Fungal Electrical Signals Are Being Translated Into Real-Time Music
The idea of music coming from living organisms is not new, but recent experiments involving fungi are pushing that concept into new territory. Scientists and artists are now translating the natural bioelectrical signals found in fungal mycelium into real-time musical output, effectively allowing fungi to generate evolving compositions through synthesizers.
This work sits at the intersection of biology, sound design, and electroacoustic music, and it offers a compelling look at how natural systems can function as active sound sources rather than passive inspiration.
How Fungi Produce Signal
Fungi communicate internally through bioelectrical impulses that travel across their mycelial networks. Mycelium is the underground structure of a fungus, made up of branching filaments that transport nutrients and information. These electrical pulses are not random noise. They respond to environmental changes such as light, touch, temperature, and humidity.
Researchers have found that these signals function similarly to communication systems in more complex organisms, carrying information across the network in real time.
Turning Biology Into Sound
To translate these signals into music, electrodes are placed directly into the mycelium. These electrodes detect tiny fluctuations in electrical activity, which are then routed into a synthesizer. Each electrical pulse is mapped to sound parameters such as pitch, rhythm, or modulation.
As the fungus reacts to its environment, the electrical patterns shift, and the resulting music changes with it. Light exposure might alter tempo, physical contact might introduce new tonal movement, and temperature shifts can reshape the overall texture of the sound.
What emerges is not a fixed composition, but a continuously evolving performance driven by a living system.
A Living Instrument
This approach reframes the idea of instrumentation. Instead of an instrument being something designed and controlled entirely by a human, the fungus becomes a responsive sound generator. The role of the composer or sound designer shifts toward system design, deciding how biological data is translated into sound rather than dictating every musical decision.
Projects like the performance work by BionicandtheWires demonstrate how this concept can function in real-world musical settings, where the organism’s behavior directly shapes the outcome.
Why This Matters for Music
For composers and sound designers, bio-music challenges traditional ideas of authorship, timing, and control. The rhythms produced by fungal signals are not quantized. The phrasing is not intentional in a human sense. Yet the results often feel structured, reactive, and expressive.
This kind of work also expands the palette of source material available to music creators. Instead of relying solely on synthesized or recorded sounds, biological processes themselves can drive composition. It is a reminder that sound does not need to originate from conventional instruments to feel musical.
Listening Differently
Fungal bio-music highlights how much activity exists beyond human perception. Electrical signals, microscopic reactions, and slow biological processes can all be translated into audible forms with the right tools.
As experiments like these continue, they point toward a future where music creation is less about imposing structure and more about listening, mapping, and responding to complex systems already at work in the natural world.
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