Soundscapes, design and acoustic ecology form the basis of both my artistic practice and academic research work. From field recording, through soundscape design, simulation, to human perception, my fascination and awe at the power of sound is limitless. As an avid field recordist, my recorder is never away from my side, documenting the sound world across the decades and as a tool to capture unique sounds for my compositions.

Soundscape is not just a concept, it is a living, changing part of our everyday lives, it has the power to affect our well being, both in a positive and negative way. My works seeks to help improve both awareness and understanding of how we are affected by the sound world around us, as well as find creative ways to explore sonic design of our future soundscapes. There is also a strong anthropological aspect to my work, as I try to capture ‘disappearing sound and soundscapes’, to save them for future generations to explore and get a better understanding of where the sound world was during my life time and how it is always evolving and changing.

I am an active proponent of listening and spreading the word of the importance of listening as an activity, especially for well being.The act of listening deeply, to a particular space and time can be transcendental, savouring the moment and appreciating the diversity and depth of the sound world around us.

My greatest joy comes from learning about the world around me through listening, and as such I seek soundscape projects that engage with the landscape, well-being, preservation, environmental change and acoustic ecology.

SOUNDSCAPE & FIELD RECORDINGS from around the world

Click on a marker to hear the recording and see the details.

Do ZOOM right in to some countries, as there are often multiple recordings in a similar area.

 

You can view a list of all the recordings here

Do check back, as new recordings are being added daily.

 
 
 

Project DeStress

Project DeStress is a research and public engagement project exploring the connections between the sounds we hear in places (soundscapes), our ability to relax and recover (cognitive restoration) and the design of the built environment. The intention is for Designing and Engineering Soundscapes To enable Restorative Environments for Sustainable Societies.

The project combines knowledge on the health and wellbeing outcomes from experiencing sound in quiet and calm places and how this varies depending on the design of the surrounding buildings and infrastructure.

The online environmental simulator can be found here.

Positive Soundscapes Project

In the acoustics community, sound in the environment – especially that made by other people – has overwhelmingly been considered in negative terms, as both intrusive and undesirable. The strong focus of traditional engineering acoustics on reducing noise level ignores the many possibilities for characterising positive aspects of the soundscapes around us.

Desirable aspects of the soundscape have been investigated in the past, mainly by artists and social scientists. This work has had little impact on quantitative engineering acoustics, however, perhaps because of barriers to communication across different disciplines.

  • Bruce, N, 2022, 'Soundtalking: Extending Soundscape Practice Through Long-Term Participant-Led Sound Activities in the Dee Estuary’, Poster UKAN+ (UK Acoustics Network) Conference, 12 September 2024, Manchester, UK.

  • Bruce, N. 2024, Addressing Diversity and Inclusivity in Soundscape Research, Developing methodologies for under and non-represented participants. Brazilian Creative Industries Journal. 3. 76-93. 10.25112/bcij.v3i2.3542.

  • Bruce, N. 2024, “Beyond Soundwalking, Simulation and Field Recording : The developing new experiential soundscape practice” at Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Soundscapes & Wellbeing workshop - University of Surrey, Jan 16/17, 2024

  • Bruce, N. 2024, “Sound and Wellbeing: How can VR tools be used to study mindfulness techniques?”. at Immersion and Expression: Exploring the Impact of Audio-Visual Interfaces on Wellbeing, MMU, 14th Feb 2024

  • Bruce, N.S., 2023. ‘Extending Soundwalking Practice: Soundsitting as an Inclusive and Complementary Method to Soundwalking’. Acoustics 2023, 5, 788-797. https://doi.org/10.3390/acoustics5030046

  • Bruce, N, 2022, 'Re-evaluation and mapping our sense of place and time with the ‘sonic dérive GPS data and binaural recordings : Sonic mapping of desire paths and places of sonic interest.', Paper , Sonic Cartography: Soundscape, Simulation and Re-enactment, University of Kent 29 October 2022, Chatham, Kent, UK.

  • Bruce, N, 2022, 'Are we hearing the same soundscape? Who's listening, how, and to what?', Paper , Aural Diversity Network Conference (online), 16 September 2022, Manchester, UK.

  • Bruce, N, 2022, 'Extending Soundwalking Practice : Soundsitting as an additional method to Soundwalking', Poster UKAN+ (UK Acoustics Network) Conference, 4 July 2022, Manchester, UK.

  • Payne, S and Bruce, N, 2019, ‘Exploring the Relationship between Urban Quiet Areas and Perceived Restorative Benefits’, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

  • Payne, S. R., & Bruce, N. 2019. DeStress: Soundscapes, quiet areas and restorative environments. In Proceedings of the Institute of Acoustics 2019 (pp. 39-46). Institute of Acoustics.

  • Bruce, N, Condie, J, Henshaw, V & Payne, S. 2015, Analysing olfactory and auditory sensescapes in English cities: Sensory expectation and urban environmental perception. Ambiances. 10.400

  • Bruce, NS and Davies, WJ  2014, 'The effects of expectation on the perception of soundscapes' , Applied Acoustics, 85 , pp. 1-11.

  • Davies, WJ , Bruce, NS and Murphy, JE 2014, 'Soundscape reproduction and synthesis' , Acta Acustica United with Acustica, 100 (2) , pp. 285-292.

  • Davies, WJ , Adams, MD, Bruce, NS, Cain, R, Carlyle, A, Cusack, P, Hall, DA, Hume, KI, Irwin, A, Jennings, P, Marselle, MR, Plack, CJ and Poxon, J 2012, 'Perception of soundscapes : an interdisciplinary approach' , Applied Acoustics, 74 (2) , pp. 224-231.

  • Bruce, NS, Davies, WJ  and Adams, MD 2009, Expectation as a factor in the perception of soundscapes , in: Euronoise 2009, 26-28 October 2009, Edinburgh, U.K..

  • Davies, WJ , Adams, MD, Bruce, NS, Cain, R, Jennings, P, Carlyle, A, Cusack, P, Hume, K and Plack, C 2009, A positive soundscape evaluation system , in: Euronoise 2009, 26-28 October 2009, Edinburgh, U.K.

  • Bruce, NS, Davies, WJ  and Adams, MD 2009, Development of a soundscape simulator tool , in: Internoise 09, 23-26 August 2009, Ottawa, Canada.

  • Adams, MD, Davies, WJ  and Bruce, NS 2009, Soundscapes : an urban planning process map , in: Internoise 2009, 23-26 August 2009, Ottawa, Canada.

  • Davies, WJ , Adams, MD, Bruce, NS, Marselle, M, Cain, R, Jennings, P, Poxon, J, Carlyle, A, Cusack, P, Hall, DA, Irwin, A, Hulme, KI and Plack, CJ 2009, The positive soundscape project : a synthesis of results from many disciplines , in: Internoise 2009, 23-26 August 2009, Ottawa, Canada.

  • Hume, KI, Barrett, H, Ip, A, McDonagh, T, Davies, WJ , Adams, MD, Bruce, NS, Cain, R, Jennings, P, Czanner, G, Carlyle, A, Cusack, P and Plack, C 2008, Physiological responses and subjective estimates of sounds : initial results of pilot study , in: Institute of Acoustics Spring Conference 2008, 10 - 11 April 2008, Reading, UK.

  • Adams, MD, Bruce, NS, Davies, WJ , Cain, R, Jennings, P, Carlyle, A, Cusack, P, Hume, K and Plack, C 2008, Soundwalking as a methodology for understanding soundscapes , in: Institute of Acoustics Spring Conference 2008, 10 - 11 April 2008, Reading, U.K..

  • Davies, WJ , Adams, MD, Bruce, NS, Cain, R, Carlyle, A, Cusack, P, Hume, KI, Jennings, P and Plack, CJ 2007, The positive soundscape project , in: 19th International Congress on Acoustics, 2-7 September 2007, Madrid.