Plant Music In Nature - Manitoba Maple

Manitoba Maple 🍁

I’m thrilled to launch the first video in my “Plant Music In Nature” series. This continuation of my journey with plant music is taking me beyond the studio and into nature, wherever I can find it in the Ottawa area. I present to you “Manitoba Maple”, a song made in collaboration with a beautiful but freshly cut tree that I found on the banks of the Ottawa River, sitting directly across from Parliament Hill. I plugged my synthesizer into a cut branch to see what would happen and this song is the result.

“Manitoba Maple” is a generative music performance played by the tree. Everything from the notes and rhythms of the piano, to the melodic progression, piano loops and pads are triggered by the tree’s bioelectricity. I adjust the sensor’s sensitivity knob to slowly bring in and fade out the music, but nothing more. I didn’t know how these elements would come together, and how it would sound when I plugged into the tree.

This project is the culmination of my passion for music, nature and energy. My hope is that, in some small way, this project helps make the world a kinder and more respectful place, towards nature, ourselves and one another.

Does plant music make you look at your plants differently? What does this song make you think about? Let me know! 🪴

FUN FACTS: The Manitoba maple is different from the iconic sugar maple that produces most commercial syrup for our pancakes, but it can be tapped for sap and boiled down in the same way. It gets a bad rap for aging and breaking easily, but birds and squirrels eat the seeds, and different parts of the tree have been used traditionally by Indigenous cultures across Turtle Island: for example using its charcoal for tattoos and ceremonial painting, wood for dishware, drums and incense, and the inner bark for medicine, food and candy. Let me know if you know of any other uses for this beautiful tree!

Accompanying me on this project is my beautiful and talented wife Susannah Heath-Eves @shefilms.ca , a filmmaker who shares the cinematography with me on this project. We are lucky to have her on board.

We would like to recognize the support of the Canada Council for the Arts @canada.coucil who have made this project possible.

We acknowledge that we are on the unceded and unsurrendered territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin People. We are grateful for the opportunity to be here and practice plant music as guests on their sacred land.

Stay tuned throughout the summer and fall for more music from my “Plant Music in Nature” series.

Watch this and all my plant music videos on my YouTube channel (link in bio). For the best listening experience, I recommend using headphones. 🎧

#maple #plantmusic #modularsynth