Instruo Pocket Scion: Make Music with Plants and Mushrooms
Pocket-Sized Biofeedback Instrument and Controller
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Instruo Pocket Scion is a pocket-sized synth controlled by plants. Sounds crazy? Let yourself be enchanted by its wondrous sounds!
Instruo Pocket Scion: Music from Plants
Every now and then, a music-making device comes along that is so unique and so far from the mainstream that you just have to love it. A collaboration between Instruo and the ecologist and artist Tarun Nayar aka Modern Biology, Pocket Scion is a synth and controller that is controlled by bioelectric feedback from plants and other living organisms. The resulting soundscapes seem miraculously alive. Got questions? Me too!
The idea for Pocket Scion came from Modern Biology, who has been making music with plants and mushrooms for many years. A central element of his setup is Instruo’s SCÍON Eurorack module, which he uses to translate the bioelectricity of organisms into notes and rhythms. So why not turn it into a standalone pocket-sized instrument?
The front panel of Pocket Scion consists of a touch plate with two zones and a striking ring-shaped LED visualizer. On the back are a battery compartment and a few buttons. In the simplest case, you can control the four onboard sound engines by interacting with the touch plates. Depending on where and how hard you touch the surface, the sound changes.
However, the real fun begins when you connect the Pocket Scion to a plant or other living being using the included sensor clips. The synth then responds to the currents and frequencies from the living organism. Again, you can interact with it by touching the sensors or changing their position on the plant.
Pocket Scion includes four generative sound engines developed in collaboration with Modern Biology. “Secret Garden”, “Fungal Waves”, “Treebeard’s Koto”, and “Soil Circuits” all have their own unique sound, rhythm, and character, ranging from melodic sounds to drones to noisy textures. You can adjust the number of voices and the note density using the buttons on the back.
A cross-platform software editor that runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux allows for more detailed settings. Among other things, it lets you configure the scales, set the octave ranges of the five voices, and make MIDI and OSC settings. The settings are retained in the device when the synth is disconnected from the app.
Speaking of MIDI: Pocket Scion outputs MIDI data via TRS and USB, meaning that you can also use it as a plant-based MIDI controller for other devices in your setup. It also works as an OSC controller, allowing for a wide range of creative applications.
If you’re constantly on the lookout for new forms of musical expression, Pocket Scion should be right up your alley. Let your cactus co-write your next banger! 😉
Price and Availability
Instruo Pocket Scion is now available from Thomann* for $145 / £131 / €149.
More information
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