R. Murray Schafer introduces three key terms for analysing soundscapes. They are very useful as starting points for analysis of place-sound relations. The terms are: Keynote sound, Sound signal, Soundmark.

A keynote sound is understood as sound “heard by a particular society continuously or frequently enough to form a background against which other sounds are heard” (Schafer 272). The concept is borrowed from music, where the keynote is the note on which the musical key is based, but here it is expanded to ‘the music of the environment”. Typical keynotes would be the sound of waves in places close to the sea, the hum of electrical gear in an apartment, or the anonymous background music in a shopping mall.

The sound signal forms a complimentary pair with the keynote sound. The signal is understood as sound “to which attention is particularly directed” (Schafer 275). The sound signal operates in the foreground, while the keynote sound operates in the background. The sound signal attracts attention, it signals something happening. In a narrow sense sound signals can be understood as alarms and sirens, but in a more expanded sense sound signals are all forms of aural communication that one listens to.

The last in the trilogy is the soundmark. Here Schafer borrows a concept from geography: landmark. He defines soundmark as: a community sound which is unique or possesses qualities which make it specially regarded or noticed by the people in that community” (Schafer s. 274). The lighthouse may be a prime example of a landmark, whereas the foghorn could be a comparable soundmark. Yet the foghorn would be a signal to the sailor on a foggy night, but a soundmark to the resident of the small costal village. Similarly the ringing of Big Ben would to most people have combined the functions of sound signal and soundmark, signalling London and Great Britain as well as the time of the day. The soundmark marks the locality and add a specific quality to that. 

With this basic trilogy Schafer introduces what could be termed a “geosemantics” of sound. Sound – along with all kinds of other sensuous stimuli – make up places. Sound characterizes and specifies places in ways that geological or architectural features seldom do: sound connects to memories and sensitivities and ties us to ecologies, communities and societies. Noticing these environmental qualities and being able to ‘read’ them is what Schafer encourage us to do.

Suggestion for assignment:

Listen to an environment near you and make lists of sounds that could qualify as keynote sound, sound signal and soundmark. Notice that for many of the sounds that surround us the categories do not fit, and some may qualify as two or more categories: as mentioned above for instance some sounds may be both keynote sound and soundmark.