Arboreal Soundscapes
(2023-ongoing)

Arboreal Soundscapes is an ongoing collaboration with Arnold Arboretum at Harvard, aimed at documenting and sharing with the general public sounds of trees and other vegetal ecosystems populating the arboretum. The project has been developed and and presented in various iterations since 2023. One of the outcomes is a soundwalk experience. Offering a hybrid mode of listening to trees and their ecosystems, the walk invites participants—equipped with headphones and audio receivers—to traverse the landscape while engaging with a layered soundscape composed of real-time environmental sounds and recordings made in the Arboretum using specially adapted techniques. These sounds are interwoven with sonic material from a range of other forest environments—from the Pacific rainforests to Florida’s coastal hammocks—highlighting the rich and often overlooked acoustic lives of trees and their ecosystems.

From the percussive resonance of rain on palm fronds and the staccato clicks of water seeping into the roots of a Siberian elm, to the barely perceptible rustles of insect larvae, the soundwalk reveals hidden acoustic dimensions of trees and their inhabitants. Through these augmented listening encounters, the resulting experience cultivates a deeper ecological and multisensory awareness of the forest. It encourages participants to attune themselves to the subtle relationships and sonic signatures that shape forest life, fostering renewed respect, attentiveness, and care for these vital ecosystems.

Photos of the soundwalk by Virginia Wang, one of the participants of 2024 'Nature Amplified: Secret Life of Trees.'

You can read more about the project in Arnoldia, official magazine of Arnold Arboretum at Harvard.