Tech

Music generated from mollusk shells is scarier than anything you listen to

by Tyler Munro

When we think of music and mollusks, Ween’s delightfully goofy 1997 concept album comes immediately to mind.

Goofy, this is not. It takes just a short listen to realize that music generated using mollusk shells is downright terrifying.

But how does such a thing happen?

It’s as you’d expect all very scientific; Conus, an art instillation, uses hyper-precise digital microscopes to scan the edges of the shells, which rotate like a record. The device then transposes that sound through synthesizers, making for an audio-aesthetic that’s somewhere between a basement dwelling black metaller’s dark ambient project and the score to an unreleased David Lynch movie.

With it’s blips, bloops, drips and scratches, this is the creepiest thing you’ll hear today. Thanks—we think—to Geek for the hat tip.