The acoustic environment is a major attractor of protected areas, and listening to the sounds that emerge from natural areas are among the main motivations for tourists to visit natural and protected areas. Numbers of visitors are expected to be constantly increasing. The presence of humans is known to have effects on both, biodiversity and wildlife in protected areas, as well as the quality of experiences of visitors, and consequently, on the soundscape. Soundscapes are the composition of sounds emerging from an area; but more than just being the acoustic environment, soundscapes refer to the constructed perception and experience of that environment. The interest in soundscapes and how they are perceived has been rising, also in the context of protected areas. However, most studies have focused on soundscapes in relation to satisfaction and appeal, measuring pleasantness with quantitative methods, or framing soundscapes for their restorative values. This is disregarding the many facets of soundscape experiences in natural environments, and also does not sufficiently take into consideration the ways in which people relate to and connect with their natural environment. Thus the aim for this study to contribute to a better understanding of the soundscape experience, and to further investigate on intersections with nature-connectedness. Taking a qualitative approach to gain an in-depth understanding, interviews were conducted in chosen national parks in Sweden. The analysis resulted in the elaboration of four themes: 1.) appraisal of soundscapes, 2.) constituting space, 3.) engaging with the natural environment, and 4.) silence as space. The results also indicate potential in fostering human-nature-connectedness in soundscapes. The findings of the study are hoped to contribute to both, a better understanding of the multidimensional experience of soundscapes as part of the tourism experience, as well as to the application-oriented debate of the human-nature relationship. / <p>2024-05-28</p>

La présente thèse traite de l'analyse de scènes extraites d'environnements sonores, résultat auditif du mélange de sources émettrices distinctes et concomitantes. Ouvrant le champ des sources et des recherches possibles au-delà des domaines plus spécifiques que sont la parole ou la musique, l'environnement sonore est un objet complexe. Son analyse, le processus par lequel le sujet lui donne sens, porte à la fois sur les données perçues et sur le contexte de perception de ces données.Tant dans le domaine de la perception que de l'apprentissage machine, toute expérience suppose un contrôle fin de l'expérimentateur sur les stimuli proposés. Néanmoins, la nature de l'environnement sonore nécessite de se placer dans un cadre écologique, c'est à dire de recourir à des données réelles, enregistrées, plutôt qu'à des stimuli de synthèse. Conscient de cette problématique, nous proposons un modèle permettant de simuler, à partir d'enregistrements de sons isolés, des scènes sonores dont nous maîtrisons les propriétés structurelles -- intensité, densité et diversité des sources. Appuyé sur les connaissances disponibles sur le système auditif humain, le modèle envisage la scène sonore comme un objet composite, une somme de sons sources.Nous investissons à l'aide de cet outil deux champs d'application. Le premier concerne la perception, et la notion d'agrément perçu dans des environnements urbains. L'usage de données simulées nous permet d'apprécier finement l'impact de chaque source sonore sur celui-ci. Le deuxième concerne la détection automatique d'événements sonores et propose une méthodologie d'évaluation des algorithmes mettant à l'épreuve leurs capacités de généralisation. / This thesis deals with environmental scene analysis, the auditory result of mixing separate but concurrent emitting sources. The sound environment is a complex object, which opens the field of possible research beyond the specific areas that are speech or music. For a person to make sense of its sonic environment, the involved process relies on both the perceived data and its context. For each experiment, one must be, as much as possible,in control of the evaluated stimuli, whether the field of investigation is perception or machine learning. Nevertheless, the sound environment needs to be studied in an ecological framework, using real recordings of sounds as stimuli rather than synthetic pure tones. We therefore propose a model of sound scenes allowing us to simulate complex sound environments from isolated sound recordings. The high level structural properties of the simulated scenes -- such as the type of sources, their sound levels or the event density -- are set by the experimenter. Based on knowledge of the human auditory system, the model abstracts the sound environment as a composite object, a sum of soundsources. The usefulness of the proposed model is assessed on two areas of investigation. The first is related to the soundscape perception issue, where the model is used to propose an innovative experimental protocol to study pleasantness perception of urban soundscape. The second tackles the major issue of evaluation in machine listening, for which we consider simulated data in order to powerfully assess the generalization capacities of automatic sound event detection systems.

The goal of this musical anthropology qualitative research, mainly based on the field work, is to describe, analyze and interpret the process of construction of local identity of an alternative bands in Moravian Slovácko. The subject of this research are mainly two music bands from Slovácko - PSCrew and 12:PIET. PSCrew band represents hip-hop style and 12:PIET ranks among punk style bands. The musical production of these bands is defined (using an emic term) as an alternative folklore. With a use of theoretical concepts of stereotype and partially also retro and revival, I tried to demonstrate how these alternative musicians with an emphasis to their authenticity by the means of their musical spheres (so called soundscapes) pursue their notion of what is considered to be related to Slovácko and how the negotiation of their local identity is involved. For that the locally defined stereotypes are often used. These are typically recontextualized by its adaptation into the form that reflects the postmodern period.

<div>Biodiversity loss is the silent crisis of the 21st century. Human activities are drastically altering the diversity of life on Earth, yet the extent of this transformation is shrouded by our limited information on biodiversity and how it is changing. Emerging technologies may be suited to fill this information gap, and as a result increase our capacity to measure and manage natural systems. Acoustic monitoring is a remote sensing technique that is rapidly reshaping the temporal and spatial scales with which we can assess animal biodiversity. Through recording and analyzing soundscapes—the collection of sounds occurring at a given place and time—we can assess biodiversity, habitat condition, and environmental change. However, the relationships between soundscapes and these three ecological dimensions are still in the early phases of categorization, especially in aquatic systems. </div><div><br></div><div>This dissertation investigates how soundscapes can be used to measure biodiversity, habitat condition, and environmental change in aquatic habitats. It addresses several knowledge gaps: First, I develop a framework for classifying unknown sounds within a soundscape, which I use to measure the acoustic diversity and dynamics within a tropical freshwater wetland. Second, I demonstrate that soundscapes can reflect the resilience of animal communities following disturbance events. Altered soundscapes revealed that Hurricane Maria, which swept through Puerto Rico in September 2017, impacted dry forest animal communities more than adjacent coral reef communities. Third, in kelp forest habitats off the coast of California, USA, I showed that soundscape variables correlated with ecological variables associated with regime shift in kelp forests, including urchin density, kelp cover, and fish diversity. Overall, this dissertation demonstrates that soundscape recording and analysis is a promising way to assess the ecological conditions of aquatic systems. </div>

Depuis 2002, la directive européenne 2002/49/CE demande aux grandes villes de définir des zones calmes dans leur P.P.B.E. (Plan de Prévention du Bruit dans l'Environnement) dans le but de les préserver. L'utilisation de l'indicateur acoustique Lden est suggérée mais les états membres sont libres d'en proposer d'autres. Afin d'aider les autorités en charge de l'application de cette directive, ce travail de thèse propose une approche multidisciplinaire pour mieux définir cette notion de zone calme en milieu urbain. Une étude historique du mot calme a été réalisée à travers un corpus de dictionnaire du XVIe siècle à nos jours, pour mettre en évidence les différents sens rattachés à ce mot. Il est apparu que le lien vers le domaine sonore est tardif. De plus, la notion de calme est relative ce qui la différencie de la notion de tranquillité. Pour faire émerger les représentations actuelles, des ateliers de concertation ont été réalisés à Cergy-Pontoise et Paris. Ces deux approches ont permis de proposer des critères de caractérisation des zones calmes. Une enquête de portée nationale a ensuite été menée. Elle a permis de révéler 3 types de points de vue partagés par différents groupes de population. Pour certains, une zone calme est une zone de partage, pour d'autres une zone calme est un espace naturel et pour les derniers, une telle zone doit être silencieuse. La notion de contraste qui a émergé tout au long de ce travail a été étudiée plus en détails, à partir de test d'écoute en laboratoire et à partir des cartes de bruit. Un indicateur de contraste inspiré de la détection de contours en analyse d'image a été proposé. / Since 2002, European directive 2002/49/EC asks big cities to define quiet areas in order to protect them. The use of Lden indicator is suggested but member countries are free to suggest others. In order to help authorities in charge of directive application, this PhD work proposes a multidisciplinary approach to better define the quiet area notion in urban context. An historical study of the “calme” word was carried out through a dictionary corpus from the sixteenth century to nowadays to highlight the different meanings of this word. It appeared that the link to the sound field is late. Moreover, calm notion is relative what differs of tranquility concept. To highlight current representations, workshops with inhabitants were carried out in Cergy-Pontoise and Paris. These two approaches allow us to propose criteria to characterize quiet areas. Then, a national survey was conducted. It allowed to reveal 3 types of points of view shared by different groups of people. For some, a quiet area is a sharing zone, for others, a quiet area is a natural area and for the lasts, such area must be silent. The contrast notion that emerged throughout this work has been studied in more details, using listening tests in laboratory and, using noise maps. A contrast indicator inspired from edge detection in image analysis was proposed.

Orientador: Edson Sekeff Zampronha / Banca: Rogério Luiz Moraes Costa / Banca: Marisa Trench de Oliveira Fonterrada / Resumo: As composições do Tipo Paisagem sonora, que se utilizam praticamente de sons ambientais como material principal para a composição, têm gerado amplas discussões no âmbito da música eletroacústica. Tais discussões são presentes tanto em vertentes mais estruturalistas, que não vêm qualquer possibilidade de organização a priori desse tipo de material sonoro, quanto naquelas que se aproximam mais da música concreta, que não concordam com o alto nível de referencialidade sonora empregado nesse tipo de obra por entrar em desacordo com as proposições da escuta reduzida de Pierre Schaeffer. A partir de tal análise, foi possível apresentar algumas possibilidades de organização de sons ambientais em composições do tipo Paisagem Sonora através da comparação dos resultados da análise com as proposições de Wishart (1986) e Emmerson (1986). / Abstract: The Soundscapes compositions, which use environmental sounds as main material, have generated wide discussions in the scope of electroacustical music. Such quarrels are found in structuralist sources, which do not agree with any possibility of organization a priori to this type of sonorous material, as in those which approach more to concret music, that do not agree with the high level of sounds external references applied in this type of work, because it disagrees with the proposals of the Reduced Listening of Pierre Schaeffer. From such analysis, it was possible to demonstrate some possibilities of organization of environmental sounds in Soundscapes Compositions through the comparision of the results of the analysis with the proposals of Wishart (1986) and Emmerson (1986). / Mestre

Despite the extensive Brazilian coast areas, little is known on underwater acoustic environments in Brazil. Acoustic environments (or soundscape) are composed by biological, geological and man-made sound sources. Soundscapes are strongly linked to ecosystems dynamics, and follow temporal patters that can vary at daily and seasonal scales. Thus, for soundscape characterization, it is necessary to undertake sound recordings for long periods, which demands innovative analyzing methods. Accordingly, the present research focuses in two principal objectives: (1) to develop methods for analyzing long-term acoustic recordings and, (2) to characterize marine soundscapes of selected points in São Paulo State. Four deployment sites were selected for the underwater acoustic monitoring: a point located at the channel entrance of the Santos Harbor, and three marine Protected Areas (PAs) in Sao Paulo state. As a result, the largest underwater acoustic database from Brazilian seas was acquired. The present work used Power Spectral Density (PSD), Sound Pressure Level (SPL) and Spectrograms to develop an innovative methodology for analyzing long-term acoustic data. In addition, a new visualization tool and a method for automatic detection of dawn and dusk choruses are presented. The achieved results validated the proposed methodology as an effective tool for analyzing long-term acoustic data. The area close to the first site, the vicinity of Santos Harbor, was dominated by ship noise, which values reach levels that can affect some species of fish and marine mammals. The soundscapes of the other three remaining measurement sites were dominated by fish and crustacean choruses, with daily and seasonal patterns (related to sunrise and sunset). For the monitored regions, the present work signifies the first contribution for cataloguing fish choruses, and establishes a baseline for the study of their underwater acoustic environment. Although the proposed methodology has used long-term undersea acoustic datasets as case-study, it can also be extended for monitoring other aquatic or terrestrial ecosystems. Finally, the research indicates to Brazilian environmental agencies and to the related scientific community that passive acoustic monitoring is a noninvasive and cost-effective tool that can be used for the management of PAs and points of economic relevance. / Apesar da ampla área dos mares brasileiros, pouco se conhece sobre paisagens acústicas submarinas no Brasil. Estas paisagens são compostas por sons de origens biológicas, geológicas e as produzidas pelo homem. As paisagens acústicas estão fortemente ligadas à dinâmica dos ecossistemas, mostrando padrões temporais diários e sazonais. Para caracterizar paisagens acústicas é necessário realizar gravações de sons por períodos de tempos prolongados, o que demanda métodos de análise inovadores. Neste sentido, a presente pesquisa visa dois objetivos principais: (1) desenvolver métodos para a análise de gravações acústicas de longa duração, (2) caracterizar a paisagem acústica do litoral do estado de São Paulo. Quatro pontos de coleta foram selecionados para monitoramento acústico passivo: um ponto situado no canal de entrada do Porto de Santos e os outros três em áreas de proteção marinhas (APM) do estado de São Paulo. Como resultado foi obtida a base de dados de sons submarinhos mais extensa dos mares brasileiros. Do ponto de vista da análise destes dados, o presente trabalho baseia-se no cálculo da Densidade Espectral de Potência, Níveis de Pressão Sonora e Espectrogramas, obtendo métodos de análise novedosos a partir técnicas tradicionais. Neste contexto a tese apresenta uma ferramenta para a visualização de dados acústicos e um método para a detecção automática de coros biológicos matutinos e vespertinos. Os resultados obtidos permitiram validar a efetividade dos métodos propostos na descrição e análise de dados acústicos de longa duração. O ambiente acústico nas proximidades do Porto de Santos foi dominado por ruído de embarcações, alcançando valores de níveis sonoros capazes de afetar algumas espécies de peixes e mamíferos marinhos. As paisagens acústicas dos três pontos restantes foram dominadas por coros de peixes e crustáceos, com padrões diários e sazonais (relacionados ao nascer e pôr do sol). O presente trabalho constitui a primeira pesquisa que cataloga coro de peixes e que estabelece uma referência para o estudo do ambiente acústico das regiões monitoradas. Embora os métodos apresentados usaram como estudo de caso dados de sons submarinos, a sua aplicação pode ser estendida para o monitoramento de outros ambientes aquáticos ou terrestres. Por último, a pesquisa mostra aos órgãos ambientais brasileiros que o monitoramento acústico passivo é uma ferramenta eficaz para o manejo e monitoramento de áreas protegidas e pontos de relevância econômica.

Aujourd'hui, l'environnement sonore n'est plus uniquement considéré comme une gène ou une nuisance par notre société, mais comme pouvant être porteur de qualités. La directive européenne 2002/45/CE,relative à la gestion du bruit dans l'environnement demande aux états d'identifier les «zones calmes» en vue de leur préservation et de leur valorisation en raison de la ressource qu'elles constituent. Elle présente les «zones calmes» comme des zones préservées du bruit. Dans ce contexte, les parcs et les jardins apparaissent dans de nombreuses études comme étant plébiscités par les usagers pour la qualité de leur environnement sonore sans que ces qualités ne soient bien identifiées. Si la directive européenne tend à considérer la qualité sonore en fonction d'un seuil de niveau sonore et des seules notions d'agrément ou de désagrément, les différents champs de recherche sur l'environnement sonore, de la psychoacoustique jusqu'aux ambiances,on montré qu'elle relève d'une expérience esthétique plus complexe. L'environnement sonore est chargé de valeurs affectives, sémantiques, fonctionnelles, esthétiques.Nous proposons ici une identification précise des qualités sonores qui semblent propres au parcs et aux jardins urbains en abordant la qualité sonore dans une perspective plus descriptive qu'hédoniste à travers l'étude de l'expérience vécue des usagers dans six parcs et jardins de la région parisienne. Dans un premier temps nous présentons une description des différentes facettes de l'environnement sonore du jardin établie à partir d'observations de terrains, de mesures acoustiques, et d'entretiens réalisés auprès des usagers. L'environnement sonore du jardin est présenté à partir de ses configurations sonores, d'effets perceptifs,des représentations qu'il suscite, ou encore des pratiques qu'il induit ou qui participent à son actualisation. Pour aller au delà des relations entre niveau sonore et agrément, nous proposons dans un second temps de révéler des ponts entre les aspects matériels et immatériels des ambiances sonores. Bien que les ambiances sonores relèvent d'une dimension immatérielle : le son et l'expérience esthétique des usagers, nous faisons l'hypothèse qu'elles peuvent être manipulables par les aménageurs ou faire l'objet de mesures de protection ou de valorisation si elles sont considérées comme des effets de dimensions physiques observables : structures paysagères ou indicateurs acoustiques. Nous abordons ainsi la qualité sonore à travers le prisme de la diversité architecturale et conceptuelle propre à l'art des jardins et nous proposons de comprendre les relations entre les différentes qualités sonore identifiées, les structures paysagères et l'acoustique des jardins. / Nowadays, the sound environment is no longer only considered as potential annoyance, but it is sometimes recognize for the qualities it can bear. The European directive 2002/45/CE, relative to the management of environmental noise, requires the european states to identify «quiet areas» for their preservation and valorization due to the resource they represent. It defines the «quiet areas» as areas preserved from the noise. In this context, numerous studies have shown that in the urban environments the parks and gardens are acclaimed by users for the quality of their soundscape, but those qualities have never been accurately identified. If the European directive seems to consider the sound quality according to a noise level and the ideas of agreement or disagreement, different fields of study on the sound environment, from the psychoacoustic to the atmosphere studies, have shown that the esthetic experience is way more complex. The sound environment is full of emotional values, semantic, functional and aesthetic values.The aim of our work is to accurately identify the sound qualities that seem specific to urban parks and gardens. The sound qualities are understood more from a descriptive than an hedonist point of view, through the study of the experience of users in six differents parks and gardens of the Parisan area. First, it present a description of the different aspects of the sound environment of the garden established from various kind of datas : observations, acoustic measurements, and interviews with users. The sound environment of the garden is presented through sound configurations, perceptual effects, representations it evokes, or through practices. To overcome the relationship between noise level and agreement, this work propose in a second time to highlight links between tangibles and intangibles aspects of the soundscape. Although the soundscape seems to fall within an immaterial dimension : sound and aesthetic experience of the users, we assume that it can be mastered by the designers, the acousticians or the urban planners if it is considered as an effect of material dimensions : landscape structures or acoustic indicators. This work approach the sound quality through the architectural diversity of the garden design. It propose to understand the relationships between the different sound qualities identified, the landscape structures and the acoustic measurments.

Neste trabalho, é apresentada uma avaliação do ambiente sonoro do Parque Villa Lobos, em São Paulo, levando em conta o contexto e a perceção humana. Aqui estão contidos mapas quantitativos clássicos, com níveis de ruído em decíbeis, e uma avaliação qualitativa do \"Soundscape\" (o ambiente sonoro, considerando o contexto e a percepção humana). É apresentado um histórico e panorama atual dos mapeamentos quantitativos e do estudo de soundscapes. Também é apresentado um histórico, descrição e situação atual do Parque em estudo. Os estudos foram baseados em medições \"in loco\", caminhadas exploratórias e levantamentos fotográficos. Estes levantamentos serviram de base para a elaboração de um mapa quantitativo global e de mapas parciais com e sem a presença das fontes sonoras em estudo. Ao final, são feitas recomendações para otimização dos soundscapes avaliados e para estudos futuros. Não são abordados os temas de mapeamento acústico para ruído comunitário, como distúrbios do sono, perturbação por excesso de ruído em residências, perda de audição ou acústica de espaços fechados em geral. / An evaluation of sound environment of the Villa Lobos Park, in São Paulo, is presented in this paper taking into account the context and human perception. This work includes classic quantitative maps, with noise levels in decibels, and a qualitative assessment of the Soundscape (the sound environment, in a context, perceived by human beings). It also presents a review of quantitative noise mapping and soundscapes. It shows a review, a description, and the current status of the Park under study. The studies were based on measurements \"in situ\", exploratory walks and photographic surveys. These surveys were the base of the development of a quantitative map, includding a global and partial maps with and without the presence of noise sources under study. Eventually, there are some recommendations to optimize the assessed soundscapes and future studies. This dissertation are not addressed to the subjects related to community noise mapping, such as sleep disturbances, annoyance in homes, hearing loss or indoor acoustic issues

Submitted by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2016-08-05T14:37:54Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Guilherme de Castro Duarte Martins - 2016.pdf: 3312242 bytes, checksum: 3ed829717019a7e47206840d74e63a4b (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2016-08-05T14:39:20Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Guilherme de Castro Duarte Martins - 2016.pdf: 3312242 bytes, checksum: 3ed829717019a7e47206840d74e63a4b (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-05T14:39:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Guilherme de Castro Duarte Martins - 2016.pdf: 3312242 bytes, checksum: 3ed829717019a7e47206840d74e63a4b (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-07-11 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The following work aims to investigate the presence of sound on contemporary visual arts, through the study of artworks from artists who make use of the sonic matter to change and make arise new time-spaces in the middle of the daily experience. I investigate mainly the works of the Scotish artist Susan Philipsz (Lowlands, 2010) and the Brazilian artist Raquel Stolf (Grilo, 2006). I start from coining the concept of cartophonies, that would mean sound maps resulting from the cross-over of noises emitted not only from the artworks I study, but originated also from its surroundings, composing puzzles audible and inaudible forces, that circulate around and through these works. As sound maps in constant mutation, the concept of cartophony was produced as a mobile tool for the present research, helping to understand how sound not only represents the space it traverses, but also participates on the creation of the volatile lines of this space, modifying it and being modified by it every second. / Essa dissertação tem por objetivo investigar a presença do som na arte contemporânea, a partir do estudo do trabalho de artistas que se utilizam da matéria sonora para modificar e fazer surgir espaços-tempos em meio à experiência cotidiana. Investigo, principalmente, obras da artista escocesa Susan Philipsz (Lowlands, 2010) e da brasileira Raquel Stolf (Grilo, 2006). Parto do conceito de cartofonias, que seriam mapas sonoros resultantes do cruzamento entre ruídos emitidos não apenas pelas obras estudadas, mas vindos também de seu entorno, compondo jogos de força, audíveis ou não, que rodeiam e atravessam essas obras. Enquanto mapas sônicos em constante mutação, o conceito de cartofonia foi criado como uma ferramenta móvel para a presente pesquisa, auxiliando-me no entendimento de como o som não apenas representa o espaço que percorre, mas também participa na criação e no traçado volátil desse espaço, modificando-o e sendo modificado por ele a todo instante.