Some questions to ponder from the article by Schafer, The Music of the Environment. There are many more questions / concepts in this article, so feel free to add more questions / discussion topics as comments to this post. Please be prepared to discuss these (and other) questions in our next class.
What is a soundscape?
What are the implications of Schafer’s notion of the soundscape as a composition, with all of us as its composers?
How does Schafer define noise?
How does he describe the two basic ideas of what music is or ought to be? What do you think about his description?
What are hi-fi and lo-fi soundscapes? Are there problems with these descriptions?
How does Schafer describe the value of “quiet periods” and do you agree?
What are some of the implications or perceptions of silence discussed in the article?
What paths towards noise reduction and soundscape design does Schafer recommend? Can you add to these?