A player for listening to mushrooms and plants (2 photos + 2 videos)
Today, 18:22
A group of enthusiasts have presented an unusual player. The new gadget allows you to “listen” to mushrooms, plants and many living creatures. 
A few years ago, the musician Modern Biology played a modular synthesizer through mushrooms and became famous on the Internet. Now, together with the Glasgow company Instruo, he has created a pocket version of his setup.
Pocket Scion turns electrical signals from living organisms into music. Touch a plant, mushroom or your own skin with two sensors - a circuit is closed. Micro-vibrations of electricity in this circuit become MIDI data for sound control.
The original Scion module for Eurorack costs hundreds of dollars, and a complete modular system costs thousands. Pocket Scion will cost $150 and fits in your pocket. At the same time, there are four sound engines and a full MIDI output for controlling external instruments.
How does it work technically? Living organisms conduct electricity, but with constantly changing resistance. Cells breathe, photosynthesis occurs, moisture moves - all this creates fluctuations. The device reads these changes and converts them into control signals. Touching a leaf can change the pitch of a note, watering a plant - open a filter.
There is an application for Windows, macOS and Linux to customize the sound. You can create your own patches, adjust the sensitivity of the sensors. The OSC protocol is supported, which opens up access to Max/MSP, Pure Data, and even Unreal Engine for creating visualizations.
Modern Biology has been working with Instruo on the project for over a year. The idea was to make his creative method accessible without buying an expensive modular setup. Judging by the demand, it worked — the first batch sold out almost instantly.
Of course, this is more of an art instrument than a practical synthesizer. Plants will not replace a keyboard for recording melodies. But for ambient and experimental music, it is ideal.
