Cacophonography is a conceptual project that seeks to imagine the possibilities of a community-generated, web-based map of sound. Underpinning this map application are the ever-expanding capabilities of the latest mobile computing technologies, chief among them smartphones, both for collecting sound recordings associated with specific map coordinates, and for viewing/listening to maps associated with the user’s location.

1. cacophonography
a community-generated map of sound
powered by pervasive computing
Jake Coolidge -- Geog 239: Geographic Information Technology Seminar -- December 2009

2. cacophonography
cacophony + geography
a mix of discordant the study of
sounds, dissonance the earth’s surface

3. cacophonography
“dissonance writing”
—a forum for diverse voices

4. cacophonography
phonograph: analogous to photograph;
a captured sound recording (Drury 2006)

5. cacophonography
phonograph: analogous to photograph;
a captured sound recording (Drury 2006)
phonography: the art of recording sounds from the
environment around us, with an emphasis on the
unintentional sounds which often go unnoticed
in our daily lives. (after www.SoundTransit.nl 2009)

6. cacophonography
phonograph: analogous to photograph;
a captured sound recording (Drury 2006)
phonography: the art of recording sounds from the
environment around us, with an emphasis on the
unintentional sounds which often go unnoticed
in our daily lives. (after www.SoundTransit.nl 2009)
public documentation of the
world of sound

7. cacophony + geography
simultaneous sounds situated sounds
Image sources: cnet.com, nysoundmap.org

8. project goals:
• community-generated and monitored
• web-based
• leverages mobile technologies, particularly
smartphones, for both:
➡ collecting sound recordings associated with
specific map coordinates, and
➡ viewing/listening to maps associated with the
user’s location
• freely available
• open-source

9. efforts to map sound:
urban planning and design
improving urban spaces by understanding
how ambient sounds either enhance
or diminish their quality, and designing
accordingly
sound in multimedia GIS
for planning and decision support
Kyong-Ho Kim, Kiwon Lee and Jong-Hun Lee. (1998).
3D Geographical Analysis within JAVA/VRML-based GIS: "Lantern" Operation.
Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on GeoComputation.
Retrieved November 30, 2009, from
http://www.geocomputation.org/1998/index.html
enfranchising public participation
in urban noise surveys and mapping
Mydlarz, C. (2009). soundaroundyou. Retrieved November 20, 2009, from
http://soundaroundyou.com/#1

10. efforts to map sound:
documenting our shared
soundscapes
sound: complex and evocative
what can sound tell us about the unique
characteristics of a place?

11. how cacophonography works:
•web-based application passes sound data and
associated coordinates and metadata tags to
and from smartphones and desktop/laptop
computers
•audio is recorded in the field using a
smartphone’s built-in microphone and then
uploaded via a WiFi or cellular connection to
the server, along with a GPS coordinate or cell-
tower locational fix
•other types of audio, including audio from
traditional field recording equipment, can be
uploaded using a desktop or laptop computer
connected to the internet

12. how cacophonography works:
• When a portion the map is then viewed at a particular
zoom level, the server creates a mix of all the audio
available in the map’s viewable extent, panning
individual audio sources left and right based on the
location of the sound-point relative to the extent, and
streams this combined audio out to the user.
• The user can also choose to call up a descriptive tag
cloud available in the extent and filter for specific
sounds. Selecting an individual sound-point isolates
that audio.
• Any changes to the map extent, by panning or
zooming, has the potential to change the sound-points
visible and their position relative to the extent frame,
which also modifies the mix of sounds.
• Smartphone users see their current location on the map
relative to nearby sound sources; moving from one
place to another has the approximate effect of panning
the map and changing the extent.
• With each change, the server recalculates the mix to
send to the user.

13. interface design: smartphone apps and OSM
freely distributed on mobile phones built on OpenStreetMap data: freely
using applications (apps) developed with available and community-generated
software developer kits (SDKs)
soundpoints appear as bright points on a
app stores currently available for Google dark map: the “brighter” the map, the
Android-based phones and iPhones greater the number of sources available
exploding popularity of third-party map style based loosely on “Midnight
generated apps (hopefully) indicates Commander” style developed by
broader adoption of these apps on CloudMade (2009)
mobile phones regardless of OS and
cellular service provider

14. interface design: using sound variables
Krygier (1994) first formally enumerated
sound variables with regards to their
application in multi-media maps:
location - loudness - pitch - register - timbre - duration - rate of change - order - attack/decay

15. interface design: using sound variables
Krygier (1994) first formally enumerated
sound variables with regards to their
application in multi-media maps:
location - loudness - pitch - register - timbre - duration - rate of change - order - attack/decay
He was particularly interested in
exploring how these variables could be
manipulated to represent abstract,
quantitative data, but three variables in
particular are of interest for this project.

16. interface design: using sound variables
He was particularly interested in
exploring how these variables could be
manipulated to represent abstract,
quantitative data, but three variables in
location: particular are of interest for this project.
Soundpoints are panned left or right in a
stereo mix based on their location relative to
the map extent.
loudness:
The volume level of individual soundpoints *No audio is heard when zoomed out to
increases or decreases based on zoom level— regional or continental scales, in
the “closer to the ground” the viewpoint, the keeping with the analogy, and for
greater the volume.* practical considerations.
timbre:
The general, prevailing qualities or
characteristics of sounds convey specific
meanings about the places that produce
them.

17. bringing it all together: flash demo

18. potential issues and means of addressing them
copyright: upon account setup, users agree to only upload content that
they own the copyright for
privacy: users are advised that only recordings made in the public sphere
should be uploaded
inappropriate content: audio is both generated and monitored by the
community; inappropriate content is reported to webmasters for removal
and possible account termination

19. potential issues and means of addressing them
the digital divide:
Cell phones are becoming nearly ubiquitous, but smartphones are not.
Reliable access to the internet, and the acquired skills to use it, continue
to pose significant challenges for disadvantaged communities (Thompson
2007).
solutions?
Future partnerships between the online community, community groups,
libraries, and arts and education organizations may be able to bridge the
divide by creating opportunities to both experience the map online and to
contribute to the map, capturing field audio using community-shared
mobile recording equipment, GPS receivers, and/or mobile computers.

20. What sorts of potential sonic experiences, cultural knowledges, and
geographic perspectives might result from the unique mix of sounds
presented by each locality?
What would it be like to “listen to” our communities beyond the
confines of privately-owned mass-media channels?
potential uses and scenarios
• local, independent radio stations: streaming audio at a map coordinate
• spoken word, live music performances: archived and searchable
• music groups create links to their sound map: all audio locations
associated with a particular tour
• audio blogs: authors trace their routes and the sounds recorded along
the way
• know-before-you-go: listening to a place to compliment the mapped
photography of Google Streetview and Flickr
• political action and social justice: geographic & sonic representation
for a mass audience

21. closing remark—
When the web and the emerging technologies of
pervasive computing deliver on a promise to democratize
information and information access, the result will be a
chaotic and vibrant mirror of our world. Too often, a map
presents the voice of one or a few over the voices of the
many. Cacophonography provides a forum to celebrate
the multiple voices and perspectives of our urban spaces,
while relating those voices geographically to their
neighborhoods, regions, and the world.