The composer of the story Anna Fisher
In total, about 40 places where the so-called “singing sand” phenomena can be observed (heard) have been documented. In deserts, dunes and similar places, when a large mass of sand moves, falls, slides or crumbles (e.g. due to wind or gravity), friction is created between the grains of sand, resulting in all kinds of sounds that can sound like both vocal and instrumental music .
It is not difficult to imagine that such amazing sonorous phenomena can serve as compositional inspiration, and this has happened, for example, in the case of the contemporary French composer Tristan Mirai. In his piece “Spirit of the Dunes”, Miraij is not only inspired by the desert as a natural environment, but listening to the “singing” of the dunes of the Gobi desert, he decided to create an analogy of this phenomenon in the said piece. This example indicates a case where a natural phenomenon becomes both a formal and a substantive model for certain musical objects in a composition.
On the other hand, one of the most unique examples of natural tools in the world can be found in the Laray Caves in the US state of Virginia. This cave system is famous for its outstanding stalactites and stalagmites, and the Smithsonian Institution wrote of it in 1880 that “there is probably no other cave in the world with such complete and rich stalactite and stalagmite decorations.”
However, the stalactites of the cave are not only visually beautiful – many of them, when tapped, emit distinct tones that sometimes resemble bells or gongs. Leeland Sprinkle, an electrical engineer and musician working at the Pentagon, visited the caves in 1954 and was inspired to create a huge, unique musical instrument – the Great Stalactite Organ, which would consist of these stalactites. He spent the next three years examining all available rock formations, selecting the most sonorous and electronically connecting them with percussion connected to an organ keyboard placed in the center of the cave. In total, this musical instrument is connected to 37 geological formations, each of which emits a unique tone and allows for a wide variety of compositions to be played on this organ. Since 1957, when the organ was completed, concerts of both ready-made and specially created compositions for this instrument have been regularly held in the cave.
Instead of adapting a particular piece to the characteristics of a particular place, the instrument has been adapted to them. It must also be recognized that in this case nature has been adapted to the instrument, as at least some of the stalactites used have been modified by Sprinkle to achieve a better tone. However, the initial impetus for this work was the acoustic phenomena offered by the particular natural site.
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