Research Catalogue

The Microtonal Piano - and the tuned-in interpreter

This exposition documents my explorations of pondering with pine trees. Tämä ekspositio dokumentoi yritykseni miettiä mäntyjen kanssa. Den här ekspositionen dokumenterar mina försök att fundera med furor.

La muestra despliega los resultados de la colaboración sonora con los poetas sonoros Luis Bravo y Pía Sommer durante el transcurso de mi investigación doctoral. La muestra se estructura según los modos de colaboración, y los audios y videos se consideran los registros de una constelación de colaboraciones en torno a la las prácticas vocales, que excede a nuestras agencias humanas, incorporando también la agencia material de la tecnología y de nuestros círculos artísticos. En las intervenciones electroacústicas se trabajó a distancia sobre poemas sonoros previamente fijados por los poetas. Para las colaboraciones performáticas se incorporó el uso de instrumentos y efectos en vivo, y el trabajo a dos voces. Se trató de dos encuentros con cada poeta entre diciembre de 2019 y agosto de 2021 en Chile, Uruguay y España. La muestra incluye también las entrevistas realizadas a ambos poetas y las bitácoras de trabajo durante los encuentros. Por último, también se incluye una sección de archivo de la circulación artística y académica que ha tenido este trabajo.

Home page of the Journal of Sonic Studies

Over the course of many years of playing the qanun; a trapezoidal middle eastern zither-like stringed instrument, I have noticed how often the instrument has been played within its modal traditional framework, leading me to a perception that the qanun and myself are prevented from discovering more techniques and new potentials. I, hence, have been attempting to explore the traditional manners of treating the instrument with regard to timbre, playing techniques, and different harmonic orientations - while trying to maintain its true qualities and not losing sight of its traditional soul. My aspiration, as well as my method, is to be open to what one can do with the instrument rather than to take a specific approach. The qanun had shown an untapped capacity for expanded techniques and a broader range of sounds that enrich and revitalize the instrument's sounds library. This research has enabled me to stretch my boundaries and explore unknown possibilities, which has helped in the expansion of my own self-expression as a composer. It also paved the way for me to investigate further unexplored potentials of the instrument as this research emphasizes to show the qanun’s enormous capabilities that have yet to be realized.

The research enquiry involved experimental research and case study using location-based digital technologies (Geo-Blog) and perception mapping as a further methodological development of Scenarchitecture, a trans-disciplinary methodology developed by Moneta (2012) for reading and interpreting the Genius Loci. It was based on recent work of Italian archaeologist Giuseppe Lugli and his son Pier Maria Lugli (2006) about the ‘Altera Forma Urbis’ of Rome, which investigates the hidden, ‘secret’ structural urban form of Rome in the shape of a ‘Star’. The research was aimed at uncovering old and recent past history of Garbatella district and XI Municipality, as the place in which exists a concentration of urban modifications of Rome, through its connections with Lugli’s studies. Using a hermeneutic phenomenology approach with a focus on making meaning of experiences as they are lived, the research revealed both physical and intangible connections between the Altera Forma Urbis of Rome and its contemporary urban structure within the area of study. Findings evidenced that extending the shape of the ‘Star’ from the original 1st mile radius of the Ancient Rome to 5-mile radius of contemporary city limits, there is a correspondence between the area of study’s main monuments and landmarks with the Star’s generating axes. Evidence of the originality of the findings were an exhibition (Segni Percorsi) commissioned and funded by ‘Urban Centre - Municipio Roma XI’, and a sited performance (Tramandala) commissioned and funded by Festival Teatri di Vetro 3, a renowned Festival of performing arts, and Fondazione Romaeuropa, one of the most prestigious cultural institutions in Europe. Feedback collected during the exhibition and after the performance evidenced the engagement of the audience with the themes and methods of the research. The dissemination of the work included the authored book Scenarchitettura (2012), article on journal Hortus (2009) and research report on Zenodo (2022).