How Nature Inspires the Future of Electroacoustic Music

Not just music about nature - but with it

Imagine composing music not just about nature, but with it—not in a literal sense, but by drawing inspiration from the way nature solves problems. That’s the heart of biomimicry, and it’s starting to reshape how composers think about creating electroacoustic music.

In a recent study by Daniel Blinkhorn and Nicholas McConaghy at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, biomimicry is explored as a creative framework that moves beyond using nature as a sound source or metaphor. Instead, composers, now, too, are looking at how natural systems function—how beetles collect water, how plants grow, how ecosystems balance themselves—and using those strategies to shape musical structure, development, and form.

The reason: The universe was created by sound and color. So, it’s only natural that we look to Nature also to create acoustic music.

The paper introduces a six-step biomimicry process (think: observe, reframe, abstract, emulate, evaluate, and iterate), borrowed from the world of sustainable design, and shows how this can be applied in a music context. Rather than simply recording the sound of a bird or a breeze, a biomimetic composer might study how a forest canopy filters water and use that principle to inform how they layer sounds or develop transitions.

One standout example is Blinkhorn’s piece cdot, created during a residency at the Sydney University Nano-Institute. Inspired by scientific research into atmospheric water harvesting (think: lotus leaves and desert beetles), the music mimics the nanoscale processes behind water collection. It’s not a literal sonification—it’s more like a sonic reimagining of how tiny particles bond and move, forming textures and patterns that evolve over time.

The piece flows from microscopic experimentation to large-scale deployment, mirroring the scientific process in sound. And while you don’t need to know the science to appreciate it, knowing the backstory adds depth and dimension. - Something gaining importance as we, too, as human beings move closer towards a multi-dimensional existence.

So why does this matter? Because it pushes us to rethink the boundaries of music, science, and the environment. Biomimicry offers a fresh lens—one that’s not only creative but also ecologically aware. It’s a reminder that our best ideas are already out there, quietly thriving in the natural world, beckoning us to listen.