Categorization of urban sound sources: A taxonomical framework based on diegesis and intention

Abstract

The sound source composition of the urban sound environment varies depending on the geography and socio-cultural context. Current sound taxonomies in the literature categorize urban sound sources by their source types (e.g., human-made, natural, electromechanical) and respective semantic attributes. This study aims to add another taxonomical layer to the existing urban sound source categorization methods. The additional layer is a recently proposed sound source classification framework (CLIC). The CLIC framework identifies sound sources based on their Diegesis and Intention parametric attributes. The former parametric attribute, diegesis, was derived from film sound design. The geographical and socio-cultural context of the built environment can be considered as its narrative; hence, every event that happens within the functional context can be called diegetic, while the events that do not belong to that specific place can be called nondiegetic. The latter parametric attribute, intention, was derived from product design. One of the prominent sound source categorization methods in product sound design is to group the product emitted sounds as consequential and intentional. Combining these two parametric attributes with the existing taxonomies, the CLIC framework outputs a place-specific design guideline, clearly dictating the actions a sound designer should take. The two parametric attributes group the sound sources under four distinct areas, which dictates the degree of influence of designers on the specific sound source. The four zones are defined as the creation zone, limitation zone, isolation zone, and control zone. Each zone dictates step-by-step sound design instructions for the sound designer. This study consists of two main phases: field recordings and web-based listening tests. The sound sources present in the urban sound environment were identified in the field recordings phase. Later, in the web-based listening tests phase, the identified sound sources were evaluated based on the CLIC framework, and hence, their respective zones on the model were identified. The outcomes of the study propose clear step-by-step design guidelines and present action suggestions for environmental sound designers.