When I first came up with the idea for Moth x Human I don’t think I realised quite how much time would be spent staring at spreadsheets before I could actually start making music.
The idea came to me one day at the breakfast table - to create a piece of music that explores declining biodiversity using insect activity. I was soon introduced to the biodiversity scientists at UKCEH who had recently built a solar-powered device for monitoring nocturnal insects.
AMI System
Each AMI system (Automated Monitoring of Insects) is set up to work automatically (no sitting outdoors with a flask and clipboard at midnight!) and features a light for attracting insects, along with high resolution cameras that can capture images of moths and classify them by species using AI. Over several months, they build a good picture of what biodiversity is like in different locations. The results are collected in a spreadsheet giving a timestamp and classification to each moth that lands.
Having looked at months of data from six different UK locations I selected:
1 August 2024 Parsonage Downs, Salisbury
A protected area and healthy habitat. Some of the best chalk grassland in the UK.
80 different moth species over a 4-hour period (midnight – 4am).
Audio recording from this night is buzzing with insect noise.
There was heightened activity in the early hours of 1 August, following a humid day at the end of a heatwave. I assume the hot weather had encouraged more moths to emerge from cocoons.
Telling data stories through sound
The Parsonage data was analysed in Excel to spot trends - how many times a certain species appeared and at what points during the night. The prepped data was then fed into a bespoke Max/MSP device and converted into MIDI, with each species of moth assigned a unique sound or note. I gave some of the more prominent sounds I’d created to my ‘showstopper’ moths; species such as the beautiful Elephant Hawk-moth and Burnished Brass.
And then a leap of faith - what happens when I press play?
Ellie talks through the process of uploading moth data via a bespoke Max/MSP device then assigning sounds via MIDI.
The ‘performance’ captures the ebb and flow of different species’ activity throughout the night. Four hours is condensed into almost 5 minutes (Part I of Moth x Human). At some points the moths create short melodic fragments and these can be heard later in the piece as repeating motifs in the cello and piano.
As a contrast, the end of the piece uses data from a poor habitat, audibly demonstrating declining biodiversity due to human interference.
1 August 2024 UK Farmland
Monoculture farm using pesticides
19 different moth species over a 4-hour period (midnight – 4am).
Audio recording from this night is eerily silent.
About Moth x Human
Moth x Human is an immersive audio-visual composition which combines cutting edge musical technologies and ecological research to highlight biodiversity through art. The piece will be presented for the first time at the two PRSF New Music Biennial events at the Southbank Centre, London, and in Bradford as part of its UK City of Culture celebrations.
At the heart of Moth X Human is Ellie’s musical response to the collection of sonic night-data from diverse species of moths from UK nature sites. The work, which inspires a sense of the wonder of nature, highlights the importance of a natural world that comes alive after dark.
The piece is written for 2 violins, cello, trombone, piano, synths, electronics … and moths.
For more info visit:
https://ocmevents.org/project/new-music-biennial/
https://www.ceh.ac.uk/solutions/equipment/automated-monitoring-insects-trap