Midnight Mushroom Music

Today we soldered together a new Bio-Sonification module testing out our design/layout towards upcoming workshops! Part of the test involved hanging out under our Japanese maple. Our maple is a special one, a hybrid that I was initially told '...probably won't make it through one Canadian winter...' That was over ten years ago! Maple has flourished and spread its leaves. Our beloved Pnut was found...

Chlorophytum comosum and Homo sapien sending BioData to Midi. I am currently without Mycelium, all of the Mycelium was buried in Selfoss in my friend's garden. Soon I return to Toronto and start growing a massive sculptural piece towards Nuit Blanche, Toronto which is taking place Sept 29th. Meanwhile, there was a beautiful Spider plant in my friend's apartment so, I placed two sets of electrodes...

Artist Gershom Spruijt sketched while his Bio-data was translated to Midi. Gershom was born in the Netherlands and lived for many years in Amsterdam. From his years around the old Amsterdam canals he gained the idea that the 1960’s were perhaps not superior to the 1690s. After getting his PhD in Psychology and Epidemiology he moved to Los Angeles to study first sculpture and later painting at Otis...

This episode brings me to the last recording in Laugarvatn with the Mycelium. I recorded the Mycelium's bio electrical activity during the Blood moon-lunar eclipse, what would be the longest lunar eclipse in the 21st century. As the eclipse took place a giant rainbow filled the sky above Hekla. It was an incredible moment.

Donna Spruijt-Metz is a poet, translator, and Professor of Psychology and Preventive Medicine at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Her first career was as a professional flutist. Her writing has appeared or is forthcoming in venues such as Vinyl, The Rumpus, and Naugatuck River Review. She gets restless. Donna was a poet in residence at Gullkistan Centre for Creativity. Donna's...

Artist Brandy Green sat and worked clay while her BioData was translated to Midi. Brandy Green uses ceramics to explore human personification in rocks. In researching how different rocks are formed and what qualities they possess, she assigns an emotional connotation which is palpable in her sculptural work. Follow Brandy's work on Instagram, @Boxing_Betta Brandy was an artist in residence at Gull...

Around the 3rd week of June Mycelium was placed into a Hexagon shaped mould. It has now grown beyond the constraints of the mould, venturing out... fruiting.

Hanging around Laugarvatn being attacked by insects as I set electrodes onto various plants... Strange Mix came through a Make Noise NoCoast and Animoog

This evening I went up into the hills a bit. Just behind Gullkistan Centre for Creativity. There amongst the birch (Björk), geraniums and wildflowers a multitude of moss and lichen grow. Tonight two sessions are being uploaded. 1. Electrodes were gently placed onto Cetraria nestled within reindeer moss (Cladonia furcata). Cetraria is a genus of fruticose lichen that associate with green algae as p...

This evening I went up into the hills a bit. Just behind Gullkistan Centre for Creativity. There amongst the birch (Björk), geraniums and wild flowers a multitude of moss and lichen grow. Tonight two sessions are being uploaded. Session number 2. Laugarvatn mushroom. Ever so gently place an electrode onto a tiny mushroom peering out of the moss and lichen. This is what mushroom had to say.

Bio-sonifying the alumni artists in residence at Nes. Several artists sat quietly as I placed electrodes onto their bodies and translated their electrical impulses to MIDI. Artist Ron Linn's work deals with a translation, engaging in issues of place and the connection between human and non-human nature through an examination of memory, myth, and both personal and imagined histories. Please visit R...

Tonight's episode comes to you from Iceland. Mycelium grown into the shape of an anatomical heart hooked up to electrodes sending its funky vibes to MIDI.

Special Wednesday episode for Thursday! Jérémy Pailler is an illustrator, visual artist/researcher in visual arts at the LARA audiovisual research laboratory in Toulouse. He has written a dissertation on animation and is active in the fields of children's books, movie posters, video clips, personal film projects and film projects. exhibitions. Jérémy's bio-sonifications are quite a bit 'calmer' th...

Special Wednesday episode for Thursday! Nervous Hunter is here in Iceland from Montreal. Sophie Gee, director/playwright/artist. Sophie has many things going on at once, a lot to interpret, decipher and choreograph thus, her electrical impulses were coming in off the charts! A wall of energy. Nervous Hunter is the name under which Sophie Gee presents theatre/installation work created in collaborat...

Tonight's episode is a bit short due to computer crashes and smashes. Funtimes!

Greetings from Iceland! Mycelium is growing on Kenaf substrate, I hooked up electrodes this evening and am surprised by the activity. Perhaps it has to do with the constant light here? Almost 24/hr sun, it is very tricky to block out. Thank you SO much for listening :) Hope you will subscribe or follow our Midnight Mushroom Music podcast. Instagram: @nanopodstudio @MothAntler xo

Greetings from Iceland! For tonight’s episode I hiked to the sea cliffs, much to the Arctic Tern’s chagrin! They are currently nesting and highly protective. Understandable considering how far they’ve flown to nest! Meanwhile, I did my best to assure them that I was not after their eggs and continued on my way…. looking for the perfect Elf rock. Once settled in I carefully placed the electrodes on...

Episode 8: Rhuthmos and hooking up fruiting bodies. :) This Mycelium was grown for the Toronto Science Rendezvous and has been kept in a humidity chamber since that event. Now strange fruiting bodies have emerged. Tonight's episode 8: Rhuthmos explores these sonically. From June 2nd thru August 11th Nanotopia will be Podcasting live from Iceland. First stop: Nes Artist Residency. I am teaching wor...

Episode 7: SciRen pt2 picks up where we left off last weekend during the Science Rendezvous in Toronto. The 'percolating' sounds are the Bryophytes while the more rhythmic patterns are of the Mycelium. In between, you will occasionally hear blips, bleeps and bloops. These sounds are coming from the Humans that bravely allowed us to hook them up into the Network. While not extraordinarily musical p...

After a day of rest we are back to MIDI and Bio-Sonifications. This afternoon I have had various mosses hooked up with electrodes and the slime mould growing on the agar heart! Which will upload this Wednesday! Meanwhile, I am sifting through the midi data looking for patterns...

Science Rendezvous! Further details at www.toscateran.com or iTunes Midnight Mushroom Music Podcast

Leading up to our installation taking place this Saturday, May 12 2018 I wanted to conduct a Human test; hooking myself up to one of the Midi boards. This Saturday during the University of Toronto's Science Rendezvous (Nanotopia: Sidney Smith Hall, Rm 1070) We will invite visitors to interact and collaborate musically with the Mycelium, Slime mould, and flora. Thanks so much for tuning in!

For this session I sent the Midi into a MeeBlip Anode and Triode. The Mycelium recorded here has been growing since February. Now it appears Physarum polycephalum is starting to grow on the Mycelium… I think one of the electrodes from my last session must have had slime on it. Oops! Hopefully they aren’t in a battle here, but the sounds tonight are a bit different. Tonight I hooked up two differen...

Tonight's episode we dug deep, literally. The electrodes were buried in the spring soil amongst worms, mycelium, bulbs and whatever else happened along. Windchime, fairy tale to deep squelchy vibrations. Headphones are best for this in order to hear all of the nuances. Thank you for listening to Midnight Mushroom Music!

Cultivating Physarum polycephalum aka the 'many-headed' slime towards musical/sound expression. Uncertain what, if any pulses the Slime would send out once the electrodes were attached. For this episode we sent the electrical impulses straight into a øCoast (Make Noise) routed (patched) through several Moog Mother32's recording live into Abelton. That is our only influence here. Curiously the Slim...