What does flavour look like? How does it sound? These are the questions that inspired herb and spice experts, Schwartz, to create a ‘Sonic Flavourscape'. An audiovisual dramatisation of the intense effect that herbs and spices have on the senses.

Several tons of black peppercorns, cardamom, basil leaves, cinnamon, cumin seeds, ginger, chilli and coriander were rigged to explode in perfect sync with a bespoke musical composition. 140 individual explosions each represent an individual piano note or chord, which when filmed in super slow motion, creates a surreal three dimensional sound scape.

First the sensation of taste was translated into a musical composition, then the pyrotechnic designers went to work turning this sound into a physical scale. Different Herbs and spices were assigned to the notes based upon their different characteristics and colours. For example, a bright and clean E-flat major chord became fresh green chives. While C, G and E-flat, were ascribed to fenugreek seeds, paprika and turmeric powder.

The film documents the live performance – no CGI was used, everything was in camera. There was only one attempt at getting it right because after the explosions the set was destroyed.