They can't sing "green, green, grass of home..."
February 25, 2020

Forcing plants to play music - what does it mean, and does it makes sense at all?

Not a choir

Plant enthusiasts are opening channels of communication with their plants through bio-sonification devices like Music of the Plants and PlantWave, conducted in the trending language of ambient noise. The resulting plant music is used in a variety of ways – mixed into songs, as background sounds in yoga studios, or as installations in art galleries. NPR is wondering what does it mean to have plants "playing music", and, indeed, should we take it as music, since these sounds aren't made intentionally by the plant to communicate. The article suggests people should try to stay away from anthropomorphizing the plants too much - the imposition of a human scale and pitch allows us to be more aware that plants are living, but it might make us think they feel like us, even when they don't.