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On Saturday morning I went on a ’sound walk’ around the wetlands, docks, industrial areas and bridges of the inner west of Melbourne organised by Anthony Magen. The walk was one in a series of events by the Australian Forum for Acoustic Ecology, affiliated with the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology who are concerned with relationships between sound, nature and culture.

The World Forum for Acoustic Ecology (WFAE), founded in 1993, is an international association of affiliated organizations and individuals, who share a common concern with the state of the world’s soundscapes. Our members represent a multi-disciplinary spectrum of individuals engaged in the study of the social, cultural and ecological aspects of the sonic environment.

A group of about 15 or 20 of us started at Newell’s Paddock Wetlands, near Flemington racecourse and followed a series of paths and roads leading down the Maribyrnong River, past Melbourne Port, winding back along creeks and through residential areas before returning to the wetlands. See a Google satellite map of the area here. The idea of the sound walk is that there is no talking so the the sounds of the environment become your focus.

Over the course of the walk we traversed a wide range of sonic and visual environments, often juxtaposing nature with highly constructed industry. It was quite amazing how by simply framing the walk as a ’sound walk’ my attention was drawn to the subtleties of the audio environment as though it was a sound performance. I plan on returning to the area to make some recordings and take some photos soon.