Soundscapes +
Storytelling
The Sound That Started It All
Hey y'all, I'm writer and audio naturalist Paul Garber. I started this site to guide you to the region's best soundscapes and share stories that will make you want to hear them for yourself.
My soundscape journey began in Tanglewood Park, in Forsyth County, N.C. My dad would take my brother and me to the park regularly, often to fish. I remember him casting his line from this very bank more than 50 years ago. During one trip, we were walking through a field. He paused and said, “Listen. Do you hear that?” What we heard were two notes, one low, the other high and quick. “That’s a bobwhite. They’re called that because it sounds like he’s saying ‘Bob White.’” I must’ve been 7 or 8 at the time, but I remember being amazed that a bird could make a call that sounded like it was saying something in our language. I have returned to the park many times since then, but I haven’t heard a Northern bobwhite quail in many years. During my lifetime, we’ve seen a staggering decline in the number of animals in the world. When they go, the soundscapes change. My hope is that we pay more attention to the sounds around us and tune into what that means for the environment.
Recorded 
out in the field. Just real places, 
doing what they do.
FROM THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS TO THE ATLANTIC
FROM THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS TO THE ATLANTIC
FROM THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS TO THE ATLANTIC
FROM THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS TO THE ATLANTIC
FROM THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS TO THE ATLANTIC
Whether you’re working, reflecting, or simply needing stillness, Southern Soundways creates space to pause.
What are Soundways?
Like trailways or blueways, soundways can be considered a path, however taken, where soundscapes change over the course of a journey.
Imagine starting on a trailhead where children are playing in a creek, then hiking by a secluded wetland, and climbing up to a cascading waterfall. All of those soundscapes are distinct and hit us in emotionally different ways.