Special Program in the Arts

MUSIC 7
Quarter 1
Self- Learning Module 5
Soundscapes (Music from
the Natural Environment)
Music Specialization – Grade 7
Quarter 1 – Module 5: Soundscapes (Music from the Natural Environment)
First Edition, 2020
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Published by the Department of Education - Schools Division of Pasig City

Development Team of the Self-Learning Module

Writer: Wenalyn L. Luz and Sunshine M. Bitara
Editor: Demosthenes B. Soriano
Reviewers: Demosthenes B. Soriano
Illustrator:
Layout Artist:
Management Team: Ma. Evalou Concepcion A. Agustin
OIC-Schools Division Superintendent
Aurelio G. Alfonso EdD
OIC-Assistant Schools Division Superintendent
Victor M. Javeña EdD
Chief, School Governance and Operations Division and
OIC-Chief, Curriculum Implementation Division

Education Program Supervisors

Librada L. Agon EdD (EPP/TLE/TVL/TVE)

Liza A. Alvarez (Science/STEM/SSP)
Bernard R. Balitao (AP/HUMSS)
Joselito E. Calios (English/SPFL/GAS)
Norlyn D. Conde EdD (MAPEH/SPA/SPS/HOPE/A&D/Sports)
Wilma Q. Del Rosario (LRMS/ADM)
Ma. Teresita E. Herrera EdD (Filipino/GAS/Piling Larang)
Perlita M. Ignacio PhD (EsP)
Dulce O. Santos PhD (Kindergarten/MTB-MLE)
Teresita P. Tagulao EdD (Mathematics/ABM)

Printed in the Philippines by Department of Education – Schools Division of

Pasig City.
 Special Program in the Arts

MUSIC 7
Quarter 1
Module 5
Soundscapes (Music from the Natural
Environment)
Introductory Message

For the facilitator:

Welcome to the Grade 7 Music Specialization Self-Learning Module 5 on

Soundscapes (Music from the Natural Environment)!

This Self-Learning Module was collaboratively designed, developed and

reviewed by educators from the Schools Division Office of Pasig City headed by its
Officer-in-Charge Schools Division Superintendent, Ma. Evalou Concepcion A.
Agustin, in partnership with the City Government of Pasig through its mayor,
Honorable Victor Ma. Regis N. Sotto. The writers utilized the standards set by the K
to 12 Curriculum using the Most Essential Learning Competencies (MELC) in
developing this instructional resource.

This learning material hopes to engage the learners in guided and

independent learning activities at their own pace and time. Further, this also aims
to help learners acquire the needed 21st century skills especially the 5 Cs, namely:
Communication, Collaboration, Creativity, Critical Thinking, and Character while
taking into consideration their needs and circumstances.

In addition to the material in the main text, you will also see this box in the
body of the module:

Notes to the Teacher

This contains helpful tips or strategies
that will help you in guiding the learners.

As a facilitator you are expected to orient the learners on how to use this
module. You also need to keep track of the learners' progress while allowing them
to manage their own learning. Furthermore, you are expected to encourage and
assist the learners as they do the tasks included in the module.
 For the learner:

Welcome to the Grade 7 Music Specialization Self-Learning Module 5 on

Soundscapes (Music from the Natural Environment)!

This module was designed to provide you with fun and meaningful
opportunities for guided and independent learning at your own pace and time. You
will be enabled to process the contents of the learning material while being an
active learner.

This module has the following parts and corresponding icons:

Expectations - This points to the set of knowledge and skills

that you will learn after completing the module.

Pretest - This measures your prior knowledge about the lesson

at hand.

Recap - This part of the module provides a review of concepts

and skills that you already know about a previous lesson.

Lesson - This section discusses the topic in the module.

Activities - This is a set of activities that you need to perform.

Wrap-Up - This section summarizes the concepts and

application of the lesson.

Valuing - This part integrates a desirable moral value in the

lesson.

Posttest - This measures how much you have learned from the
entire module.
 EXPECTATIONS

At the end of this module, you are expected to:

 describe what is soundscapes;
 identify soundscapes music from the natural environment; and
 produce soundscapes with the elements of artistic expression using any available
resources.

PRETEST

MULTIPLE CHOICE
Directions: Choose the letter of the correct answer. Write your answer before the number.
______ 1. What is the soundscape source that are generated by non-biological natural
………….sources?
A. Anthropophony C. Geophony
B. Biophony D. none of the above
______ 2. What is the acoustic environment as perceived by humans, in context?
A. Anthropophony C. Soundmark
B. Keynote sounds D. Soundscapes
______ 3. What element of soundscape is a sound which is unique to an area?
A. Biophony C. Soundmark
B. Keynote sounds D. Sound signals
______ 4. Who popularised the term soundscape?
A. Michael Southworth C. R. Murray Schafer
B. Pauline Oliveros D. all of the above

______ 5. What soundscape system possesses a positive signal-to-noise ratio?

A. hi-fi C. lo-fi
B. hi-li D. lo-hi
 RECAP

ANALOGY TEST
Directions: Select the word that best expresses a relationship similar to that expressed in the
original pair. Write your answer on the blank provided.
1. Music : dynamics : _____________ : shape
Choices:
Dance Film Literature Visual Arts
2. Film : _______________ : Dance : body
Choices:
action color editing pitch

3. Visual Arts : line : Literature : __________________

Choices:
balance emphaty theme time
4. Drama : dialogue : Music : __________________
Choices:
Energy conflict literary design melody
5. Dance : space : _____________ : point of view
Choices:
Dance Drama Film Literature

LESSON

Soundscapes (Music from the Natural Environment)

A soundscape is the acoustic environment as perceived by humans, in context. The
term was originally coined by Michael Southworth, and popularised by R. Murray
Schafer.There is a varied history of the use of soundscape depending on discipline, ranging
from urban design to wildlife ecology to computer science. An important distinction is to
separate soundscape from the broader acoustic environment. The acoustic environment is
the combination of all the acoustic resources, natural and artificial, within a given area as
modified by the environment. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
standardized these definitions in 2014.(ISO 12913-1:2014)
A soundscape is a sound or combination of sounds that forms or arises from
an immersive environment. The study of soundscape is the subject of acoustic
ecology or soundscape ecology. The idea of soundscape refers to both the
natural acoustic environment, consisting of natural sounds, including animal vocalizations,
the collective habitat expression of which is now referred to as the biophony, and, for
instance, the sounds of weather and other natural elements, now referred to as the geophony;
and environmental sounds created by humans, the anthropophony through a sub-set called
controlled sound, such as musical composition, sound design, and language, work, and
sounds of mechanical origin resulting from use of industrial technology. Crucially, the term
soundscape also includes the listener's perception of sounds heard as an environment: "how
that environment is understood by those living within it" and therefore mediates their
relations. The disruption of these acoustic environments results in noise pollution.
The term "soundscape" can also refer to an audio recording or performance of sounds
that create the sensation of experiencing a particular acoustic environment, or compositions
created using the found sounds of an acoustic environment, either exclusively or in
conjunction with musical performances.
Pauline Oliveros, composer of post-World War II electronic art music, defined the
term "soundscape" as "All of the waveforms faithfully transmitted to our audio cortex by the
ear and its mechanisms".
The origin of the term soundscape is somewhat
ambiguous. It is often miscredited as having been coined by
Canadian composer and naturalist, R. Murray Schafer, who indeed
led much of the ground-breaking work on the subject from the
1960s and onwards
The Environment
In Schafer's analysis, there are two distinct soundscapes, either "hi-fi" or "lo-fi",
created by the environment. A hi-fi system possesses a positive signal-to-noise ratio.These
settings make it possible for discrete sounds to be heard clearly since there is no background
noise to obstruct even the smallest disturbance. A rural landscape offers more hi-
fi frequencies than a city because the natural landscape creates an opportunity to hear
incidences from nearby and afar. In a lo-fi soundscape, signals are obscured by too many
sounds, and perspective is lost within the broad-band of noises. In lo-fi soundscapes
everything is very close and compact. A person can only listen to immediate encounters; in
most cases even ordinary sounds have to be exuberantly amplified in order to be heard.
All sounds are unique in nature. They occur at one time in one place and can't be
replicated. In fact, it is physically impossible for nature to reproduce any phoneme twice in
exactly the same manner.
According to Schafer there are three main elements of the soundscape:
 Keynote sounds
This is a musical term that identifies the key of a piece, not always audible, the key
might stray from the original, but it will return. The keynote sounds may not always be heard
consciously, but they "outline the character of the people living there" (Schafer). They are
created by nature (geography and climate): wind, water, forests, plains, birds, insects,
animals. In many urban areas, traffic has become the keynote sound.
 Sound signals
These are foreground sounds, which are listened to consciously; examples would be
warning devices, bells, whistles, horns, sirens, etc.
 Soundmark
 This is derived from the term landmark. A soundmark is a sound which is unique to
an area. In his 1977 book, The Soundscape: Our Sonic Environment and the Tuning of the
World, Schafer wrote, "Once a Soundmark has been identified, it deserves to be protected, for
soundmarks make the acoustic life of a community unique."
The elements have been further defined as to essential sources:
Bernie Krause, naturalist and soundscape ecologist, redefined
the sources of sound in terms of their three main components:
geophony, biophony, and anthropophony.
 Geophony
Consisting of the prefix, geo (gr. earth), and phon (gr. sound), this refers to the
soundscape sources that are generated by non-biological natural sources such as wind in the
trees, water in a stream or waves at the ocean, and earth movement, the first sounds heard on
earth by any sound-sentient organism.
 Biophony
Consisting of the prefix, bio (gr. life) and the suffix for sound, this term refers to all of
the non-human, non-domestic biological soundscape sources of sound.
 Anthropophony
Consisting of the prefix, anthro (gr. human), this term refers to all of the sound
signatures generated by humans.

ACTIVITIES

DAY 1
Activity 1
TRUE OR FALSE
Directions: Read each statement below carefully. Write the letter T on the line if you think
the statement is TRUE and F if you think the statement is FALSE.
_____ 1. In Schafer's analysis, there are two distinct soundscapes, either "hi-fi" or "lo-fi”,
………..created by the environment.
_____ 2. A soundscape is a sound or combination of sounds that forms or arises from an
………..immersive environment.
_____ 3. Sound signals is a musical term that identifies the key of a piece, not always
………...audible, the key might stray from the original, but it will return.
_____ 4. Geophony term refers to all of the non-human; non-domestic biological soundscape
………..sources of sound.
_____ 5. Soundscape is often miscredited as having been coined by Canadian composer and
………..naturalist, R. Murray Schafer.
DAY 2
Activity 2
PICTURE ANALYSIS
Directions: Analyze the pictures below. Identify the sources of sound in terms of the three
main components: geophony, biophony, and anthropophony.

1. 2.

3. 4.

5. 6.
DAY 3

Activity 3
Directions: Do the following tasks.
Task 1: Imagine you’re in a zoo located in an urban area. What are the possible things or
animals you can saw there? You will draw it, as many as you can, inside the box below.

Task 2: After doing your task 1, you will now think of the soundscapes produced by the
things or animals that you draw. Find any materials that can imitate the sounds of those
things or animals and produce sound out of it. You will share it to your teacher and
classmates by recording the sounds that you produced.
 WRAP-UP

Directions: Give the missing words to complete the sentences below. Write your answer in
the blank provided.
A ____________ is a sound or combination of sounds that forms or arises from
an immersive environment. The term was originally coined by _________________, and
popularised by ______________. In Schafer's analysis, there are two distinct soundscapes,
either ________ or __________, created by the environment. According to Schafer there are
three main elements of the soundscape, the Keynote sounds, ___________ and __________.
Bernie Krause, naturalist and soundscape ecologist, redefined the sources of sound in terms
of their three main components: ______________, _____________, and ______________.

VALUING

All sounds are unique in nature. They occur at one time in one place and can't be
replicated. In fact, it is physically impossible for nature to reproduce any phoneme twice in
exactly the same manner.
CRITICAL THINKING and COLLABORATION
Walk in and around your home or apartment for a few minutes, concentrating on all of
the sounds that you hear and answer the following questions. After answering the questions,
you will share to your classmates your home’s sense of place and some of the distinctive
natural sounds, human-made sounds, and sounds of humans and the environment interacting.
1. What sounds do you hear?
_____________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2. Are they natural, human-made, or the sound of humans and the environment
interesting?
_____________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
3. What sounds do you hear that you don’t usually pay attention to?
_____________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
4. How different would your home feel if those sounds were no longer part of the
soundscape?
_____________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
 POSTTEST

IDENTIFICATION
Directions: Read the statement carefully and identify what is being described. Choose the
answer inside the box below. Write your answer in the space before the number.

Geophony Soundscape Bernie Krause

hi-fi R. Murray Schafer Soundmark

1. It is the acoustic environment as perceived by humans, in context.

_______________
2. It is the soundscape system possesses a positive signal-to-noise ratio.
______________
3. The soundscape source that are generated by non-biological natural sources.
______________
4. It is a sound which is unique to an area.
______________
5. Canadian composer and naturalist, who indeed led much of the ground-breaking work
on the subject from the 1960s and onwards.
______________
PRETEST RECAP
1. C 1. Visual arts
2. A 2. editing
3. C 3. theme
4. C 4. melody
5. A 5. Literature
ACTIVITY 1
1. T
2. T
3. F
4. F
5. T
ACTIVITY 2
1. Geophony
2. Anthropophony
3. Biophony
4. Geophony
5. Anthropophony
6. Biophony
WRAP- UP
A soundscape is a sound or combination of sounds that forms or arises from
an immersive environment. The term was originally coined by Michael Southworth, and
popularised by R. Murray Schafer. In Schafer's analysis, there are two distinct
soundscapes, either hi-fi or lo-fi, created by the environment. According to Schafer there
are three main elements of the soundscape, the Keynote sounds, Sound signals and
Soundmark. Bernie Krause, naturalist and soundscape ecologist, redefined the sources of
sound in terms of their three main components: geophony, biophony, and anthropophony.
POSTTEST
1. Soundscape
2. hi-fi
3. Geophony
4. Soundmark
5. R. Murray Schafer
KEY TO CORRECTION
 References

 Online and Electronic Sources

Soundscape, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soundscape

 Images
R. Murray Schafer, http://artsalive.ca/en/mus/greatcomposers/schafer/bio.asp
Bernie Krause, https://images.app.goo.gl/uY6i1rKutPVTdnbV6
Tree, https://images.app.goo.gl/tzdu3xRf5LwPXyGy7
Stream, https://images.app.goo.gl/cAS8ViGrwhW5rU628
Frog, https://images.app.goo.gl/3ueafMfSQQWrrUDA9
Wolf, https://images.app.goo.gl/eFreZxnnSYBfjPSr5
Studio, https://images.app.goo.gl/uo9f41hUA9WbUt4g8
Traffic, https://daily.jstor.org/the-science-of-traffic/
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

EDISON P. CLET
Illustration

ELINETTE B. DELA CRUZ

Project Development Officer II(LRMS)
Lay-out Artist

WENALYN L. LUZ
Video/PowerPoint Presenter

DEMOSTHENES B. SORIANO
Validator

MARIVIC D. LISING
MAPEH Department Head

GILBERT O. INOCENCIO
Rizal High School
School Head

NORILYN D. CONDE
MAPEH Education Program Supervisors

ROLANDO C. JULIAN
Public Schools District Supervisor
For inquiries or feedback, please write or call:

Department of Education – School Division Office of Pasig City

Caruncho Avenue, San Nicolas, Pasig City

Contact No.: (632) 8641-8885

E-mail Address: divisionofpasig@gmail.com