Never before has the 'everyday soundtrack' of urban space been so cacophonous. Since the 1970s, sound researchers have attempted to classify noise, music, and everyday sounds using concepts such as Pierre Shafer's 'sound object' and R. Murray Schafer's 'soundscape.' Recently, the most significant team of soundscape researchers in the world has been concerned with the effects of sounds on listeners.In a multidisciplinary work spanning musicology, electro-acoustic composition, architecture, urban studies, communication, phenomenology, social theory, physics, and psychology, Jean-Francois...