Hearing is one of the five senses provided to us. If we notice carefully, everything present in nature has its own sound. For example, the sound of dripping rain, the sound of a flowing river, sound of blowing wind, etc. They are like the rustic orchestra ever-present in nature. Now, the question arises whether we can use the natural sound to create something astounding for us, like a Xylophone, maybe.
In 2012, Japan started answering the above-mentioned question by initiating a very unique project. Morihiro Harano and his teammates decided to create a strange design of a wooden backplate of the phone against the then launched latest touch phone in the market. This decision was to abstain from the technological addiction that comes with such gadgets and to take an organic approach. In this way, Harano along with the carpenter Mitsuo Tsuda, sound Engineer Kenjiro Matsuo, and on-site carpenter, created a gigantic wooden elevated xylophone, an outcome of the strange and odd project.
Unlike the usual xylophone, this one is simple and straight without any complications. To create the sound from it, they placed a small rubber ball at the top of it and let it fall freely to the downward side to reach till its end. Interestingly, the Xylophone has constructed in the manner that it creates the famous Cantana 147 of Bach with the tempos and the instrumental subtleties intact. One mistake, and that could have spoiled it in its entirety. Indeed a beautiful creation!
The music sent the message of hope and the ability to survive within the destructible capabilities of nature. Eventually, the advertisement went viral and one can watch the beautiful melody on YouTube.
Presently, the forest xylophone has been established at the Daisetsu Mori-no Garden that is the chief venue of the beautiful Hokkaido Garden Show of Japan. Here, the visitors can operate the xylophone by buying a rubber ball from the vending machine and rolling it from the xylophone in the free-fall manner to create the melodious symphony of Bach.
The xylophone is operational all the time except during rainy days as the wood might get wet and begin to rot and decay if comes into the presence of water.
We can say that the wooden xylophone present in Japan is a great example of nature’s diversity and capabilities. Undoubtedly, the symphony that comes from the instrument is by Bach, however, the credit goes to its creator as well as nature for bringing it back to life in such a beautiful way. This creation of Japan would definitely symbolize the innate peace that comes from being one with nature, which is a characteristic of Japan as a whole.
