# Soundscape and Biosphere Participants build an immersive setting using layered acoustic noises, then run a stepped physical improv exercise to embody changing atmospheric conditions. **Time:** 15 minutes. UWT suggested allocation based on the two improv exercises in the source record. **People:** 5 to 20. Whole group circle for Soundscape; 5-person active cohort with remainder observing for Biosphere ## Choose this exercise **Purpose:** Practice sensory observation and fast agreement through vocal environment building and physicalized environmental shifts. **Use it when:** Use during communication or creative workshops to help participants listen to group layers, mirror physical states, and accept teammate cues quickly. **Skip it when:** Skip when participants need quiet cognitive focus, cannot make sustained sounds due to shared room constraints, or express discomfort with active physical theater exercises. ## Materials and tools - One countdown timer or stopwatch for the facilitator ## Before participants arrive 1. Arrange seating or standing space in a wide circle with an open center area of at least 8 by 8 feet. 2. Ensure the room has sufficient acoustic tolerance for clapping, tapping, and vocal sound effects. ## Say this to open We are exploring how to build an environment using sensory layers rather than dialogue alone. First, we will create a collective soundscape without speaking words. Then, a five-person team will step into the center for Biosphere, where each new person adds a physical climate that everyone must mirror. ## How to run it ### 1. Set up and demonstrate Soundscape (2 minutes) Explain the rules for the first round. Give the group a single setting, such as a busy harbor or a stormy forest. Participants contribute continuous or intermittent ambient noises using voices, breath, clapping, or tapping. Emphasize sharing the acoustic space so everyone remains audible. For example, in a harbor, one person hums like a low foghorn while another whistles like wind. Ask participants to listen closely before layering in their sound. ### 2. Run collective Soundscape (4 minutes) Announce the location prompt. Invite one person to begin a base rhythm or tone. Others layer in organic, mechanical, or ambient noises one by one until the full group sustains an environment. After two minutes, cue a slow fade to silence. If time permits, run a second 90-second round without an initial prompt, letting the setting emerge purely from the first sound offered. ### 3. Run Biosphere progression (6 minutes) Call five volunteers to the center. Player 1 enters, establishing an atmospheric condition through physical reaction, such as shivering in arctic cold. Player 2 enters and establishes a new climate, such as tropical humidity. Player 1 immediately mirrors Player 2. Players 3, 4, and 5 enter one by one, each setting a fresh climate that everyone onstage adopts. Once all five move together, reverse: Player 5 exits, returning the rest to Player 4's climate. Continue until Player 1 returns alone to the arctic condition they first established. ### 4. Facilitate whole-room debrief (3 minutes) Gather the full circle. Ask the group how they adjusted volume during Soundscape and how quickly they adapted to physical climate shifts in Biosphere. Take two or three brief responses from volunteers who want to share. ## Debrief questions - In Soundscape, how did you adjust your own volume and rhythm once the room became crowded with sound? - In Biosphere, what made it easy or hard to instantly drop your physical reality and mirror the incoming player's environment? **Finished output:** Two rounds of layered group soundscapes and at least one completed five-player ascent-descent cycle of Biosphere. ## Remote In a video meeting, have all participants unmute for Soundscape while one person begins a low ambient sound and others layer in audio. For Biosphere, spotlight five participants on video. Player 1 starts on camera. Players 2 through 5 turn their cameras on one at a time to introduce and mirror climates, then turn cameras off in reverse order during the descent. ## Hybrid Keep in-person participants unamplified around a room microphone. Remote participants keep microphones open to add sounds during Soundscape. For Biosphere, form mixed cohorts where remote players appear on the main room screen and match physical gestures with in-person actors in real time. ## Access and participation choices - Participants may pass on making vocal sounds by contributing gentle physical percussion such as tapping a desk or clapping. - Biosphere physical reactions can be executed from a seated position or expressed purely through facial expression and upper body posture. - Anyone may choose to observe the active center and serve as timekeeper or audience without offering personal explanations. ## If the session gets stuck **Soundscape becomes an escalating shouting match with competing loud noises.** Pause the group immediately. Remind participants to share the air by listening for gaps, dropping volume, and supporting existing rhythms. **Biosphere players rely on long spoken explanations instead of physical action.** Prompt the players from the side with: 'Show the climate in your body, drop the dialogue.' Encourage them to mirror physical posture immediately. ## Terms used here - Bat: An improv format performed in darkness, relying on non-visual sound and voice to build scenes. - Space Jump: An improv game where players enter sequentially to start new scenes, then exit in reverse order to resolve prior scenes. ## Sources and adaptation Observed in Improv Does Best (2013), titled 'Sounds & Atmosphere exercises', describing standard theater improv adaptations of the Bat and Space Jump. Retained the exact two exercises from the Improv Does Best source: Soundscape (layered environmental audio circle) and Biosphere (an adaptation of Space Jump focused on weather and atmosphere). Standardized the turn sequence into a structured 15-minute facilitation plan, adjusted the minimum group size to 5 to support the 5-player Biosphere mechanic, added remote and hybrid adaptations, and established explicit access choices. [Improv Does Best](https://improvdoesbest.com/2013/02/24/sounds-atmosphere-exercises/) Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/sounds-atmosphere-exercises/