Earth Garden is an interactive globe that lets users explore the world through field recordings, replacing traditional radio broadcasts with the sounds of natural and urban environments.
The project draws on recordings uploaded to Freesound, an open audio platform, and links them to locations around the globe. Visitors can move across the map to hear everything from waves breaking on remote Atlantic islands to crickets in Tanzania and rain falling on the streets of Manhattan.
Its concept is similar to Radio Garden, which allows users to tune into live radio stations by rotating a digital globe. Earth Garden instead uses environmental sound to create a location-based listening experience.
Earth Garden field recordings vary by location
The audio selection includes bubbling streams, rainfall, coastal sounds, wildlife and the noise of cities. The result is intended for both passive listening, such as working or sleeping, and closer attention to the detail within each recording.
Users can set the globe to rotate automatically. As the marker approaches another point on Earth, the audio changes to a recording associated with that location, creating a continuous journey between environments.
Because the clips come from Freesound contributors, their quality and volume can differ. The available recordings are also concentrated in the United States and Europe, with the UK particularly well represented.
An optional setting adds generic ambient drones behind the field recordings, giving users a softer background while they explore the map. The experience can also be left to run on its own, allowing the globe to move gradually between sounds from different parts of the world.
