The Volvox Collective is a musical conglomerate consisting of bands and individuals who play together and make records in San Jose, CA. Most of the members involved attended Bellarmine College Preparatory, a San Jose high school where the idea for the Collective was initially developed. The first recording project to be completed featuring the Volvox Collective was a mini-album entitled Images of an Aquatic World: Ideas of a more or less traditional character transformed by freely dissonant harmonic treatment and bizarre orchestral colour. The record was created as a project for a Bellarmine marine biology class, and featured musicians from at least four distinct bands. This watershed collaboration is also the origin of the Orchestral Colour namesake.