Elastic waves provide an important information about the soil mass in the near-surface. Soil properties in relation to elastic wave parameters are clarified to facilitate the application of geophysical technique to soil characterization. As an example, experiments are performed to gain further insight into the behavior of unsaturated particulate materials using bender elements. The small strain stiffness is continuously measured on specimens subjected to drying, and changes in stiffness are related to changes in interparticle forces such as capillarity, bonding due to ion sharing, buttress effect due to fine migration, and cementation due to salt precipitation. The rate of menisci regeneration is studied after a perturbation as well. Finally, several phenomena associated with the evolution of capillary forces during drying are identified.