Human perceptions of the acoustic environment is called a soundscape. A soundscape ecologist named Bernie Krause defined sources of sound into three main categories which we use (slightly modified) for Sound Around Town. Each word ends with ‘-phony’ (like symphony) which means sound.
Biophony
Bio means life, so Biophony refers to all non-human biological sources of sound, such as birds, frogs, and insects. We include domesticated animals in this category, such as dogs and cows, even though Krause didn’t.
Geophony
Geo means Earth, so Geophony refers to sounds generated by non-biological natural sources such as wind and rain.
Anthrophony
Anthro means human, so Anthrophony refers to signature sounds generated by humans. There are so many anthropogenic sources of sounds, such as transportation sounds (like cars, planes, and trains), mechanical sounds (like A/C units, lawn care, and construction) and social sounds (like church bells, sirens, music, and people talking).
