Art imitates spirit—which is the energy of being alive. Limited only by our receptivity, it catalyzes change and reframes experience as it courses through our senses, emotions, and identity. In Future Nature, Sinuhé Vega Negrin’s lush tropical plant life and layered, contemplative totems invite us into the shared mystery of a fecund Earth witnessing itself. All life—plant, animal, and human—shares the same genetic instructions. All living things share some level of sentient co-experience.. This music is an amplification of the mystery carried within Sinuhé Vega Negrin’s Future Nature.
Every sound in this soundtrack originates from Central Florida’s natural world—but has been slowed down to be fully perceived. The rapid, intricate song of a Hermit Thrush, when time is stretched, reveals harmony, key, form, and meter. Multiple layers of slowed-down birdsong—originally recorded by Dr. Jonathan Beever in the UCF Arboretum—shape the secondary melodies and harmonies, featuring Cardinals, Carolina Wrens, Whip-poor-wills, Mourning Doves, Tufted Titmice, Ravens, and many others.
The three-note chords accompanying the thrush’s high calls are composed from cricket song. Playing back their chorale at speeds that match the scale of an instrument gave me the ability to have play them in harmony. The soft pops and crackles throughout are the ultrasonic voices of tomato plants, azaleas, and other landscaping flora from my own yard—sounds only recently discovered by humans, though they have forever been part of everyday communication for all plants and insects. The tomato plant recordings come from groundbreaking research published in Cell (Sounds Emitted by Plants Under Stress Are Airborne and Informative by Itzhak Khait et al.). This science reveals a world of interconnection we have largely been deaf to—a world of music that has surrounded us all along.
Now Playing through April 13, 2025
MAITLAND ART CENTER
Inspired by the Dutch Vanitas tradition, Negrin’s new works evoke contemplation on mortality and the pursuit of divine wisdom through earthly reflections. The works invite viewers to reflect on their role in envisioning a FUTURE NATURE, where the need for a harmonious coexistence with nature is paramount, and where human and ecological resilience are intertwined.
The music is 25 minutes in duration and in quadrophonic (4 channel) audio, created using:
- Stereo 96kHz field recordings of the UCF Arboretum from April 2018 by Dr. Jonathan Beever, UCF Philosophy Dept.
- Stereo ultrasonic 192kHz recordings made by Keith Lay of Azaleas and other landscape plants in Oviedo
- Izotope RX8
- MetaSynth
- Logic Pro
- Sound Particles Skydust
- Sound Particles InDelay
- Vienna Suite Limiter Pro
- Ciinematic Rooms Professional
I shot these videos during the compositional process using Premiere and ScreenFlow software with an iPhone and Rode Wireless GO II wireless mics.
