The term was first used by members of the World Soundscape Project under the leadership of composer R. Murray Schafer in Vancouver in the 1970s.
Hildegard Westerkamp, from the same group of artists and founder of the World Forum of Acoustic Ecology, defines soundwalking as "... any excursion whose main purpose is listening to the environment.
He was a proponent of ear-cleaning (cleaning one's ears cognitively), and he saw soundwalking as an important part of this process of re-engaging our aural senses in finding our place in the world.
"Cricket Voice", "A Walk Through the City", and "Beneath the Forest Floor" are all soundwalk inspired works.
In 2018 the sound artist Francesco Giomi introduced for the first time the term "soundride" as a direct derivation from a soundwalk but driven by bicycle, used to reach more far points, interesting from their sound point of view.