Classifying sound: A tool to enrich intangible heritage management

Human existence is accompanied by environmental sounds as by-products of people’s activities and sounds that are intentionally generated to allow human society to function. The resulting soundscapes are perceived and experienced by listeners within a social context. These soundscapes are composed of a myriad of individual sounds in both the individual and communal social spheres, and may be perceived positively or negatively, with some sounds having significant value attributed to them by certain segments of society. This paper explores the type and classification of sounds in the urban environment and presents a best fit model of sound classification in order to enable a greater understanding of the potential heritage management of this resource.