Disquiet Junto Project 0669: Phonosynthesis

The Assignment: Make music to help a forest regenerate.

A scientific research paper this month documented evidence that sound can help fungus grow. The conclusion: “Demonstrating a tangible impact on fungal activity, our findings suggest that carefully tuned acoustic parameters might be able to enhance ecological processes.”

Record music to help a forest grow. Imagine an array of solar-powered speakers is spread through a forest-in-need. Or come up with another deployment scenario of your own imagining. What sort of music would you play for the forest to encourage its regeneration?

The research paper: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2024.0295.

Coverage in the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/04/science/fungus-sounds-growth.html

The paper is the work of four people from the College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, in Australia.

Thanks to Michael Rhode for having shared with me the research coverage.

Deadline: Monday, October 28, 2024, 11:59pm (that is: just before midnight) wherever you are.

Details: disquiet.com/0669

Disquiet Junto Project 0669: Phonosynthesis

More on the 669th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Phonosynthesis — The Assignment: Make music to help a forest regenerate — at https://disquiet.com/0669/

more halF unusuaL

halF fungaL [disquiet0669]

I’ve always had plants in my studio, and someone once told me that even if sunlight is limited, the constant presence of music playing every day helps keep the plants healthy.

I don’t know about that, , but they look great and seem to grow steadily.

“Record music to help a forest grow.”

I believe that simply having musicians play acoustic instruments in the forest would only bring good to it.

Here I just played “woody”, natural percussion instruments, bamboo drums, wood sticks and blocks, conch shells, cuica, marimba, bombo legüero, talking drum and some other toys. I recorded 3 versions, this is the “fast” one.

Rain Forrest (Fast) - disquiet0669

Phonosynthesis

Disquiet Junto | Phonosynthesis - disquiet0669

According to my research of various websites, the consensus seems to be that calmer types of music are more conducive to plant growth. This track was created using Pure Data & various plugins, etc.
More on the 669th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Phonosynthesis — The Assignment: Make music to help a forest regenerate — at https://disquiet.com/0669/

Dendrosymphonic (disquiet0669)

Regeneration(disquiet0669)

**Disquiet Junto Project 0669: Phonosynthesis**  
The Assignment: Make music to help a forest regenerate.

A scientific research paper this month documented evidence that sound can help fungus grow. The conclusion: “Demonstrating a tangible impact on fungal activity, our findings suggest that carefully tuned acoustic parameters might be able to enhance ecological processes.”

Record music to help a forest grow. Imagine an array of solar-powered speakers is spread through a forest-in-need. Or come up with another deployment scenario of your own imagining. What sort of music would you play for the forest to encourage its regeneration?

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Track notes can be found here: https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0669-phonosynthesis/69154/9

[Disquiet_Junto_0669] Forest Stimuli


This week's Disquiet Junto, titled "Phonosynthesis", asked us to record music to help a forest grow. The prompt was inspired by a study that demonstrated the influence of music on fungal growth, like that of the mycelium that connect the roots of plants and trees.

I thought of a deep green primordial forest, and imagined the fractal entanglement of the thread-like mycelium lighting up like neurons as information, nutrients, water, and even electricity flow from tree to tree and plant to plant through this fungal internet. All communication requires a protocol; the entirety of the internet depends on one called TCP/IP. So what would the protocol for the mycelium communication network be like? And what would it sound like?

More about this week's Disquiet Junto: https://disquiet.com/0669


The Mycelium Protocol (disquiet0669)

This is my submission to this week's Disquiet Junto assignment.

More on the 669th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Phonosynthesis — The Assignment: Make music to help a forest regenerate — at https://disquiet.com/0669/

20241026 [disquiet0669]

Recorded, mixed & mastered 26 Oct 2022, 26 Oct 2024 by Jim Lemanowicz at Blissville Electro-Magnetic Laboratories of Massapequa. 

©2024 Jim Lemanowicz

Process notes -
I wanted to do something peaceful but also a little alien.  

I started in Reason, using a bassoon sound and Malström & added a bit from a Bitwig piano & Absynth piece from exactly two years ago. I exported the stems and imported to Ableton Live. In Live, I added the bass part - the native Analog synth. Here, I treated the four parts with various effects and finished. 

Tools used - Spitfire Softpiano, NI Absynth, NN-19 Bassoon, Malström, Bitwig, Reason, Ableton Live, Analog, DAW-specific native devices, iZotope Nectar & Ozone.

Artwork/Photography -
Manhattan, NYC, NY 21 Oct 2020

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This original version of “Born With Sternum” was submitted as part of Disquiet Junto Project 0669: Phonosynthesis. The Assignment: Make music to help a forest regenerate.

More on the Disquiet Junto at: disquiet.com/junto/

More on the 669th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Phonosynthesis — The Assignment: Make music to help a forest regenerate — at https://disquiet.com/0669/

Born With Sternum  (disquiet0669)

The Assignment: Make music to help a forest regenerate.

A scientific research paper this month documented evidence that sound can help fungus grow. The conclusion: “Demonstrating a tangible impact on fungal activity, our findings suggest that carefully tuned acoustic parameters might be able to enhance ecological processes.”

Record music to help a forest grow. Imagine an array of solar-powered speakers is spread through a forest-in-need. Or come up with another deployment scenario of your own imagining. What sort of music would you play for the forest to encourage its regeneration?

The research paper: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2024.0295.

Coverage in the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/04/science/fungus-sounds-growth.html

The paper is the work of four people from the College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, in Australia.

Thanks to Michael Rhode for having shared with me the research coverage.

More on the 669th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Phonosynthesis — The Assignment: Make music to help a forest regenerate — at https://disquiet.com/0669/

music for plants [disquiet0669]

runnels and oomycetes - disquiet0669

This was my contribution for Disquiet Junto Project 0669: Phonosynthesis
The Assignment: Make music to help a forest regenerate.

Here’s a copy of my post on the Disquiet Junto 0669 discussion thread on Lines:

Hope the music that we've all created will help forests to grow and flourish. The trees and their friends here in our yard seemed appreciative when I played this for them. 

Created with Ableton Live using Slate+Ash Choreographs, Spectres, and Max4Live devices along with loops, samples and field recordings. Valhalla Delay and Arturia Fragments were used for effects. Photo is from a native Monterey Pine forest next to where I live here in California.  

More on the 669th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Phonosynthesis — The Assignment: Make music to help a forest regenerate — at https://disquiet.com/0669/ 1

Daydream Forest [disquiet0669]

Video here https://youtu.be/0akHuIXUIgk?si=ggg7av6axK7fU7xX
Disquiet Junto Project 0669: Phonosynthesis
The Assignment: Make music to help a forest regenerate.

A scientific research paper this month documented evidence that sound can help fungus grow. The conclusion: “Demonstrating a tangible impact on fungal activity, our findings suggest that carefully tuned acoustic parameters might be able to enhance ecological processes.”

Record music to help a forest grow. Imagine an array of solar-powered speakers is spread through a forest-in-need. Or come up with another deployment scenario of your own imagining. What sort of music would you play for the forest to encourage its regeneration?

The research paper: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2024.0295.

Coverage in the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/04/science/fungus-sounds-growth.html

The paper is the work of four people from the College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, in Australia.

Thanks to Michael Rhode for having shared with me the research coverage.

Phonosynthesis  - disquiet0669

sound art for disquiet0669.

More on the 669th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Phonosynthesis — The Assignment: Make music to help a forest regenerate — at https://disquiet.com/0669/

the tree that thirsts for rain (disquiet0669)

Speak to the trees_disquiet0669

More on the 669th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Phonosynthesis — The Assignment: Make music to help a forest regenerate — at disquiet.com/0669/

ether (disquiet0669)

yamaha dx7 / soft field recs from folly gate woods

photosynthesis - disquiet0669

More on the 669th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Phonosynthesis — The Assignment: Make music to help a forest regenerate — at https://disquiet.com/0669/ 1

Music To Put Hairs On Your Buds (disquiet0669)

Synthesized basis for plant life?
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More on the 669th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Phonosynthesis — The Assignment: Make music to help a forest regenerate — at https://disquiet.com/0669/

phonosynthetic (disquiet0669)

Sinny: Logic Pro synths, piano key scrapes, upright bass, vibraphone, bell tree, log drum, rattles, wood chop, Bloom 10 Worlds app

More on the 669th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Phonosynthesis — The Assignment: Make music to help a forest regenerate — at disquiet.com/0669/

Solarpunk (disquiet0669)

My 33 1/3 series book about the Aphex Twin album <i>Selected Ambient Works Volume II</i> was published in 2014. The book was one of the top 5 bestselling titles for the calendar year, and in 2015 was ranked by Pitchfork as one of the "33 best" of the 100-plus books in the 33 1/3 series. It has subsequently been translated into Japanese (2019) and Spanish (2018)

Since 2012 I have moderated the Disquiet Junto group, which began on SoundCloud. More at disquiet.com/junto. 

I've written for Nature, Pitchfork, The Wire, Down Beat, Boing Boing, NewMusicBox, Red Bull Music Academy, Art Practical, the website of The Atlantic, and many other publications. 

I've exhibited sound art at galleries in Los Angeles (Crewest), Manhattan (apex art), and Dubai (DUTAC), and I had a audio-visual installation at the San Jose Museum of Art as part of its 45th anniversary.

And since 1996 I've run the website Disquiet.com about the intersection of sound, art, and technology.