Mapping and Digitizing Sarawak Bioacoustic for Soundscape Composition:

The Bako National Park Project

Abstract

The entirety of sounds that can be heard at any particular time and place is referred to as the soundscape. Similar to how a landscape presents itself visually, one way to think of a soundscape is as the way the listener's surroundings show themselves through sound. Terminology such as sound ecology, bioacoustics, electroacoustic music and musical composition of sound art is something that is still a novel concept in Malaysia. In Malaysia, the genre of soundscape composition is relatively new. This research is conducted and mainly inspired by the World Soundscape Project by R. Murray Schafer. The World Soundscape Project is to foster awareness of sounds and to promote the importance of soundscape and nature. Hence, this concept was applied in this research in text by conducting soundscape research in Bako National Park, Sarawak. The purpose of this research was to record the acoustic environment as a case study of soundscape composition which leads to composing a musical piece of soundscape composition in the perspective of recognizable environmental sounds. Soundwalk methods was applied in this research to create documentation on database of sounds recorded of bioacoustics and soundscape environment in Bako National Park. Purposive sampling technique and focus group discussion were applied in this research whereas groups of students were selected to evaluate their appreciation of composed soundscape. In conclusion, this research shows that soundscape compositions can improve ecological awareness, build a sense of connection, and promote the value of taking care of the environment through thorough listening and thought.