This Electronic Artist Creates Music From Fruits and Mushrooms

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A post shared by Tarun Nayar | Modern Biology (@taruntspoon)

A musician named Tarun Nayar has discovered an ingenious way of hearing the inner “music” of plants and fungi. Through a project called “Modern Biology” that Nayer launched last summer, he shares what he calls “organismic music.”

Since gracing the social media landscape with the ambient wonders of plants and fungi, Nayar has rightfully mesmerized thousands of followers while garnering millions of streams. Having gained fame in the electronic music scene previously, his fascination with what he simply calls  ‘plant music’ can perhaps be traced back to his background in biology. 

In order to transmit the sounds of plants and fungi, Nayar uses electrodes to measure their bioelectrical energy and produces the sound with modular synthesizers. Fluctuations in their bioelectrical state trigger note changes, which creates an ambient experience. 

According to The Guardian, Nayar describes the process as “an environmental feedback mechanism. It’s based on galvanic resistance – the same principle by which simple lie detectors work.” Simply put, changes in resistance produce a range of synthesizer sounds.

Along with live immersive performance experiences, Nayar shares his “Modern Biology” project on his Instagram and TikTok accounts. Beyond plants and fungi, he experiments with a wide range of things in nature from various types of produce to even interesting flowers. With so much the world has to offer, the types of sounds that can be produced from bioelectricity are endless.  

Now all we need is for someone to sample one of these and turn it into a fire beat. If you’re interested in hearing what the music of our world sounds like, make sure to follow Nayar’s “Modern Biology” project.