Mushrooms provide inspiration to countless artists, and no, I’m not just talking about “shrooms”. The composer John Cage developed a passionate fascination with mycology throughout his life, saying “much can be learned about music by devoting oneself to the mushroom.” Another mushroom-aided musician is the Czechoslovakian composer Václav Hálek, who creates by closely observing the mushrooms he finds in the woods and notating the music that appears in his mind's ear.
Today, some musicians are taking an even more direct approach to utilizing fungi creatively. Thanks to biodata sonification technology, it is possible to convert any plant’s microcurrent fluctuations into music. For more information on how this is achieved, see MycoLyco's explanation here. The gist of it is: electrode clips are attached to a mushroom, and changes in electrical resistance change the speed of an oscillator that can be mapped to any parameter on a modular synthesizer. Water movement within the mushroom, as well as communicatory electrical signals, trigger these changes. And these factors can be greatly affected by subtle shifts in the environment such as light and oxygen levels.
For a demonstration of mushroom sensitivity, please enjoy this MycoLyco video titled "Lions Mane Mushroom Gets Cut While Playing Modular Synth"
The mushroom begins with a bouncy and energetic melody, but as more of its body is chopped off with a kitchen knife, its song turns into cries of rage and desperation. Eventually, the mushroom resigns to its fate, letting out only small whimpers. Mycolyco's approach allows the mushroom to be heard in a relatively unobstructed manner, resulting in an atonal cacophony, but other bio-sonification techniques prioritize a pleasant listening experience for humans. Commercial devices like "Music of the Plants" give the power of plant synthesis to everyday consumers and encode parameters that map musical output to a specific key and scale. This results in a pleasant ambient tune, but provides less information on what's actually going on inside a plant.
Biodata sonification technology acts as a translation device between plant and human, it allows us to gain more insight into a plant's state of being. My favorite thing about mushroom music is it's freedom and responsiveness. I believe that these passive composers help us appreciate the beauty in all life forms.
Eliana, I love how you talked about the idea of the mushroom, as I feel it is not talked about as a norm. I do not know much about this realm, and I was drawn to your piece because I like learning new things. Being one with the earth in general, in my opinion, can create another level of creativity in which cannot come without that connection. On another note, how amazing is it that people see that having no communication can create inspiration for a song or an artist all around? With an open mind, your world can open up to so many new things.
Eliana, this is insanely awesome. I always love learning about how artists and musicians think out of the box. It is crazy that technology has come so far that we can use the biodata sonification technology as a translation device between a plant and a human; that's wild! Like Lizzy's comment below, I am curious to know if they are expanding this project and working with different plants. I feel like there are so many untapped opportunities in this area. On a different note, I feel like this type of sound is so unique that it could spark something great for the music industry, especially inspire artists in the EDM genre.
Eliana, this is so so cool! I've played piano my whole life, and as a musician I really appreciate this new experimentation with mushrooms. To be honest, I definitely thought you were talking about "shrooms" when I read the title of this blog, was I was stoked to see how musicians are using plants to serve as a way to learn about music. I wonder if other plants have the same response like the mushrooms. It would be super cool to explore this concept. Similar to Tatum's comment below, I wonder what this will mean for "less mesmerizing forms of art" that built a foundation for where we are now... I still enjoy listening to classical music as a way…
This is wild. I think the best part of modernity is the level of artistic innovation. We have spent centuries experimenting with various instruments, genres, and performances of music. Now that we are in a technologically advanced era, we can take these creative initiatives to new heights and test mediums outside of what we have been using for forever. I am, however, somewhat traditional when it comes to art. Classical music, raw vocals, timeless melodies- I find this type of art to hold a lot of cultural and historical value. While I support discovering new sounds and machines, I never want to lose the soul of the old classics. When I see something as intriguing as a mushroom generating music,…