The Orchestra Made of Ice

Wed, Dec 10, 2008

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ice orchestra
Ice Orchestra

Now we know why all our glaciers are disappearing, no, it’s not due to global warming after all, it’s because a Norwegian percussionist needs the ice for his instruments. Sounds bizarre? Well, that’s probably because it is.

Musician Terje Isungset has been carving his chilly instruments from ice for the past 20 years. Many moons ago, the budding percussionist, not content with experimenting on stone and glass, decided to use what was available around him, and being Norwegian that happened to be ice. But not just any old ice, Insungset chips away at a 2,500-year-old glacier:

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The premise for the drastic change in instrument came after being disillusioned with life as a drummer.

“I had this feeling I wasn’t giving music something that wasn’t already there,” he says. “I started to search, working hard at the idea of balance with the body – making the instrument and myself a unit. Trying, for instance, to hit the drum with my hands, without hurting myself. I abandoned all musical rules. Just pure expression: trying to lose the ego and the thoughts.”

To do this, Isungset decided the only way he could escape normal music traditions was to change the instruments, as well as the way he approached the music. Now, Isungest’s musical talents are in high demand. He has recorded five ‘ice’ albums and often plays to international audiences.

icicle bells
Icicle Bells

His latest show, Cinderella is currently showing at Lyric Hammersmith in London. For this he created an ice trumpet, which he plays along with a glass drum kit, bicycle wheel and his faithful mouth organ made of metal from a WWII German bomber.

Cinderella is playing until January 3, 2009.

Source 1, 2

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This post was written by:

Linda McCormick - who has written 175 posts on Environmental Graffiti.

Linda is a writer and editor, currently based in London. Growing up in N Ireland, she craved sunnier climes so set off around the world, forever chasing the sun. On her travels she discovered she was much more passionate about the environment than she realised – although never quite got the whole tree-hugging thing – and has always had a penchant for the unconventional and creative side of life, so working at Environmental Graffiti suits her just fine.

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2 Comments For This Post

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  1. Rob Says:

    You can find his albums here.
    http://www.rhapsody.com/terje-isungset

  2. SAS Says:

    This is an all around incredible concept to make ice instruments .. and to consider that an old glacier has more sound energy in it than factory made Japanese ice is something to really think on. My son is 5 1/2 and I showed him this. He was inspired to make his own ice instruments. We have a start anyway. We live in very cold climate that’s under snow from Dec to March, Minnesota, USA. Thanks for this lovely post.

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