Shells, Acoustics and the Origins of Music with Steve Pretty

In this New Scientist World, the Universe and Us episode, Steve Pretty explores how shells become musical instruments, from conch and Triton shells to the physics of air columns and overtones. The conversation links ancient tuning and singing to modern experiments, including 3D printed shell designs and live performance hacks. The episode also touches on the cultural and ceremonial roles of shell music across the world, the iterative evolution from shells to brass to electronic sound manipulation, and the idea of music as a universal yet culturally diverse form of expression. It highlights Steve Pretty’s Shell Electronica and Selectronica projects and his collaboration with scientists and musicians to probe the origins of creativity through sound.

Overview

This medium-format summary accompanies a New Scientist podcast episode in which hosts Rowan Hooper and Penny Sache welcome Steve Pretty, a musician and bandleader known for Shell Electronica and Selectronica. The discussion centers on the origin of music, the use of conch and other shells as instruments, and the physics of creating notes from a resonant air column. The episode also surveys fossils and archaeology that shed light on when singing and instrumental playing might have emerged, and it introduces the idea of iterative creativity in instrument making, from ancient shells to modern 3D printed shells and electronic manipulation.

Shells as Musical Instruments

The guests demonstrate a Triton shell and explain how a shell acts like a trumpet, producing a variety of notes by altering air pressure and lip tension. They compare the resonances of shells to bugles and brass instruments, and discuss how overtone series enables playing scales without valves. The host draws parallels to guitar frets and piano layouts to illustrate octave spacing and melody within a natural instrument, emphasizing the universal physics of sound generation in shell-based instruments.

Evolutionary and Archaeological Context

The conversation covers the idea that songs do not fossilize easily, but certain evidence points to early vocal control and the anatomy required for singing in hominins roughly a million years ago. It also notes bone flutes dating around 40,000 years old and discusses how shells and whistles might reflect early iterative design processes that prefigure later musical instruments.

Technology, Art, and Performance

Steve Pretty explains how he evolves shell music on stage, sometimes cutting shells live with a hacksaw to customize the instrument, echoing the iterative refinement of cultural tools. He describes 3D printed shell variants and the aesthetic and sonic implications of modern fabrication. The discussion then shifts to Selectronica and the live sampling, pitch-shifting, delay, and microtonal overlays that create a contemporary soundscape rooted in ancient physics.

Acoustics, Space and Meaning

The hosts discuss how acoustic spaces—Hinby Hall, churches, caves, and temples—shape perception of sound and how spaces and instruments co-evolved. Archae acoustics and temple resonances connected to conch frequencies illustrate how environment enhances the sensory experience. The episode also touches on music’s ceremonial and social roles, including dance, communication, and group bonding, and debates whether music is a universal language or a tapestry of culturally diverse expressions.

Broader Reflections

Beyond shells, the conversation contemplates how music expresses inner states that words struggle to capture, how children naturally engage with sound, and how modern audiences can reengage with sound making through accessible tools. The discussion culminates with the idea that music spans from ancient rituals to contemporary science collaboration, connecting astrophysics with sonic exploration through the Universe of Music show with Chris Lintott.