Greensounds makes an immersive soundscape recording approach accessible as participatory research method. Participants created recordings using highly directional microphones to explore and focus on sounds, whilst removing others. This deepens the reflective relationship to sound that participants typically encounter in soundscape projects.  

Through recording/listening experiments in urban and rural treed landscapes, participants (including young people, adults spending time in nature to manage their health and wellbeing, and adults with dementia and their carers), investigated, captured, and narrated their understanding and experiences of green sounds.

Philip and Alice worked with participants to reflect on their soundscape listening/recording and observed their accompanying interactions with environment to examine how and when sound might contribute to green space’s restorative and connective influence and the impact of its presence and absence in people’s lives. 

Participant’s reflections are part of the Greensounds Composition being shared online and at galleries, alongside the sounds recorded by people taking part. Together they highlight and capture evidence of the significance and benefits of ‘green’ acoustics to humans and our understanding of ourselves as a ‘listener’ to the natural world.