Earth Music by Alyssa Wilson

My research based on the work of Joe Patitucci introduces the ideas of using bio sonification to make plant synthesizer music, which encourages people who buy this specific product to listen to music that plants “make”. This is a breakthrough because plant synthesizer music introduces a new idea to plants being alive with music, which was thought to be impossible. Joe Patitucci has a channel on Spotify just for plant synthesizer music, specifically cannabis. He is a part of a company that made this product but is a part of the music-making. Many people have used this breakthrough to make new music with what was made with the product, like remixes, while others use it for yoga and installations in art galleries.

The plant synthesizer has introduced two themes to the art world: music and nature, environmental science and music. As for the theme “music and nature”, it is self-explanatory, but it is way more than just music and nature. This is how nature makes its own music, not the integration of creating music using the natural sounds of a forest or the ocean. Anyone can take a video of a waterfall just to use the noise the water makes when it lands, which is where the theme “environmental science and music” comes in. The science of bio sonification and plant synthesizer music puts earth music to a whole new level. The minds behind the creation of this music have almost given plants life. We now see that these natural processes can create art by itself without the help of human beings, the only reason this wasn’t discovered before was because the human ear can’t hear this music without this product. Joe Patitucci takes advantage of this scientific discovery by putting it on a large platform, such as Spotify, to make it accessible to the public. If you search his name, the music made by cannabis plants come up connecting the public to this whole new idea of the liveliness of plants. Science, music, and nature was integrated in a huge way as the music was created by the plants themselves using science, with no help from a music creator to make the sounds.

Bio sonification and plant synthesizer music is made by measuring a plant’s conductivity and translating it into sound waves with a pitch. Each plant has its own sound. Creating music with nature is not a new concept. In the 70’s many artists devoted their music to specific plants, but they created it by just conceptualizing what that plant would sound like. It was said to have started at the peak of the green revolution. Plants have been seen as our allies for years, especially to combat climate change, so creating a connection between human life and the music of plants using the creation of sound waves can be important. Joe Patitucci comes into play as his whole mission is to create a harmonious relationship with humans and nature through the spread of music. Many have thought that plant synthesizer music can bring an amount of closeness that any music enthusiast may have with an artist or just to a specific song. As for the environmental aspect of it, the green revolution, the introduction of tools to produce more crops at once, plays a large part in introducing this music and so did trends. The trendiness of house plants started in the 1970’s-1980’s to a larger extent than before. The introduction of house plants as a trend made it seem logical to devote an experimental album to specified plants for the time

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The photos depicted are understood today as this new normality that anyone can create music and have access to technology that can help them become a musical artist. Integrating this idea of having these resources, many people sought out to go out in nature and record the sounds heard to remix it with their own music. In the future they may interpret it as a longer more difficult way of recording this music as plant synthesizer may become more common among artists and the public. Right now, music synthesizer isn’t necessarily a product that is frequently bought or seen among creators.

I selected this art form and artist Joe Patitucci because plant synthesizer products were created in a time where global warming is a huge issue. Not only that, but globalization, overpopulation, deforestation, and more have gotten worse everyday and has never been at this rate before. When artists started experimenting with music and nature, global warming wasn’t as big as a problem. Now, when we are at our worst and these issues are increasing, we have the technology to create a very important connection. Humans have been drawn to music so making natural music can be important and create a closeness to the plants in our very own homes. Joe Patitucci is important in this journey as his music was published for the public to listen to it, meaning you don’t even need to use the product or have accessibility to it to divulge in this discovery. People can use his music to do yoga or to just listen for relaxation and form new connections with nature in ways that just recording natural sounds can’t create. Bio sonification and plant synthesizer music represents how as a society we haven’t lost our love for nature and the beauty that surrounds us. We have new ways to appreciate it in an unconventional way that many are uninformed about. It was never thought that a device could translate a plant’s conductivity into music that we can hear and that has never been made before until now.