Researcher(s):
Nate Stoll
ENVS course(s): 400 Initiated: September 2011 Completed: May 2012 Go to project site
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This study is situated in Tryon Creek in Southwest Portland, Oregon. The aim of the study is to analyze the keynote sounds of the Tryon Creek soundscape by manipulating the frequency and duration of 15 field recordings taken at five different sites along the creek. Keynote sounds are sounds ubiquitous to the soundscape that are highly influential to the other sounds occurring around them. These sounds lay the foundation for all other sounds in the soundscape. Furthermore, keynotes are often unconsciously listened to by humans. The keynote sounds found in Tryon Creek are airplane sounds, traffic sounds, and creek sounds. These keynotes all occur in low frequency ranges. As a result, the keynotes compete with one another for acoustic space. An in-depth analysis of the field recordings is coupled with a survey issued to Lewis & Clark College students in order to assess how the keynote sounds of Tryon Creek are perceived. This study avoids the false dichotomies of human-created and natural sounds found in much of the research done within the field of soundscape studies. Furthermore, the methodological analysis accounts for variations in perceptions of time, which has also been significantly neglected in soundscape studies. The variable of time within the field recordings is manipulated by speeding up and slowing down the recordings in order to reveal patterns that might not be apparent upon a listening at regular speed.