Nature’s Hidden Music: Turning Plant Signals into Music
There’s something fascinating about giving sound to the silent world of plants. Recently, artists and researchers have been using bio-sonification devices to translate the hidden electrical activity of trees into music. The results can be surprisingly beautiful, and a willow tree is a perfect example. One of the most widely used tools for this is a device called PlantWave, designed specifically to capture these signals and turn them into music.
Photo Credit: The Tree Center
From Signal to Sound
The process is surprisingly close to how musicians already work with synthesizers. Electrodes attached to the willow’s leaves detect micro-electrical signals, tiny shifts in conductivity that happen as the tree moves water, photosynthesizes, and responds to its environment. Those fluctuations are then converted into MIDI data, the same language many digital instruments use.
Feed that MIDI into a synthesizer, and suddenly, the tree is composing in real time. It’s not a performance in the traditional sense, but it’s an unmistakably musical output.
What is PlantWave?
PlantWave is a small, portable bio-sonification device that connects to a plant’s leaves through lightweight electrodes. Once connected, it measures the subtle variations in a plant’s electrical conductivity, which change as the plant responds to its environment. These shifts are then mapped to MIDI notes or sound samples.
By pairing PlantWave with a smartphone app or a digital synthesizer, the data is turned into music that can range from calm ambient textures to more melodic sequences. The device doesn’t “play back” something pre-recorded. Instead, it streams real-time fluctuations, which means the music is always unique and directly tied to the plant’s moment-to-moment activity.
Photo Credit: PlantWave
Hear It in Action
We came across an interesting video that shows this in practice. In this clip, it captures a willow tree connected to PlantWave, its bioelectrical activity transformed into sound. The tones are soft and flowing, drifting like an ambient score. What makes it compelling is how alive the music feels, subtle changes in the tree’s processes create melodies that evolve moment to moment.
The Willow’s Sonic Palette
The willow’s music drifts in smooth, ambient tones. Imagine a constantly evolving electronic piece, airy textures, soft melodies, and unpredictable patterns that shift as the tree responds to changes in light, air, or water.
It’s less about verses and choruses, and more about atmosphere. In many ways, it feels like a generative score: alive, dynamic, and never repeating. For sound designers and musicians, it offers a glimpse into how nature itself can shape structure, rhythm, and mood.
Why It Matters for Music
Plant music isn’t just a curiosity. It challenges how we think about composition and collaboration. Instead of starting with human intention, the creative process begins with biology. The artist’s role shifts to shaping and interpreting the signals, deciding which synth patches or tonal palettes will carry the tree’s voice.
Projects like Music of the Plants in Italy, modern tools like PlantWave, and countless DIY setups have pushed this idea further, creating entire performances where musicians “play with” plants. Each plant type brings a different sonic character, but the willow stands out for its fluid, water-like tones that almost feel composed for calm.
For those of us working in music, it’s a reminder that inspiration doesn’t only come from instruments or samples. Sometimes, it’s already embedded in the natural worl, waiting to be translated into sound.
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