Conference_programme: 20.4 - Soundscape in Standarization
Lecture: Classifying soundscapes using a multifaceted taxonomy
Author(s): Trudeau Christopher, Guastavino Catherine
Summary:
Multiple organizational principles have been proposed to classify information in the field of information studies. Hierarchical classification systems are the most familiar, but they require relational consistency between the different levels and mutual exclusivity across classes. Attempts to organize soundscapes within hierarchical classification are challenging for these two reasons. Listening test results suggest that people cross-categorize everyday sounds according to the sound source, the action generating the sound, and/or the context in which these sounds are perceived (see Guastavino, 2018 for a review). Moreover, soundscapes are complex sound scenes with multiple, concurrent sound sources. \n\nThis paper proposes a faceted taxonomy that reflects the way people cross-categorize sounds (Lambe, 2007). Five facets are used in the taxonomy, each reflecting a fundamental characteristic of the sound: agent, source, action, context, and acoustic features. Within some facets, a hierarchy of terms can be established, and thus the facets must allow for a hierarchical relationship between the terms. This taxonomy will be implemented using a relational database (MySQL) and a web interface for users to navigate the content and structure of the taxonomy. The proposed database will be populated using existing sound datasets, such as freesound.org. In this taxonomy, a soundscape can be described as a set of sounds, eliminating the challenge of isolating a soundscape to one placement in a taxonomy. We will analyze the free format verbal descriptions accompanying each sound in terms of the facets of the proposed taxonomy, and explore new facets from emerging categories. Thus, the proposed taxonomy supports the ongoing efforts to standardize and report soundscape research by offering a way to systematically describe a given soundscape. \n\nGuastavino, C. (2018). Everyday Sound Categorization. In Computational Analysis of Sound Scenes and Events. Cham: Springer.\n\n Lambe, P. (2007). Organising knowledge: Taxonomies, knowledge and organisational effectiveness. Chandos Publishing: Oxford.\n
Corresponding author
Name: Mr Christopher Trudeau
e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Country: Canada
