Nature Amplified: Secret Sounds of Trees

Nature Amplified: The Secret Sounds of Trees is a soundwalk experience developed for the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard and presented in various iterations since 2023. Offering a hybrid mode of listening, 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 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, Nature Amplified 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 from the soundwalk by Virginia Wang