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Ice Drumming on Lake Baikal

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From 2012, Irkutsk-based Russian percussionist group Etnobit found a spot on Lake Baikal — the world’s deepest lake and largest freshwater lake, as well as the world’s oldest lake, dating back 25 million years — where the crystal clear ice produced harmonic melodies in sunny -20C weather. From The Siberian Times:

“The wife of one of our drummers, Sergei Purtyan, slipped and fell down, and as she landed on the ice, she made a very musical ‘boooooom’ sound – so nice and deep that her husband, who has a very good ear, said ‘Hold on, what was it? How did you make that noise?’

“She laughed but then got curious, too, and they started touching and drumming on the bits of ice, realising it was making a melody. He recorded it on the phone, got back to Irkutsk and let us listen, asking if we might want to go together to the same spot and try and record our ice drumming”

Here’s Purtyan’s first example of the lake’s sounds:

Lake Baikal is well-known for its clear, gem-like ice.

Next: BaAka Forest People play the river like a drum. Plus, learn more about Lake Baikal and Earth’s water: The Basics of Freshwater + Water, Water, Everywhere?

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