The amazing Siberian ice orchestra playing on the world's deepest lake

'It was the most fantastic experience I have ever had - and a very personal one',  said Irkutsk architect Natalya Vlasevskaya, 31, a mother-of-one and organiser of Etnobit percussion group.

'I felt like we were playing on the drums that Nature has left out for us, alone under the sun on the frozen waters of the world's most magnificent lake.'

How did they realise they could make their own Coldplay on Baikal? 

'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. 

'Of course we wanted it! Never mind that it was a six hour drive to that particular spot close to the island of Olkhon. So we all got together and set off a day in advance, arriving late on Friday night. 

'We woke up on Saturday, walked across the thick ice to the spot which was some 50 metres from the shore. It was a magnificent day, very pleasant and sunny, the air still with a temperature of minus 20C.

'So we walked to the same spot where Tatiana, our drummer's wife, fell down so fortuitously, and started touching the ice, feeling how it sounded'.

In fact, for some reason, the ice in other parts of the lake does not produce the same stunning results. While Baikal is 1,642 metres (5,387 feet) deep, in this part of the lake there is only five metres or so of water under them as they perform. 

'I will always remember the first feeling,' said Natalya. 

'You see your hand touching the ice, you hear the sound, but your mind just can't take it in.

'You cannot believe that, yes, this beautiful clear sound is indeed produced by ice. 

'We played and played, with the camera on, for about two hours. The sun was high, and we even got hot because it reflected from the ice. 

'As you know, the fresh air helps stimulate the appetite, plus we had our children with us,  so we went for a lunch break, aiming to watch our performance as we ate'.

But they had forgotten to press the 'record' button - so they had to go back and repeat the exercise. 

'In fact, we were lucky to have another ice session together - and this time, given that it was the second attempts, we tried things like breaking large bits of ice. People later asked us how we found the spot where different bits of ice sounded so much in harmony with each other.

'The answer is, I don't know. This is  just how was. This is perhaps what I mean by saying about it being the wonder of Nature, that all we had to do was to discover that place, get there, and start playing. 

'Everything else was ready, arranged for the most perfect harmonious sound - as if by some magical conductor'.

The group - comprising Natalya, her husband Alexei Vlasevskiy, 34, Efim Viktorov, 21, Tatiana Epifantseva, 41, and Anna Isaikina 25, all from Irkutsk - have won plaudits for their recital, though not everyone agrees.

'Some people with several musical educations came to say that we were just fooling people, and it was all made up, which is not true', she said.  

'Still, I understand precisely why not everyone could believe it was for real.

'When I first realised Baikal's musical potential I, too, well remember the feeling on overwhelming excitement and joy - but also disbelief'.

* The Siberian Times sincerely thanks Alexander Dubynin from Novosibirsk Scientific Centre (Akademgorodok) and his scientific blog http://eureka-info.ru for putting us in touch with 'Etnobit' group. 

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