Honey Fingers founder Nic Dowse and Ben Mackie from Acid Springfield join Amy for a in-depth conversation about their new collaborative project – creating ambient electronic music composed by honeybees (apis mellifera).

Their album Soft Vibrations is a collaboration between the honeybees, Honey Fingers, and Acid Springfield. It was recorded in Naarm by equipping a hive with pressure sensors that communicate the movements and vibrations of the colony to a custom-built device; Acid Springfield’s Model B modulator, enabling the bees themselves to compose extremely intricate ambient soundscapes or complex pieces of musique concrète.

When the colony is calm, the music reflects this and is more stable and placid. When the colony is lively, so too is the music, constantly mutating and shifting. The result is an ever-evolving piece that directly correlates to the daily life of the hive; Human-Honeybee symbiosis via sound experimentation.

Photo credit: Philip Huynh