaurants are often characterized by poor acoustics and a poor multi-sensory perception of comfort. This article examines the noise levels of a hotel's dining room in an Italian tourist resort during lunch and dinner hours. The study included aspects related to the acoustics, lighting, and quality of the location, also for the assessment of the perception of comfort obtained was given to customers a questionnaire of satisfaction during the meal, every day for a week. Considering the correlation between the three components of the soundscape, namely people, sound, and the environment under consideration, this study aims to explore the effects of the soundscape on sound restoration for accommodation facilities in tourist resorts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the potential impact of invasive plants on soundscapes, which are the acoustic patterns of a landscape. While research has primarily focused on the effects of invasive species on specific sound-making organisms or the loss of sound-making native species, the impact of invasive plants on soundscapes as a whole remains largely unknown. The article suggests four mechanisms through which invasive plants may alter native soundscapes, including changes in the abundance and richness of sound-making species, alterations in animal behavior, modifications to the physical structure of habitats, and the influence of additional factors such as seasonality and environmental conditions. The study proposes that investigating the impact of invasive plants on soundscapes through whole-ecosystem acoustic monitoring can provide valuable insights into the consequences of invasion and aid in biodiversity monitoring efforts. Understanding the full breadth of the consequences of invasive plants is crucial for scientific rigor and mitigation campaigns. Additionally, alterations to soundscapes may have implications for human health, cultural significance, and our connection to natural spaces. [Extracted from the article]

In everyday life, people differ in their sound perception and thus sound processing. Some people may be distracted by construction noise, while others do not even notice. With smartphone‐based mobile ear‐electroencephalography (ear‐EEG), we can measure and quantify sound processing in everyday life by analysing presented sounds and also naturally occurring ones. Twenty‐four participants completed four controlled conditions in the lab (1 h) and one condition in the office (3 h). All conditions used the same paired‐click stimuli. In the lab, participants listened to click tones under four different instructions: no task towards the sounds, reading a newspaper article, listening to an audio article or counting a rare deviant sound. In the office recording, participants followed daily activities while they were sporadically presented with clicks, without any further instruction. In the beyond‐the‐lab condition, in addition to the presented sounds, environmental sounds were recorded as acoustic features (i.e., loudness, power spectral density and sounds onsets). We found task‐dependent differences in the auditory event‐related potentials (ERPs) to the presented click sounds in all lab conditions, which underline that neural processes related to auditory attention can be differentiated with ear‐EEG. In the beyond‐the‐lab condition, we found ERPs comparable to some of the lab conditions. The N1 amplitude to the click sounds beyond the lab was dependent on the background noise, probably due to energetic masking. Contrary to our expectation, we did not find a clear ERP in response to the environmental sounds. Overall, we showed that smartphone‐based ear‐EEG can be used to study sound processing of well defined‐stimuli in everyday life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an analysis of the soundscapes in two rural communities in northwestern Papua New Guinea where the endangered languages Srenge and Walman are spoken. These languages have no written tradition and therefore are not publicly displayed in signage. In the last few years, the discipline of linguistic landscape studies has fostered the study of aspects of the visual semiotics of public signs together with aspects of other semiotic modalities including interactional semiotics and auditory semiotics. By discussing the sounds of instruments, conch shells, place names, recitations, and messenger birds in areas where Srenge, Walman, and other languages are spoken, the aim is twofold. The first goal is to fill a gap in the study of semiotic systems that play a role in linguistic landscapes by focusing on a rural area and on auditory semiotics. The second goal is to document anthropological knowledge in an area that is extremely rich culturally and linguistically but where language attrition and cultural loss have been greatly accelerated in the last few decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I study the case of sonideros in Mexico to explore the possibilities that aural archives and experiences can bring to the academic understanding of the modern urban sensorium. I inquire about the ways in which Latin America is built through translocal networks that traverse the aural space. Through a dialogue between theorists from the region and other parts of the global south, I attempt to bring new light to some of the most important concepts proposed by Jesús Martín-Barbero. I propose a reading of sonideros from a translocal point of view that reclaims the use of non-traditional archives in order to question hegemonic assumptions about popular culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sound and silence in nature intensify our perception of the non-anthropogenic world, of that which seems unaffected by humans and has been considered transcendent, eternal, and sacred. This is especially true in mountain settings. Mountain wilderness manifests a reality beyond anthropocentrism, and this reality becomes perceivable, in part, through sound. When described in the language of soundscape ecology, mountain soundscapes can be characterized by a lack or reduction of anthrophonic sounds and the presence or increase of geophonic and biophonic sounds. When described in the language of philosophy and religion, these soundscapes have been said to offer an ideal space beyond impermanence and rational explanation and contain that which is unchanging and inexplicable. The search for personal contact with that which is unchanging and inexplicable, and the attendant belief that these qualities reveal a higher form of reality, is a search for the sacred, and mountain soundscapes have played a significant but as yet unexamined role in this search. Across different religions and secular practices, in different cultures and historical periods, mountain soundscapes have acted as catalysts for sacred experience. This article uses the combined perspectives of philosophy, religion, and soundscape ecology to map some of the physical and intellectual terrain in which such experience has taken place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Materia Arquitectura is the property of Universidad San Sebastian and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)