Plant Music Devices Compared: PlantWave, Music of the Plants, and More
If you've been researching plant music, you've encountered the hardware. Several devices now make biosonification accessible to artists and enthusiasts — but they work differently, suit different workflows, and produce different results.
This is a practical comparison. No paid promotions, no affiliate arrangement with any manufacturer.
The Three Main Devices
PlantWave (by Data Garden)
What it is: The current market leader. PlantWave attaches two electrode clips to a plant's leaves and streams bioelectrical data via Bluetooth to a companion iOS or Android app.
How it works: It measures variation in bioelectrical resistance across the two electrodes, maps that variation to MIDI note values (defaulting to a pentatonic scale), and generates continuous audio output. MIDI can also be extracted and routed to external instruments or DAWs.
What the output sounds like: Smooth, continuous, harmonically pleasant. The pentatonic default ensures no dissonance. The company has also developed custom synthesis layers — you can choose which sonic landscape the plant's MIDI data is routed through within the app.
Who uses it: Data Garden built PlantWave for the general market — artists, yoga studios, home users. It's accessible without technical knowledge. Most plant music artists working today, including those in the RootNote artist directory, have used or currently use PlantWave.
Practical considerations: Requires a smartphone. Output is primarily designed for ambient listening rather than studio production, though MIDI extraction is possible. Battery-powered, no installation required.
MIDI Sprout (by Data Garden)
What it is: The predecessor to PlantWave, released earlier and no longer in active development. Still used by artists who started with it.
How it works: Same core principle — electrodes measure bioelectrical signals, processor maps them to MIDI. But MIDI Sprout outputs raw MIDI directly rather than finished audio, and has no companion app. It's designed for integration into a musician's existing equipment.
What the output sounds like: It depends entirely on what the artist routes the MIDI to. MIDI Sprout is a data source, not an instrument. An artist can send that data to any synthesiser, sampler, or virtual instrument — the sonic result is their choice.
Who uses it: Artists with existing MIDI setups, producers comfortable with signal routing. MIDI Sprout is the more technically demanding option, but gives the artist more control over the final sound.
Practical considerations: No app dependency. Works with any MIDI-compatible hardware or software. Production discontinued, so availability is secondary market. Artists who want maximum control over synthesis tend to prefer it.
Music of the Plants (by the Damanhur Community)
What it is: A family of biosonification devices developed by the Damanhur community, an eco-spiritual intentional community in northern Italy. Their devices predate PlantWave and MIDI Sprout.
How it works: Similar principle — surface electrode measurement, signal mapped to musical output — but with proprietary electronics and a specific philosophical framework. Damanhur has been working on plant biofeedback since the 1970s.
What the output sounds like: More melodic than PlantWave's output in some configurations, with longer phrase structures. The company describes the music as the plant "communicating" — language that reflects their specific world-view.
Who uses it: Artists and practitioners aligned with the Damanhur philosophy, and those attracted to the longer history of the devices. Also used in live installation contexts.
Practical considerations: Less widely available than PlantWave, stronger ideological framing around the product, higher price point for some models. The company offers workshops and retreat experiences built around their devices.
Quick Comparison
| Feature | PlantWave | MIDI Sprout | Music of the Plants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Output type | Audio + MIDI | MIDI only | Audio + MIDI |
| Technical skill required | Low | Medium-High | Low-Medium |
| App required | Yes (iOS/Android) | No | Varies by model |
| Still in production | Yes | No | Yes |
| Best for | Artists, studios, home users | Studio producers | Practitioners, installations |
| Typical cost | ~£200 | Secondary market | £150-£500+ |
What This Means for Plant Music
The device is the starting point, not the endpoint. Every device produces raw signal data. What you hear as the final piece of music is shaped by:
- The mapping algorithm (scale choice, pitch range)
- The synthesis (what sound the MIDI triggers)
- The production (recording, layering, mastering)
- The artist's intent and aesthetic choices
Two artists using the same PlantWave with the same plant can produce radically different music. The device determines the data; the artist determines the sound.
Where RootNote Fits
RootNote is not a device company. We're the distribution and licensing layer — the platform that connects the artists who work with these devices to the venues, brands, and individuals who want to use the music.
When you license music through RootNote, you're licensing the finished work of an artist who has made all of those production decisions. The device is one step in a creative chain that ends with a piece of music you can use in your project.
- Browse the artist directory — see which devices each artist works with
- License plant music — commercial and personal tiers
- Read about biosonification — the underlying science behind all these devices
If you're an artist working with biosonification devices and want to distribute or license your work through RootNote, get in touch via the licensing page.
Related Articles
- What is Biosonification? How Plants Create Music — the foundational explainer on how the process works
- How Do Plants Make Music? The Science of Biosonification — a deeper look at the signal-to-MIDI translation process
- 432 Hz Tuning: The Science Behind Plant Music — the tuning choice that connects every device in this comparison