The Music Of Nature: Plants Play Synths In Real Time

Plants might not speak any language at all, but it turns they can express themselves through music, thanks to the magic of technology.

Plants play synths 1

There’s a neat little project going around Kickstarter by the name of MIDI Sprout. That is not a pokemon, but a way to convert the activities of plants into music for your ears – literally. The idea is to learn about nature by transforming the biofeedback signals into music. The goal behind this kickstarter campaign is to give all backers the means to access these synths/translators to help bridge the plant world to ours.

How it works is actually very simple: two probes measure the small electrical currents on a plant’s leaf; this technique is called galvanic skin response when applied to humans, but what the MIDI Sprout does is actually convert these fluctuations into MIDI notes and controls that can be read by synthesizers and computers. Afterwards, thanks to the software, this creates a tune that, basically, expresses how the plant feels. See a more complete explanation in the video below.

Now the problem will be once we realize plants make better musicians than humans, but if that becomes a reality, that’s a debate for another time…

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