If you've been looking for something new to listen to recently that's a little more experimental than your average track, then look no further. Tarun Nayar, who lives in Canada, makes music from mushrooms and other natural matter, such as leaves and cacti.
Like some sort of otherworldly, mushroom magician or plant whisperer with a knack for creating technologically advanced music, Nayar showcases his creations on his Instagram account, which reveals the process behind his self-coined "environmental music”, "organismic music" and "plant raga".
Within each video, Nayar - who also plays in the rock band Delhi 2 Dublin - hooks each mushroom or piece of natural matter up to a synthesiser using crocodile clips, which produces noises that sound like the plant or fungi is singing in some sort of fascinatingly bizarre alien language.
Detailing the science behind his work, Nayar spoke to VICE earlier this year and explained: “It’s not as complicated as it seems. I use various techniques to harness the bioelectricity of the plants and Earth’s natural resonance that is beyond the audible spectrum of the human ear.
“The plants are not creating any music themselves. I use the movement of water inside these plants as electrical resistance. So when I plug circuit cables to them, even small changes in the said resistance due to the plant’s natural bioelectric charge manifest as notes of music.”
To make the plant music sound even trippier, Nayar adds special effects, which creates a spacey, far more psychedelic sound. Of what inspires his work, the musician looks back to his early training in Indian classical music, which as he explains, is largely influenced by vibrations.
For those wanting to head out into the forests to make their own mushroom music, a machine called PlantWave will soon be available to buy (for $299.00 / £258.6) which "allows you to wirelessly connect from your plant to your phone, making it easier than ever to listen to nature’s song".
All we're waiting for now is some kind of prog mastermind to incorporate this style into an out-of-this-world mushroom epic. What's Les Claypool up to these days?
Check out some of Nayar's creations below - there's even a fungi song that sounds like the Imperial March from Star Wars. Cosmic.
