Biosonification is the process of transforming electrical data from living things like plants and fungi into sound and music.
Pioneered in experimental music circles back in the '70s, the practice isn't new, but in recent years it's been incorporated into a variety of accessible devices that make it easy for the average musician to tune into nature and create music using biofeedback.
The latest instrument to harness the power of the natural world is Pocket Scion, a handheld generative synthesizer from Scottish modular specialists Instruo, descended from the company's Scion Eurorack module. Pocket Scion was developed in collaboration with musician and ecologist Tarun Nayar, who releases music under the name Modern Biology.
Pocket Scion isn't your average synth, though – there are no keys and no sequencer here. Instead, the device's internal synth engines are controlled by one of two methods: either via the capacitive touchpad on the instrument's backlit front panel, or with the included sensor clips, which can be attached to any living organism to transform its biofeedback data into sound.
Both of these utilize the same basic principle, employing an analogue pulse oscillator to track changes in electrical resistance picked up by the sensor clips or the touch pad. When the pad is touched or both of the sensors are attached to a plant or fungi, a circuit is completed and the changes in resistance measured are translated into a pulse waveform.
The frequency of this waveform is then analysed to produce values showing how resistance is changing over time, and it's these values that determine when notes are triggered in Pocket Scion's internal synth engines, according to an algorithm that can be adjusted in sensitivity. This creates evolving and complex soundscapes that reflect the biofeedback data picked up by the sensors. You're not quite "listening" to the plant that it's hooked up to, but the sounds that you are listening to are influenced by the plant's bioelectric properties.
Pocket Scion has four internal instruments that can be triggered via the sensor input and touchpad. These are digital synth presets that are fixed to specific scales: Secret Garden is a metallic, bell-like tone that outlines the notes of a Csus4 chord, and Treebeard's Koto is a plucky, organic-sounding preset that plays a C Mixolydian scale, for example. (Scales can be pitch-shifted globally via controls on the rear panel.) You're also able to hear the direct output from its pulse oscillator in Raw Output Mode.
Pocket Scion can output MIDI and OSC, so you can to use the device to control other instruments and gear using its biofeedback measurements – it can send up to five simultaneous MIDI notes, with velocity and assignable CC, via the TRS MIDI output or Micro USB port. Hook it up to a computer and you can take advantage of the desktop app (for macOS, Windows and Linux) to route MIDI and OSC elsewhere or tweak the device's note generators and synth engines.
The concept behind Pocket Scion may not be novel, but Instruō's take on it looks like one of the most thoughtfully designed that we've seen, going beyond the more simplistic applications of biosonification to create a device with enough control to make for a versatile and creative instrument, while remaining accessible and easy to use. Plus, it's reasonably priced at $149/£129. We can't wait to give it a try.
Find out more on Instruō's website or check out a video walkthrough below.
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