The Wild with Chris Morgan Musical termites? What happens when you let nature sing
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Jan 27, 2026 Dr. Diego Ellis Soto, a conservation scientist and musician who sonifies animal movement, turns migrations, swarms, and tortoise tracks into music. He explains data sonification, low-cost field recordings, projects with pigeons, termites and an albino alligator, and how musical translations of movement can communicate ecology and inspire conservation.
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Movement Maps To Musical Harmony
- Diego mapped termite movements to piano and guitar parts to reveal group dynamics as music.
- Movement harmony related to synchrony, showing animal motion parallels musical harmony.
Use Sonification To Make Data Audible
- Use data sonification to convert numeric signals into audible patterns for easier interpretation.
- Apply familiar examples (Geiger counter, Morse code, EKG) to design meaningful sonifications.
Collective Rules Echo Music Theory
- Collective animal rules (space, time, direction) mirror musical rules like chord progressions.
- Simple interaction rules create complex group patterns that translate naturally into music.
