Sounds compared to images or objects are ephemeral, intangible and invisible. Despite this sounding touches us deeply. Like tastes and smells sounding connects us with the values, traditions and identities of home, the more so the further the migration. Thinking through sounding as a methodology for research affords a different range of connections that can trace a sonic diaspora as generations of migrant communities sustain the musical tropes and auditory technologies from their homeland, as with Jamaican reggae sound systems, for example. Also thinking through sounding recognises the elective affinities by which rap music has been adopted by marginalised communities in France and across the globe. In addition, thinking through sounding as an analytical model of migration affords an understanding of relationships and connectivities in terms of vibrations, that is, the energetic propagation of intensities (sound waves) as distinct from the often-assumed idea of connection as the flow or transport of bodies or objects. Finally thinking through sounding affords an understanding of the complexities of the auditory identities forged by migration – both for migrant communities themselves and the wider society of which – however marginalised – they are a part. This is to challenge any idea of the fixity of identity as is consistent with Stuart Hall’s cultural studies approach that he developed from the work of Richard Hoggart.