Compare soundscapes of various decades by using this Vancouver sound map!

You will find two type of points on the map: static ambiences (symbol–speaker) and soundwalks (symbol–walking figure).

All points are assigned to layers organised by decade. Hide or un-hide layers by entering the layer menu in the vertical toolbar on the left and clicking the “eye” icon next to any given decade.

The decades of the recordings from the different World Sounscape Project editions are colour-coded as follows:

2024 — dark blue

2020 — black

2010s — bright blue

1990s — dark cyan

1970s — purple

Click on a point to display a pop-up window containing the recording with its metadata. This will include the date (including day of the week) and time of the recording (whenever it was available)–where possible, the 2024 recordings where produced at a similar time of the day/week/year to enable a reliable comparison. In case when these variables do differ, think of how these differences can enhance or limit your observations.

For the 2024 and 2010s edition, the recordings will often be accompanied by a picture(s) taken at the recording location.

Note: while we figure the best way to embed the sounds on the map, you will notice that there are two distinct ways of accessing full-quality (wav or aif) on the map. Whenever it is possible to play the sound directly in the pop and no link for downloading is offered, you will be playing back a .wav file (uncompressed, full-quality)–so far only available for some points of the 2024 edition. In other cases, the in-map player will play back an .mp3 file, while you will be offered a link to download the original full-quality file (.wav or .aif) onto a hard drive.

Good luck and feel free to reach out with questions/feedback: piowie@mail.ubc.ca.

All the best,

Piotr