The Sound of Nature

I came across an article on nytimes.com about the composer/conductor Tan Dun (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero) and how he uses sounds in nature to create musical compositions. For example, he'll use elements of the natural world, i.e. the sounds of the swishing water, crumbled paper and rocks and incorporate them into his music. This is what he calls "organic music" and currently, he is exploring a number of compositions based on the sounds from nature. Dun even has plans to form an orchestra to play such organic music. This will be very interesting indeed!

I also found out that back in 1998, Dun wrote the Water Concerto, in which he used the sounds of splashing, running and shaken water as solo instruments. Later in 2001, some of his invented instruments were used for the music in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which he won an Oscar for! What is even more interesting is that in Tan's Crouching Tiger Concerto, he utilizes technological elements, in this case video, to accompany and enhance the concert listening experience. Organic Music itself is very interesting, and Tan Dun's website has a gallery of images from his concerts that show it in action.
A quote from his site:

"I have conducted orchestras around the world, but my favorite instruments are still the ones you find in nature — water, stone, ceramics. I like using instruments from nature. We use so many electronic things that, sometimes, we lose our connection to natural sounds."

Last but not least, I was excited to learn that Tan Dun's studio happens to be in Chelsea, which isn't too far from me! Maybe one day I will be able to meet him in person!