Sound Walk guide
Sound Walks can happen anywhere, anytime – all you need is to focus on listening. Whether for a minute or a day, taking the time to prioritize your ears (and your body – sound can be felt as well as heard!) leads to surprising discoveries and a sense of connectedness with the surrounding environment.
July 18 is World Listening Day. To celebrate, I encourage you to lead your own Sound Walk. Here’s a checklist to get you started.
Do you want to do the sound walk by yourself, or with others? Do you want to record the experience?- Where and when? Consider the types of sounds you may hear (‘natural’, manmade,…) at different times of day, as well as practical concerns such as shade, accessibility, desires and abilities of fellow sound walkers, etc. You might want to plan a route, or see where whim takes you.
- Begin the walk by just listening, taking in the rich acoustic information, avoiding talking in order to listen closely
- When ready, share observations. What did you hear? How would you describe it? Where is it coming from? How does it make you feel?
- Continue alternating listening and sharing – and at the end, please share your experiences with me and World Listening Day!
Enjoy!
For more information and ideas:
Https://www.sfu.ca/~westerka/writings%20page/articles%20pages/soundwalking.html
Www.peepandthebigwideworld.com/en/educators/curriculum/family-child-care-educators/sound/activity/guided-activity/85/listening-walk
Keywords:
Acoustic ecology
Soundscape
Deep listening
World Listening Project
Acoustic niche
Passive Acoustic Monitoring