Ghost whispered distortion: Disembodiment as a Performative Spectrum (2024-2026), is an artistic research project developed within the Music and Research program at the Musik-Akademie Basel.

What are the aesthetic and technical outcomes of decentralizing the performer as the main agent of a sonic instrument? How can operations be automated and programmed using physical sound objects rather than computation alone? How can an acoustic instrument be designed in order for it to be able to capture and manipulate the otherwise inaudible activity of infrasound?

At the center of this artistic project is CLSTR0, an acoustic distortion effect that was originally produced by accident. Although the objects that emitted this sound for the first time were three classical percussion instruments casually clustered together (namely a Bass nicophone, a timpano, and a tibetan bowl), the research needed to understand and to harness CLSTR0 at a technical and physical level has made it possible to reproduce this acoustic phenomenon on many new instrumental clusters. These new clusters can range from collections of traditional percussion instruments, to Machine Learning audio synthesis interfaces, to audio-visual installations, or interactive acoustic environments, and even CLSTR1, an instrument designed under the mentorship of Domenico Melchiore (Lunason).

Whispers of ghosts are summoned by supercolliding multidisciplinary forces in this ongoing project, whose sound pieces and installation hybrids have been showcased at the AI+Performance Hacklab of Sónar Festival (Barcelona, ES), Kode9’s workshop Sonic Tactics (Fano, IT), the Darmstädter Ferienkurse (GE), FABRIKculture (Hégenheim, FR), and at music research conferences such as the VI Conference in Artistic Research in Music of the Pyrenees (ES & FR) and Transplanted Roots: Percussion Research Symposium (Porto, PT).

(Picture: Finn Mannion, 2023)