When we talk about listening to a tree trunk, we’re referring to the rings inside it. These rings hold valuable information about a tree’s life, revealing its age and the conditions it grew in. But what if I told you these rings could also create music, just like a vinyl record? It may sound unbelievable, but the artist Bartholomaus Traubeck made it a reality.
Traubeck invented a unique record player that interprets the colors and textures of tree rings into beautiful melodies. Using light, his “record player” captures the intricate details of the rings in a tree’s cross-section and transforms them into musical notes and instruments.
You might be wondering how this is possible. Traubeck’s invention is surprisingly simple yet fascinating. With a PlayStation Eye camera and a motor for the record player’s arm, he collected the data, which was then transferred to a computer. Through a program called Ableton Live, the data was transformed into a piano track.