For the sake of clarity, a dictionary definition of the term ‘organic’ is first offered.

organic
organic adj
1. of, produced by, or found in plants or animals, the rocks were carefully searched for organic remains,
2. not using, or grown without, artificial fertilizers or pesticides, organic vegetables, an organic farm,
3. (Chem) of or belonging to the class of chemical compounds that are formed from carbon,
4. (of change or development) gradual and natural rather than sudden or forced,
5. made up of many different parts which contribute to the way in which the whole society or structure works, an organic whole,
 
Collins English Dictionary Online - 10th Edition 2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009. Retrieved December 2010 from http://www.collinslanguage.com

A contextual definition might include sounds made by plants and animals (including humans) as well as all sounds that exhibit the behaviour and/or form of living things (the surrogates of living organisms). In live electroacoustic music, this may include the use of real-world samples, abstract sounds produced by musical instruments, as well as those produced by generative systems.
 
Firstly, regarding the use of sound samples in live electroacoustic music: Australia and New Zealand are home to some of the most remarkable (and some of the most endangered) species of plants and animals in the natural world. Sounds from the Australasian biosphere such as wind, waves, insects, bird and whale song have, for centuries - if not millennia - provided musicians with a source of inspiration, and with settings in which to contemplate their individual and collective heritage. Body sounds and rhythms too, form a powerful subset of musical materials on which many claim human appreciation of musical phraseology and dance is based. Then there are the industrial and urban soundscapes  - the sounds of every day life - that might that might be considered to be organic. Since the advent of recording, composers have made prolific use of real-world sounds in their music, and in both Australia and New Zealand there is an established culture of sample editing approaches to music making. Now, with the aid of multichannel technology, and faster computer processing, composers have the capacity to reproduce sophisticated real-world environments in 3-dimensions, and to use a number of once-non-real-time processes in live performance. Some interesting questions arise: What are the advantages of employing such technologies in this way? How might sound samples be used to greatest effect in live electroacoustic performance settings?
 
The term ‘organic’, within the context of music is not without precedent. In popular music it is often used to describe the quality of certain sounds as ‘living’, or to highlight a specific process of natural and/or evolutionary development – so it is with ease, that it migrates to the realm of abstract instrumental sounds. Traditional Maori and Aboriginal instruments have achieved a special status in their ability to evoke associations with living things present and past, while modern and ancient instruments made from wood, bone, seashells, clay, and stone appear to be being used more and more in live contemporary performance. Electroacoustic composers can now elect to transform acoustic instruments (both traditional and modern), and/or other objects of personal value into complex hyper-instruments that produce organic acoustic, and electroacoustic sounds. Very quiet, (and sometimes inaudible) sounds, such as those produced by some ethnic instruments, or sounds from the human body, can be amplified, and spectrally extended in real time, transforming our ordinary sense of spatial organisation. Within this sub-domain, some important questions arise: How might traditional Maori and Aboriginal instruments be respectfully employed within the context of electroacoustic music? How might technology be used to extend or change our own body boundaries?
 
The term may also be used to describes generative systems based on conversational or evolutionary models. For this special class, we might adopt the category of ‘surrogates of living things’. These intelligent artificial agents are being used more and more (in various musical settings) as a means of extending the sonic capabilities of instruments, to manage information too complex for the ordinary performer to comprehend (such as multimodal gestural data), and as performers in their own right. How might this new technology be used to assist the ordinary electroacoustic performer/composer?
 
Scientific and socio-cultural approaches to the subject unearth several complex sub-topics each with its own set of detailed questions: What are the salient features (abstract sonic characteristics) that lead to the appreciation of sound as organic? Does psychological projection of ‘the self’ (or selves) play a part in the efficacy of such sounds? Does the use of organic sounds in electroacoustic music encourage a paradigm shift from Music for Performance to Music for Personal Growth?
 
Academic discussion on the theme Organic Sounds In Live Electroacoustic Music is a difficult proposition, as there are a number of remote, yet intersecting domains to consider – each with its own set of terms, and its own cluster of research priorities. Nevertheless, significant contributions to the topic (and sub-topics) have already been made. There is much to be gleaned from the music of Australasian composers and performers who work with the (often unique) sound sources specified; from their artist’s talks and research publications; and from the expert domain literature associated with the fields of acoustic ecology, Maori and Aboriginal music, socio-cultural aspects of electroacoustic music, live electronic music, and psychology of human audition. The organisers of ACMC11 feel that the subject is important to Australasia, and worthy of further investigation.