Moth Mornings in Epping Forest
Ellie hosts two Moth Mornings with Epping Forest’s conservation team
Our first two Moth Mornings in Epping Forest were a resounding success.
I was joined by Dr. Will Langdon, Epping Forest’s Assistant Conservation Officer and expert entomologist. Thanks to his vast knowledge of our nocturnal pollinators, attendees of all experience levels walked away having learned something new.
Two moth traps set up the previous evening gave everyone a chance to discover what had been flying overnight and see these incredible insects up close - we even brought along a microscope for close-ups of wing scales and feathery antennae.
The trap reveals were followed by a lively morning of crafts, music (on headphones), and great discussion.
What our attendees had to say:
“Fascinating, beautiful, and informative”
“Interesting, interactive, fun”
“I learned so much this morning... there are so many species of moths!”
Conservation moth trapping is essential for conservation to help us understand and manage our habitats and gather valuable data. Once recorded, all moths are safely released.
This event is part of Ellie Wilson's Moth x Human project, which is coming to Epping Forest in 2027.
Moth x Human Dutch Premiere
Kamerorkest van het Noorden perform Moth x Human at Groningen Forum
Photos from my lovely trip to Groningen in northern Netherlands on 8 November. 🇳🇱
A huge dank u to Kamerorkest van het Noorden for reaching out to me a few months ago to ask if they could get the score of Moth x Human to perform as part of LetsGro festival at the stunning arts centre Groningen Forum.
Moth x Human x Dinosaur
A special late-night opening of Oxford University Museum of Natural History with performance and panel discussion.
I found myself utterly charmed by [the music’s] haunting dreaminess ... combined with the atmosphere of the museum, [it] was almost hypnotic …a perfect example of collaboration between the disciplines of ecology and music. I’ve already bought a packet of seeds to encourage more moths into my garden. - Daily Info
A few photos from a special late-night opening of Oxford University Museum of Natural History on 17 October 2025 to launch the IF Oxford Science and Ideas Festival. It was a beautiful and unique evening performing Moth x Human, plus other works from my recent album, in this cathedral-like venue surrounded by dinosaur skeletons - rather apt as moths have been around since the Jurassic Period.
The performance was followed by a panel discussion and an insect exhibition from the museum’s archive.
Excellent fact from Dr Jenna Lawson: There are 30 million household gardens in the UK, amounting to more green space than all of the National Parks combined. Together we have the power to nurture beautiful mini ecosystems and make a difference.
Huge thanks to everyone involved in making this happen.
📷 Hugh Warwick
Moth x Human was commissioned by Oxford Contemporary Music with funding from PRS Foundation. A live BBC Radio 3 recording has been released on NMC Recordings.
New Release
BBC Radio 3 live recording released on NMC Recordings
‘Ellie Wilson’s haunting Moth x Human turned data about night-time moth activity into a beguiling synthesised fabric’ The Guardian ★★★★
‘So beautiful. Haunting’ CBC Radio
‘A moth symphony … each species has its own distinct musical sound’ Scott Simon, NPR
BBC Radio 3 live recording from PRS Foundation’s New Music Biennial out now on NMC Recordings
Ellie Wilson writes … As biodiversity declines globally, the quiet disappearance of insects often goes unnoticed. I wanted to compose a piece that not only reflected this loss, but also allowed the insects themselves —specifically moths — to help create it, resulting in a sort of interspecies dialogue between moths and humans.
I don’t think I realised quite how much time would be spent staring at spreadsheets before I could start making music. I was introduced to scientists at the UKCEH who use an automated, solar-powered device that records moth activity overnight. It has a light source to attract moths, a camera to photograph them and a computer plus AI to identify the species and timestamp each visit.
I selected a single evening of data and transformed it into music. A custom-built Max/MSP device let me bring this data into Ableton. Each moth’s visit was converted into MIDI, with species assigned a unique pitch or timbre. I condensed real-time monitoring of a whole evening into the 12-minute duration of the work, capturing the ebb and flow of moth activity throughout the night. At some points the moths have created short melodic fragments, and these can be heard later in the piece as repeating motifs in the cello and piano.
The piece sonically represents the impact of biodiversity decline by using data from the same evening but two contrasting locations. It opens with data gathered from Parsonage Downs in Wiltshire, a healthy chalk grassland habitat. Over the course of four hours, 80 different moth species were recorded. The sound world is rich, very active, demonstrating a thriving ecosystem. The closing section of the piece uses data from a monoculture farm in Cambridgeshire where pesticides are used. Here, only 19 moth species were recorded during the same four-hour period and the soundscape is noticeably more sparse and monotonous.
Moth x Human is scored for 2 violins, cello, trombone, piano and analogue synthesizer, but at the heart of the piece is the fixed media track built from the moth data, which plays alongside the live instruments. Most of the writing for the two violins is delicate (marked ‘gossamer – like moth wings’ in the score). They move in fast, whispered exchanged with lots of string crossing that moves from flautando to sul ponticello to bring out a wide range of overtones and timbres. This creates a sort of dreamy, fluttering soundworld. The cello brings contrast and character: playful pizzicati, glissandi, Bartók snaps, and even percussive tapping on the body of the instrument mimic the frantic flutter of a moth caught in a lampshade. I was very lucky to work with The Northern School of Art, who even designed a new module around my project. Fine art, animation, and photography students all created moth inspired artwork that was then 3D animated to make the visuals that are used in the live performance.
DIY Moth Trap
Discovering moths in my garden
A moth trap is a fascinating way to find out what kind of moths are flying about in your garden when you are asleep and it’s very easy and cheap to build one. Moth traps are designed to catch and observe moths, not to harm them, and the insects can be safely released the following day. You can also do your bit and submit your moth sightings to the National Moth Monitoring Scheme.
What do you need?
Bucket/crate with lid
egg boxes
a cylindrical bottle/pipe
inside of a lampshade, or similar (for holding bottle & LED strip)
cable ties
perspex bowl/microwave food cover (optional, for rain protection / bird deterrent)
Sharp knife for cutting hole in lid for funnel to slot into
large, shallow funnel (approx 20cm diameter) with wide hole at bottom (cut a standard funnel to size)
USB power pack
UV light (around 365nm UV) (nb. I’m using 395-405nm LED strip which is cheap and works OK but isn’t optimal for attracting moths. Visit Butterfly Conservation for alternatives
Charge your battery pack
Put some fresh foliage in the crate along with the egg boxes
At 11pm-12am put the moth trap in a sheltered area of your garden and switch the light on
6am-7am (or earlier!) come out in the garden to look at your catch! (UK Moth ID)
Gently move the moths to a shady hedge or tree to rest until dusk
NB: I am in no way an expert. There has been a lot of trial and error, plus friendly advice on Facebook groups like Moth Traps UK. There is plenty of information online about building moth traps for observation, and places where you can buy them ready to go.
A few of the moths I’ve attracted in my garden using my simple, budget-friendly set-up:
Moth trap at night
Moth x Human Bradford World Premiere
New Music Biennial premiere of Moth x Human at Bradford Loading Bay
Team Moth
Ellie Wilson violin
Freya Hicks violin
Louise McMonagle cello
Huw Evans trombone
Jay Chakravorty piano/synths
Visuals: The Northern School of Art
Photos: Victor Frankowski taken at New Music Biennial, Loading Bay Theatre, Bradford, Saturday 7 June 2025
interviewed by Elizabeth Alker for BBC Radio 3 New Music Show
Moth x Human is commissioned by Oxford Contemporary Music and supported by UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
New Music Biennial 2025 – PRS Foundation and Southbank Centre’s new music festival in partnership with Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture and BBC Radio 3 and NMC Recordings.
Telling data stories through sound
The data sonification process.
When I first came up with the idea for Moth x Human I don’t think I realised quite how much time would be spent staring at spreadsheets before I could actually start making music.
The idea came to me one day at the breakfast table - to create a piece of music that explores declining biodiversity using insect activity. I was soon introduced to the biodiversity scientists at UKCEH who had recently built a solar-powered device for monitoring nocturnal insects.
AMI System
Each AMI system (Automated Monitoring of Insects) is set up to work automatically (no sitting outdoors with a flask and clipboard at midnight!) and features a light for attracting insects, along with high resolution cameras that can capture images of moths and classify them by species using AI. Over several months, they build a good picture of what biodiversity is like in different locations. The results are collected in a spreadsheet giving a timestamp and classification to each moth that lands.
Having looked at months of data from six different UK locations I selected:
1 August 2024 Parsonage Downs, Salisbury
A protected area and healthy habitat. Some of the best chalk grassland in the UK.
80 different moth species over a 4-hour period (midnight – 4am).
Audio recording from this night is buzzing with insect noise.
There was heightened activity in the early hours of 1 August, following a humid day at the end of a heatwave. I assume the hot weather had encouraged more moths to emerge from cocoons.
Telling data stories through sound
The Parsonage data was analysed in Excel to spot trends - how many times a certain species appeared and at what points during the night. The prepped data was then fed into a bespoke Max/MSP device and converted into MIDI, with each species of moth assigned a unique sound or note. I gave some of the more prominent sounds I’d created to my ‘showstopper’ moths; species such as the beautiful Elephant Hawk-moth and Burnished Brass.
And then a leap of faith - what happens when I press play?
Ellie talks through the process of uploading moth data via a bespoke Max/MSP device then assigning sounds via MIDI.
The ‘performance’ captures the ebb and flow of different species’ activity throughout the night. Four hours is condensed into almost 5 minutes (Part I of Moth x Human). At some points the moths create short melodic fragments and these can be heard later in the piece as repeating motifs in the cello and piano.
As a contrast, the end of the piece uses data from a poor habitat, audibly demonstrating declining biodiversity due to human interference.
1 August 2024 UK Farmland
Monoculture farm using pesticides
19 different moth species over a 4-hour period (midnight – 4am).
Audio recording from this night is eerily silent.
About Moth x Human
Moth x Human is an immersive audio-visual composition which combines cutting edge musical technologies and ecological research to highlight biodiversity through art. The piece will be presented for the first time at the two PRSF New Music Biennial events at the Southbank Centre, London, and in Bradford as part of its UK City of Culture celebrations.
At the heart of Moth X Human is Ellie’s musical response to the collection of sonic night-data from diverse species of moths from UK nature sites. The work, which inspires a sense of the wonder of nature, highlights the importance of a natural world that comes alive after dark.
The piece is written for 2 violins, cello, trombone, piano, synths, electronics … and moths.
For more info visit:
https://ocmevents.org/project/new-music-biennial/
https://www.ceh.ac.uk/solutions/equipment/automated-monitoring-insects-trap
New Music Biennial
New commission exploring moth biodiversity selected as part of PRSF’s New Music Biennial
I’m delighted that my new work Moth X Human has been selected for PRSF New Music Biennial 2025. Environmental and biodiversity issues are something I’m passionate about and this piece will highlight the impact that habitat loss, climate change and light pollution has on our nocturnal pollinators.
In collaboration with biodiversity scientists at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, my piece explores the positive use of AI for conservation. Part data sonification, part notated composition, the work is an interspecies dialogue. Alongside a small ensemble and electronics, moth activity data collected from UK locations is used to generate and manipulate sounds.
Dr Jenna Lawson of UKCEH, said:
“At a time of rapid biodiversity loss and climate change, it is essential that we understand and appreciate the value of nature and the consequences of habitat loss and destruction. The data we collect as scientists highlights both the remarkable diversity of nature and consequences of its loss, however the challenge often lies in presenting this information in an interesting and informative way.
“This project will showcase the wonder of nature through music, specifically focusing on moths and the natural world that comes awake while we sleep. These fascinating creatures are essential for our ecosystems, pollinating many flowers, trees and crops during the night, but are underappreciated. We hope Ellie’s interpretation of our scientific data through a musical composition will show people the remarkable night-time biodiversity of the UK.”
The piece will be performed at the two festival weekends:
6-8 June 2025 Bradford City of Culture
4-6 July South Bank Centre
Broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and released on NMC Recordings.
Commissioned by Oxford Contemporary Music
Supported by UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH)
