The Score Magazine February 2021 issue | Page 21

for the second group , while the third group was kept in a silent environment . While the first group died out in two weeks , the second group seemed to be healthier than the third one . This implies while plants respond to sound , the period of exposure affects their health / survival .
Violinist Rajamanikam Pillai claimed that when he played his instrument in his gardens , he found that the otherwise-useless coconut trees in the vicinity were revived to good health . According to him , music sung in early hours of the day with ragas such as Bilahari , and Kalyani , would also have a positive influence on plants . There are many such experiments that were subsequently carried out but it ’ s yet to be universally established that plant growth can increase with music .
Even if the science around plants and music isn ’ t firmly established , there still exists a subgenre of ‘ music for plants ’. Just like the Barcelona concert , there have been actual albums like Mother Art ’ s Plantasia by Mort Garson and Stevie Wonder ’ s Journey Through “ The Secret Life of Plants ” comprised of instrumentals solely meant to be heard by plants !
Nursery is run by Shaan Lalvani who makes use of a device called MIDI sprout .
Using the same principles as an ECG machine producing a graph , the device measures the electrical charges flowing through the plants , converting them into musical notes . The sounds from the plants are obviously proven to be different under different stimuli like water , light , touch , and so on .
The MIDI Sprout can also convert the soundwaves to sound more like musical notes from a synthesizer and other experiments . Visitors bring their own plants at Vriksha Nursery so that they too can hear their musical sounds under the device .
Science and speculation aside , a Mumbai nursery uses a device to allow visitors to hear the actual ‘ music ’ that plants make . Vriksha
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