Duets with Plants

During April 2017 Clive Wright was introduced by Evelyn and Frank Haggard to a Damanhur plant music device that they had purchased whilst on vacation in Italy. the device is essentially a synthesizer which is wired via a positive and a ground to the leaves and roots of plants, it captures changes in voltage resistance and interprets the musical patterns as the plants singing 'voice'. Clive was captivated by the purity and beauty of the plants 'songs' and recorded an an impromptu performance at their residence accompanying the plants music with his own guitar performance.The Result is the opening track on the Album 'A Duet with Robert the Plant' as Robert became his affectionate name for this particular plant, a Calathea . Clive later borrowed the device and initially connected it to a long neglected Ficus at home, the plant was silent at first but after a drink of water and some overdue apologies for neglect from Clive, it burst into joyful song. It was connected via midi to external synthesizers and Ableton Live. In doing so, he created a template for a forthcoming live performance, in addition tuning his synthesizers and guitar to A432 hz. On May 27th 2017 Clive performed at the Joshua Tree Arts and Astronomy theater, the show was coordinated with a beautiful photo presentation of plants by Liz and Rich Lehrer photography, the couple credited for the album cover image. In addition the stage was adorned with live plants from Unique Garden center in Yucca Valley, Leonard Holmberg and Tom O'key of the Astronomy theater also simultaneously broadcast the music and images in a Laser-cast to deep space. Tracks 2 and 3 are live recordings from the concert, and the performing plants were bought to the stage by the Haggard's. what you are hearing is a live real time musical interaction between the plants and Clive Wright. Finally we have a closing improvisation recorded live at the astronomy theater the previous August entitled 'A Prayer for Protection, this was a solo performance during a concert also featuring 2 other musicians, Jorge Carrillo on Bass and Kyle Hanson on Drums. This Event was also Laser Cast.