Soundscapes

‘Soundscape’ is a crucial term to conceive how sound gives meaning to spaces and places. By filling not only time but space, sounds such as music help orientate the lives of all humans, as much as sight does. However, to be sensed, sound has to be embodied. Because bodies differ and because bodies cohere in crowds, embodiment introduces social differences into soundscapes. Given geography’s emphasis on vision, the geographic study of local soundscapes is embyronic. Mostly, geographers have studied the representation and international diffusion of music. Nonetheless, the embodiment of soundscapes invites fruitful exchange with cognate disciplines.