How does sound affect us?
Most people think about sound only when it becomes a problem. We notice the neighbour’s loud music, the traffic outside a bedroom window, the distracting conversation in an open-plan office or the shrill alarm that interrupts an otherwise quiet day. Far less attention is paid to the countless sounds that quietly shape our emotions, influence our behaviour and affect our health from one moment to the next. During his online guest lecture for Edinburgh Napier University, Julian Treasure argued that this oversight represents one of the greatest shortcomings of modern design. Buildings, products and public spaces are often designed primarily for the eye, while the ear receives remarkably little attention. Yet sound continually influences the way people think, work, communicate and feel. Throughout the presentation, one message emerged repeatedly. If we wish to design better experiences, we must learn to design with our ears.
Treasure began by asking what sound actually affects. The answer, he suggested, is surprisingly simple. Sound influences our happiness, our effectiveness and our wellbeing, along with those of everybody who shares the environments we create. This observation immediately shifts the discussion away from traditional concerns about noise control or acoustic specifications. Sound becomes a human issue rather than merely a technical one. The quality of an acoustic environment influences far more than whether a room sounds pleasant. It affects how effectively people communicate, how comfortably they work, how safely they respond to hazards and how they experience the spaces in which they spend their lives. Sound therefore deserves to be regarded as one of the fundamental materials of design rather than an afterthought considered once construction has already been completed.
To explain why sound exerts such profound influence, Treasure described four principal ways in which it affects human beings. The first is physiological. Unlike vision, which depends upon the direction in which we happen to be looking, hearing continuously monitors the environment around us. Human beings cannot close their ears in the way they close their eyes. Throughout evolution, this has made hearing our primary warning system, continually searching for signs of danger beyond the limits of our vision. As a consequence, sound reaches deeply into the nervous system with remarkable immediacy. Sudden or unpleasant sounds trigger hormonal responses associated with stress and vigilance, while calmer acoustic environments encourage relaxation. Treasure illustrated this contrast using familiar examples. An unexpected loud noise immediately increases physiological arousal, whereas gentle natural sounds such as breaking waves often slow breathing and encourage a sense of calm. These responses are not matters of personal preference alone. Sound influences heart rate, hormone secretion, breathing patterns and even patterns of brain activity, quietly shaping the body’s internal rhythms throughout the day.
The discussion then moved beyond physiology towards psychology. Music provides perhaps the most familiar illustration of this relationship. People instinctively choose particular music to celebrate, to concentrate, to relax or to reflect, recognising that different sounds evoke different emotional states. Treasure argued that natural sounds often produce similarly powerful responses. Birdsong, for example, tends to create feelings of safety and reassurance. Rather than being arbitrary preferences, these reactions may reflect deep evolutionary associations developed over thousands of generations. Birds sing when environmental conditions are relatively safe, allowing those sounds to become unconsciously associated with security. Although listeners rarely analyse these processes consciously, they nevertheless influence emotional experience in subtle yet persistent ways. For sound designers, this observation carries important implications. Designing an acoustic environment involves much more than controlling sound levels. It also requires understanding the emotional associations that different sounds naturally evoke.
Treasure’s argument became even more relevant to contemporary workplaces when he turned to the cognitive effects of sound. Human attention is a limited resource. People often imagine that they can listen to several conversations simultaneously, though the reality proves rather different. Treasure observed that the human brain possesses only a limited capacity for processing speech, making it extremely difficult to concentrate when nearby conversations compete for attention. Open-plan offices provide a familiar example. Designers frequently value openness, flexibility and visual communication, yet the resulting soundscape often undermines the very productivity these environments seek to encourage. Relevant speech continually draws attention away from the task at hand, interrupting concentration and increasing mental effort. Research cited during the presentation suggests that productivity can fall dramatically under these conditions, illustrating that acoustic design contributes directly to cognitive performance rather than simply influencing comfort. Decisions about the sonic character of workplaces therefore become decisions about how effectively people can think.
By this stage, a broader pattern had already become clear. Sound is not simply something that accompanies our activities. It shapes them. Physiological responses, emotional reactions and cognitive performance all depend, to varying degrees, upon the acoustic environments within which people live and work. This perspective challenges a long-standing tendency to regard sound as secondary to visual design. Treasure instead presented listening as a central consideration for architects, designers, engineers and sound professionals alike. Before deciding how a space should look, he suggested, we should also ask how it will sound, and how those sounds will influence the people who experience them every day. That question would remain at the heart of the remainder of the discussion.
Having established that sound influences our physiology, psychology and cognition, Treasure turned to its effect upon behaviour. This influence often operates below the level of conscious awareness, making it particularly easy to overlook. Most people assume they make decisions independently of their acoustic surroundings, yet evidence suggests otherwise. Unpleasant environments encourage people to leave sooner, while attractive soundscapes invite them to remain longer. Treasure illustrated this with a striking study of consumer behaviour. In a supermarket displaying French and German wines with identical visual presentation, researchers changed nothing except the background music. On days when French music was played, French wine substantially outsold German wine. When German music replaced it, purchasing patterns reversed. Customers generally remained unaware that the music had influenced their choices, demonstrating that sound can shape behaviour without requiring conscious attention. For designers, retailers and architects alike, this example reinforced an important point. The acoustic environment is never simply a backdrop. It actively participates in shaping human decisions.
The implications extend far beyond retail spaces. Treasure argued that every designed environment communicates through sound, whether intentionally or otherwise. A restaurant may create an atmosphere that encourages relaxed conversation, while another overwhelms diners with reverberation and competing voices. A hospital waiting room may reduce anxiety through carefully considered acoustics, or increase it through intrusive alarms and mechanical noise. An office may support concentration, or continually undermine it through poorly managed speech privacy. In each case, the acoustic environment becomes part of the overall design, influencing how people behave within the space. Designers therefore make decisions about human experience whenever they make decisions about sound, even if those decisions consist of ignoring it altogether.
Treasure observed that this neglect reflects a broader imbalance within contemporary design practice. Buildings are routinely judged according to their appearance, products are evaluated through their visual form, and digital technologies devote enormous attention to graphical interfaces. Comparatively little thought is often given to how these same environments sound. This imbalance is surprising when one considers that hearing operates continuously. We can choose where to look, though we cannot simply decide to stop hearing the world around us. Sound therefore accompanies every activity, continually influencing perception in ways that visual design alone cannot achieve. Rather than treating acoustics as a specialist concern addressed late in a project, Treasure encouraged students to recognise listening as a fundamental design consideration from the very beginning.
This perspective resonates strongly with professional sound design. Whether creating a film soundtrack, designing interface sounds, producing a virtual instrument or developing an interactive game, practitioners rarely add sound simply to occupy silence. Every sound communicates information, guides attention or influences emotional response. Treasure’s presentation broadened this principle beyond media production into everyday life. The same questions that sound designers ask while constructing a soundtrack also apply to architecture, product design and urban planning. What should the listener notice? Which sounds deserve emphasis? Which should remain unobtrusive? How can sound support rather than distract from the intended experience? The boundaries between sound design and environmental design begin to blur once listening itself becomes the central concern.
Perhaps the most compelling aspect of Treasure’s argument lay in its optimism. If sound can undermine wellbeing, productivity and behaviour, it can equally improve them. Pleasant acoustic environments encourage relaxation, reduce physiological stress and support clearer thinking. Appropriate sound can strengthen communication, promote social interaction and make public spaces more welcoming. Rather than presenting acoustics as a matter of reducing unwanted noise, Treasure reframed the discussion in positive terms. The objective is not simply to remove bad sound, but to create environments in which good sound actively contributes to human wellbeing. This shift in perspective encourages designers to think creatively about the role sound can play rather than treating it solely as a problem to be controlled.
These ideas naturally led towards a broader discussion of listening itself. If sound exerts such profound influence over human experience, then the ability to listen carefully becomes an essential professional skill rather than an incidental personal habit. Treasure suggested that hearing and listening are not the same activity. Hearing occurs automatically, while listening demands conscious attention, intention and practice. In an increasingly noisy world filled with competing sources of information, the ability to listen thoughtfully may be becoming more valuable rather than less. This distinction between passive hearing and active listening would ultimately form the foundation of his concluding message, not only for sound designers but for anyone responsible for creating environments in which other people live, work and communicate.
Having demonstrated that sound influences physiology, emotion, cognition and behaviour, Treasure turned towards a more practical question. If sound has such profound effects upon human experience, what should designers actually do differently? His answer was strikingly optimistic. Rather than treating acoustics as a problem to be solved, he encouraged students to think of sound as a resource that can be shaped deliberately to improve people’s lives. Well-designed soundscapes do more than reduce unwanted noise. They encourage particular patterns of behaviour, support communication and create environments in which people feel healthier, calmer and more engaged. Designing with sound therefore becomes an act of positive intervention rather than damage limitation.
Treasure illustrated this philosophy through a series of real-world projects. Airports, shopping centres and public spaces all benefited from carefully designed soundscapes that considered not only what people heard, but how those sounds influenced the way they behaved. Introducing natural sounds and thoughtfully composed musical environments increased customer satisfaction, encouraged visitors to remain longer and, in several cases, improved commercial performance. In one public space, the introduction of a biophilic soundscape was even associated with a measurable reduction in crime. These examples reinforced a central point running throughout the presentation. Sound does not merely accompany human activity. It shapes it. Decisions about the acoustic environment therefore become decisions about wellbeing, behaviour and social experience rather than simply matters of technical acoustics.
Although these examples came from architecture and environmental design, their relevance extends directly to professional sound design. Every soundtrack contains foreground and background elements competing for the listener’s attention. Treasure encouraged students to think carefully about the role each sound should play within that wider acoustic picture. Not every sound deserves prominence, and not every moment benefits from additional music or greater complexity. Like a visual composition, an effective soundscape depends upon balance, hierarchy and clarity. He also encouraged designers to draw inspiration from natural environments, particularly through the thoughtful use of biophilic sound and adaptive or generative soundscapes that evolve over time rather than repeating mechanically. Different spaces support different activities, and their sonic character should reflect those differing purposes. Designing for concentration requires different acoustic decisions from designing for relaxation, learning or social interaction.
The discussion naturally led back to listening itself. Treasure argued that hearing should never be confused with listening. Hearing is automatic. Listening is intentional. It requires attention, effort and continual practice. In an age characterised by constant distraction and increasingly complex acoustic environments, the ability to listen carefully becomes one of the most valuable professional skills a sound designer can develop. Technical expertise undoubtedly remains important, though it cannot substitute for careful listening. The most sophisticated recording equipment or software offers little value if the designer fails to recognise what listeners actually experience. Listening therefore becomes both a creative skill and an ethical responsibility. Before changing the sound of the world, designers must first learn to hear it properly.
Treasure concluded by describing what he called the four foundations of effective listening: being conscious, committed, compassionate and curious. Conscious listening requires recognising that listening is an active process rather than a passive consequence of hearing. Commitment acknowledges that good listening demands time, attention and intention. Compassion encourages genuine understanding of other people through careful listening, particularly when viewpoints differ from our own. Curiosity reminds us that every sound and every conversation offers an opportunity to learn something new. Although these principles were presented in the context of listening, they also describe many of the qualities that distinguish thoughtful sound designers. Successful practitioners remain attentive, purposeful, empathetic and continually curious about how people experience the acoustic world around them.
Treasure’s final appeal brought together everything that had preceded it. He encouraged students to become champions of listening and, above all, to “design with your ears.” This simple phrase encapsulated the wider philosophy running throughout the presentation. Sound should never be regarded as an afterthought added once visual design has been completed. It is one of the primary ways in which people experience the world. Every building, product, public space and interactive system possesses an acoustic identity that influences those who encounter it. Whether designing a film soundtrack, a hospital, a mobile application or a railway station, the same principle applies. The sounds we create shape the lives of the people who hear them.
Taken together, Treasure’s presentation offered a compelling vision of contemporary sound design. It challenged the traditional tendency to regard sound as secondary to vision and instead positioned listening at the centre of human experience. Physiological responses, emotional wellbeing, cognitive performance, behaviour and communication all depend, to varying degrees, upon the acoustic environments we inhabit. For sound designers, this represents both an opportunity and a responsibility. Every decision about sound has consequences extending beyond aesthetics alone. Designing well therefore means more than creating compelling audio. It means understanding how people listen, recognising how profoundly sound affects everyday life and applying that knowledge to create environments in which individuals and communities can genuinely flourish.