A Student Showcase

This spring, Royal Holloway’s beautiful Egham campus becomes the setting for a unique auditory experience. A final-year Media and Sound Design student, Maria Custodio, invites the public to explore the Canada Copse forest area through SOUNDWALK, an immersive sound composition.

This isn’t your average walk in the woods. SOUNDWALK is a site-specific, GPS-driven audio piece that transforms as listeners move through the landscape. The composition shifts and changes based on the listener’s precise location within the woodland.

As participants wander the path, they will journey through three distinct sonic zones: a tranquil water zone, a rich woodland zone, and a vibrant birdsong zone. Signposts placed along the route guide visitors, directing them to access the experience on their own smart device or tablet. Adding a layer of magic to the journey, the installation also features 3D animal sounds that seem to emanate directly from the existing wooden animal carvings scattered throughout the woods, bringing the sculptures to life through sound.

Join us for a personal and innovative exploration of nature and technology, right here on our doorstep.

How to engage with this experience?

You can interact with this experience at any time that is convenient for you. This experience consists of a walk around various spots across our Egham campus, with accompanying music along the way. Throughout the walk, you will find QR codes to scan that will take to new music for you to engage with. It is advised that you use headphones to listen to the music on your personal device.

To find out where to go, please visit Canada Copse on our Egham campus. Our campus map can be found here (link embedded)

Canada Copse