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player navigating through a space; if they are to
feel physically immersed the sound must seem
all-surrounding. The need for surround sound or
immersive experiences must also take into account
the physics of sound. Connor (2004) argues that
sound is both intensely corporeal, it physically
moves us, and paradoxically immaterial, it cannot
be grasped. He argues that sound does not simply
surround us, it enters us, if loud enough or high
enough it can cause pain and damage; it is seen
as tied to emotion more so than sight which is
seen as neutral. Within social theory sight has
overwhelmed the senses; the epistemological
status of sight over sound has crossed over to
many disciplines including digital game design.
In Simmel's 1886 work
Sociological Aesthetics
(as cited in Frisby, 2002), he argues that vision
gave a fuller expression to the fragmented city,
the eye if “adequately trained” perceives all of a
space. This merging of all visual signals suggests
that we do not see in parts but in total. Simmel
saw sound as intrusive to the perfection of the
visible world; it was the profusion of sounds that
distracted one from the beauty of the modern urban
space. Tonkiss (2004) argues that within modern
sociology the goal was to flatten the city, to will
sound to silence, to order it. Tonkiss suggests that
vision is spectacle, whereas sound is atmosphere
and she argues that sound offers us a sense of
depth and perspective.
The soundwalk technique has been adopted
by different researchers for numerous projects
around the world since the seventies. Most recently
Adams adopted the soundwalking method for the
Positive Soundscapes Project
in 2006. The purpose
of the research was to develop a holistic approach
to studying the soundscape. The project invited
people to engage in listening to their soundscape
and then identify sounds of importance. Adams
adopted Schafer's terminology of
keynote sounds
,
soundmarks
and
sound signals
as analytical mod-
els in which to assess the data. This method in
itself does not clarify contextual or social meaning
so we must explore other qualitative approaches
such as field research and interviews, and decid-
ing which qualitative paradigm will best suit this
investigation.
Traditional sociological methods should
play a part in the exploration of meaning and
construction of sound. In Adams research, when
“prompted to consider spatial layout” (2009, p. 7)
the respondents tried to identify the sounds that
they heard in the same way they would objects.
This proved problematic as the participants had
no vocabulary to describe the soundscape or its
meaning. Simply focusing on identifying sounds
and their meaning may limit the explanation
or interpretation of cultural or social meaning.
Therefore other methods must be incorporated
into the exploration of the soundscape that enable
the researcher to comprehend the ubiquity of the
sound environment. Interviews both structured and
open ended allow for the retrieval of information
beyond the specifics of description. Adopting a
soundwalking method alongside personal nar-
rative interviews or life history interviews can
connect meaning to hearing.
Allowing a participant a longer time to consider
their sound environment, such as having them
notate or record over a period of time, may reveal
anamnesis experiences. This is where a sound can
evoke a memory or sensation of a past experience.
This is not as subjective as it may seem, the sound
track in films—particularly the leitmotif—are
sOUND MEtHODOLOGY
AND ANALYsIs
In order to identify what is significant about a
soundscape one must adopt a multi- method ap-
proach. One method is soundwalking created by
Hildegard Westerkamp and Murray Schafer in the
1970s. Westerkamp's use of this method involved
asking participants to move through an area that
was known to them and recording places of sig-
nificance. These recordings would later become
part of radio art works or installations.
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