Keywords: Sound walk definition, Acoustic ecology, Deep listening exercises
This might be your first time seeing the term "sound walk" and maybe you're wondering: What exactly is a sound walk? Is it just walking around?
In short: yes, but it's also so much more than that. Sound walks are a practice that can change the way you perceive the world.
Defining the Sound Walk
A sound walk is an excursion where the main purpose is to listen to the environment. It is an exercise in active listening.
Unlike a normal walk where your ears are passive—just hearing whatever happens to be loud enough to catch your attention—a sound walk engages your ears as your primary sense. You move through a landscape, whether an urban street or a forest path, with the specific intention of hearing every detail.
A Brief History of Listening
The concept isn't new. Sound Walks have their roots in the work of R. Murray Schafer and the World Soundscape Project in the 1970s. They championed the idea of acoustic ecology—studying the relationship between living beings and their environment through sound.
Schafer believed that the world is a musical composition that is constantly playing. We are the audience, but we are also the composers. By paying attention to the soundscape, we learn to value it, protect it, and find beauty in it.
3 Simple Exercises to Try Today
You don't need to be in Kyoto to start this of course. You can try these deep listening exercises right now, wherever you are.
1. The Sound Count: Pause for one minute. Count how many distinct sounds you can hear. Don’t judge them as "good" or "bad"—just notice them. The hum of the fridge. A car passing. Your own heartbeat.
2. The Sound Map: Sketch a small circle in the centre of a page (that’s you). Close your eyes and listen. When you hear a sound, mark it on the paper in relation to where you are. Is it behind you? To the left? Far away?
3. The Sonic Walk: Walk through a familiar part of your town. But focus entirely on the crunch of your footsteps. How does the sound change when you move from pavement to grass?
The "Bionic Ears" Effect
While you can sound walk anywhere with your naked ears, joining a professional guided sound walk offers a heightened experience.
On my tours in Kyoto, we use high-end field recorders and binaural microphones. I call this the "Bionic Ears" effect. These microphones amplify the world, allowing you to hear the hyper-detail of a temple garden—the friction of a beetle crawling on bark, or the specific musical tone of a drop of water hitting a stone basin.
It is an immersive, 3D audio experience that turns the volume up on reality. It forces you to slow down and truly be in the space.
Experience it Yourself
Reading about sound is like reading about music—you really need to experience it.
If you are visiting Kyoto and want to understand the city through its soundscape, I would love to guide you. We will explore the history, the silence, and the noise, giving you a unique memory of Japan that cannot be captured in a photograph. and start listening.
