Orbital Sound Ltd

Breathing Trees

Orbital Breathes Life Into Potters Fields With Creatmosphere

Audio experts Orbital Sound worked with the Breathing Trees team, providing the installation of two rings of speakers (high and low) displayed in the Potters Field.

In addition to providing the audio, the 3D Audioscape software also supplied MIDI cues to the Pharos lighting console, changing the colours of the lights, making the trees appear to visually breathe. The digital outputs of the computer were fed into a Yamaha LS9 console that provided additional level control. Each tree was rigged with a d&b E3 cabinet located high up in the branches, and an E9 located just above head height.

Laurent Louyer explains:
"I wanted to make the impressive Plane trees that frame the entrance to Potters Fields come to life and breathe with light and sound. And by doing so raise socio-political questions around issues of pollution and climate change, by provoking feelings and emotions strong enough to make us think about how we are dependent on what trees give us, oxygen."

The Breathing Trees in Potters Fields Park featured as one of the main attractions of Switched On London  the capitals only lighting festival, which in its second year illuminated Londons iconic landmarks in the Pool of London and the urban settings in the surrounding Bankside area.

Switched On London combined the latest efficient technology (including LED) with the expertise of environmentally responsive lighting designers to deliver realistic carbon neutral alternatives to the wasteful and inefficient lighting that currently operates in London and cities worldwide.

Epitomising Switched On Londons values, The Breathing Trees concept was created by Laurent Louyer, founder of Creatmosphere, in collaboration with Martyn Ware from the Illustrious Company for the soundscape.

Using LED-dimming colour changing technology supplied by Anolis, the programmed lighting sequence highlighted the branches and foliage of the trees, creating a sense of movement like two lungs.


The Pharos lighting playback controller was programmed so the colours of the lights changed, triggering the sound element, making the trees appear to breathe.

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Audio experts Orbital Sound worked with the Breathing Trees team, providing the installation of two rings of speakers (high and low) displayed in the Potters Field.

In addition to providing the audio, the 3D Audioscape software also supplied MIDI cues to the Pharos lighting console, changing the colours of the lights, making the trees appear to visually breathe. The digital outputs of the computer were fed into a Yamaha LS9 console that provided additional level control. Each tree was rigged with a d&b E3 cabinet located high up in the branches, and an E9 located just above head height.

Laurent Louyer explains:
"I wanted to make the impressive Plane trees that frame the entrance to Potters Fields come to life and breathe with light and sound. And by doing so raise socio-political questions around issues of pollution and climate change, by provoking feelings and emotions strong enough to make us think about how we are dependent on what trees give us, oxygen."