Music is sound, a set of notes, it is a vibration made audible, although it can be said that not all sounds are audible to our human ears. As humans we can produce music with our voices, which I believe is under-utilized as a tool for our well-being, however, that is a topic for another day. Plant voices are more subtle, at least for us, perhaps we have blocked the ability to hear them over the years given all the noise we make on Earth.
Plant Notes
A few years ago I found a small device on the internet that claimed to produce plant music. I was intrigued. I tried it on a Peace Lily and to my surprise the notes came through my computer speaker.
The device measures the plant’s electrical currents and translates them into midi notes via a synthesizer. So it becomes a form of music. Notes can be played through a synthesizer to create all kinds of interesting sounds. But can this really be called the music of plants? And does it have any value? Do plants really communicate with us through these sounds? Or by doing so we are simply using our perception of communication, rather than trying to reach plants on their terms.
Listening to the Sound
One problem I found with the device was that you had to stick the electrodes onto a leaf, so you could damage it when you remove the electrodes if you weren’t careful. I tried alligator clips but they seemed to crush the leaf and potentially cause damage. The best way so far has been to use electrodes that have lost their stickiness and then use a gel to make sure they stay in place or use clips that aren’t too tight.
Actually asking the plant if you can use the device would also be a good idea, plants are sentient, maybe not in the way we humans generally think of sentience, but plants react to the environment and many people communicate with them on a deeper level. I have had several out-of-body experiences where I communicated with the plant kingdom in various ways.
The Oak in my Garden
I love the sounds this lovely tree makes, you can hear the depth in the low notes. It really seems like a big oak tree.
Benefits
I think this way of creating music can help us get closer to the plant kingdom and work with them, always considering whether the plants wish to participate. In her book ‘Thus Spoke the Plant’ Monica Gagliano seems to be totally against this form of music. However, if plants give their permission, I think it could create a valuable exchange between humans and plants and bring people closer to nature.
Another thought I had using this device was how plants create electricity, we are electric beings too, if you have ever seen your heart beat on a screen you can see the pulse of electricity with each heartbeat. This is why we feel so good walking on sand barefoot, we are grounding our energy and bringing our body back into harmony.
Wearing shoes all the time creates a barrier between us and the earth and we cannot ground ourselves, rebalancing the (positive) electrical charge of our body. How many times have you had an electric shock after walking and then touching something metal. We know this happens, but we don’t delve deeper this and wonder how being so loaded all the time affects our health. Therefore, listening to this plant music could help us reconnect to our natural self as it helps us to understand that we are similar to plants in that we too are electrical beings.
I think anything that can bring us closer to experiencing plants as beings that can communicate with us, is valuable and definitely worth investigating.