Earth Day 2026: Soumik Datta’s Melodies in Slow Motion addresses climate change through music

The intent with which musician Soumik Datta pulls the strings of his sarod, creating a melodic perspective of the planet’s sensitive ecological phenomena, is not activism; it is awareness. On Earth Day, April 22, all set to perform at G5A Warehouse, Mumbai, he explains the difference between the two while emphasising the curatorial and creative core of his new show Melodies in Slow Motion. “Activism can sometimes feel like a lecture, but music is an invitation. When you hear the rhythmic beauty of a species that is going extinct, you feel a sense of loss that a newspaper headline cannot provide. Music is a potent tool because it bypasses the intellectual brain and goes straight to the nervous system. If I can make an audience feel ‘entrained’ with a honeybee, they are more likely to care about its survival,” he says.

Thematically, Melodies in Slow Motion, commissioned by British Council India, invites its listeners to a sonic exploration of the concept called trophic cascades — the domino effect triggered by changes in ecosystems. The live show fuses pre-recorded field recordings of insect frequencies inaudible to human ear, which sound designer Rahul Nandkarni has captured on ultrasound microphones, along with live performances by Soumik, Sumesh Narayanan (mridangam/percussion), Sayee Rakshith (violin) and Debjit Patitundi (tabla). “Sayee and I have used granular synthesis to stretch those half-second flutters recorded by Rahul into five-minute melodic drones. It is a blend of high-tech sonification and raw, organic field work. We also use microphones to amplify natural objects in the room. And the show relies deeply on the audience, their feedback and their participation. I realised that we cannot talk about interconnectedness unless we break the performer-audience divide and make the audience part of the experience. So no two shows will be the same because the music will respond to the choices of the audience in that specific room,” explains Soumik.