The spatial soundscape

While many people have sought to capture and document sounds for posterity, particularly those considered in danger of extinction, the author is concerned with the process of capturing the spatial context along with the sound, archiving the sound with its spatial identity intact. This paper will consider characteristics of human auditory perception and our ability to perceive the location and distance of any sound source. Information will be provided about techniques available for the capture, archiving and reproduction of spatial audio, and will also consider how soundscape recreation or composition might produce an immersive, three-dimensional soundfield for any listening environment and how this soundfield may be delivered to a new listening audience.