When reading the articles by David Kobler and Kamila Stasko-Mazur I found myself altering my initial perspective of the definition “sound walking” right away, and falling into a more personal means of viewing the practice.

In David Kolber’s article, I was immediately transported to the scene in Vancouver, Canada; placed on Kits Beach hearing nothing but subtle waves and a calm tide. This is the scene where a perspective from Hildegard Westerkamp is reviewed and expanded on.

The purpose of this article stood out to me as presenting a new focus within listening; to hear what cannot be heard. By focusing on the scale and magnitude of sound within environments that cannot be seen, such as the communities of barnacles in the sea, allows for an artistic perspective to be developed outside of normal human existence.

I was moved especially by the phrase “tiny voices” in the article as the reflection on Westerkamp’s work and practice focused on not what we hear and experience, but the hidden worlds, within our daily view, that we should listen to. This article partially stood out to me as more of a philosophical reflection on listening rather than as a means of practice like Kamila Stasko-Mazur’s article. The art of listening, so to speak, seems to rely more heavily on what cannot be heard, rather than what can.

When reading the articles by David Kobler and Kamila Stasko-Mazur I found myself altering my initial perspective of the definition “sound walking” right away, and falling into a more personal means of viewing the practice.

In Kamila Stasko-Mazur’s article, “Soundwalk as a Multifaceted Practice” the idea of the endless possibilities on what a soundwalk can consist of was immediately presented. To defer from the traditional meaning of a walk, which usually has “objectives, strategies, tactics, cultural practices and geopolitical conditions” (Chatwin, 1998; Urry, 2009: 77–95; Paquette & McCartney, 2012: 136–138), and to experience the environment in a way that paints the scope of an environment through sound rather than objective or sight.

Another prominent point made throughout the article was to utilise the soundwalk as a tool for creation. Being able to create a sense of space through audio, and with that identifying the immense detail that makes up an environment, without regarding visual queues.

Many different approaches to this practice were also mentioned and described, including: “Shadow-Walks” and “Electrical-Walks”.

The reason and purpose of the article from my interpretation was to not only define the different perspectives around what it means to experience and reflect on a soundwalk, but to also expand on those perspectives from a personal and individual mindset within the practice.