Research: Biophone Observatory

Biophone Observatory (9:57) Biophones serves as an environmental measuring device and also trains the human ear to notice the subtle nuances in our soundscapes. It connects people to the natural habitat through sound as animal calls become an indicator of environmental health. Biophones trains people to be advocates of natural soundscape awareness and preservation by teaching observers how to listen. ASU Undergraduate Architecture Studio IV Project by Nicholas Glover (Click4Project Details)

Soundscape: Russian Bells

Russian Bells (3:49) Dr. Carol Reynolds explores the importance of church bells in the development of Russian music and the changes brought about when the Soviets attempted to eradicate Christianity by silencing the bells. Source: Vimeo

Soundscape: Grist Mill

Grist Mill (8:02) George Washington's grist mill at Mount Vernon is the perfect place to consider how the American soundscape has changed. Mill sounds inspired songs and poetry. Hosted by Dr. Carol Reynolds who was Associate Professor of Music History at the Meadows School of the Arts, Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.  Source: Vimeo.

Soundwalk: Amherst College Sanctuary

Sights and Sounds of the Amherst College Wildlife Sanctuary (6:49) "The Sanctuary celebrates its 80th anniversary in the spring of 2013. It was created during the Great Depression to provide jobs for students, who worked three afternoons each week, and town residents, who were designated by Amherst's Emergency Welfare Committee, according to a May 20, 1933 story from the Springfield Union and Republican newspaper. Together, they cut more than 60 cords of wood and reforested the current preserve with more than 4000 native saplings. It has become a valuable space for the flourishing of plants and wildlife, personal reflection, exercise and research." Click4Information about the sanctuary and network of trails. Source: Amherst College and YouTube.

Soundscape: The Hum of Holland

The Hum of Holland (1:12) "What does the Netherlands sound like? Do we still take the time to listen carefully to the sounds around us? Or is the soundscape so satiated that we prefer to seclude ourselves? What does all this sound do to us? Is there a place left in the Netherlands that is really quiet? And what does this sound like, real silence?

With these questions in mind, Stella van Voorst van Beest leads us through the Netherlands and makes us experience extraordinary and everyday sounds, reveals how sound is visible in the Dutch landscape and searches and finds silence in occasionally unexpected places." Source: Vimeo

Project: Understand Music

Understand Music (2:12) Although not specific to the study of acoustic-ecology, music is an element within the human-made soundscape and this short animated video is excellent at looking at the complexity of organizing sound and how that sound is experienced within various contexts. Produced by finally a "young, ambitious, creative studio based in Mainz, Germany. Source: Vimeo

Phonography: A Sonic Statement by Binaural/Nodar

A Sonic Statement (13:42) Piccolo Teatro Sonoro is an aesthetical statement by Binaural/Nodar for Sounds of Europe project. Binaural/Nodar is a sound art cultural organization working in the Portuguese mountain area of Gralheira mountain range, where its Nodar Rural Art Lab is located (see films description for full details). Source: Vimeo.

Soundscape: Summer's End - Japan

Summer's End (1:30) The sound of late summer in Japan when the cicadas form a sonic background to the landscape. Source: YouTube.

Soundscape: The Piano Staircase

Piano Staircase (1:47) Take a subway staircase in Stockholm and modify it into a piano keyboard and how does human behavior change? Watch what happens when people are given the choice of use a long staircase converted to a piano keyboard with a moving escalator right next to it. At first no one takes the stairs; almost 97% of the people take the escalator.  Discovering the "fun" of taking the stairway some 66% of the people eventually started using the stairway.  See also: Funtheory an initiative of Volkswagen. Source: YouTube