The concepts of soundscape. Are there shallow soundscapes and deep soundscapes?

摘要

This paper discusses firstly the concept of soundscape developed by R. M. Schafer and his colleagues. Secondly, it hypothetically proposes to define the ‘shallow soundscape’ and ‘deep soundscape’, the former as the acoustic environment within the tradition of acoustics with emphasis on physical constraints and the latter as the acoustic environment with emphasis on the way it is perceived and understood by the individual, or by a society whose concept was brought forth by R. M. Schafer and his colleagues, whereby the latter includes the former. Finally the significance of the concept of deep soundscape is discussed accounting for developments in cognitive sciences taking account of semantics in its application of sound education, soundscape design and further areas.