Composing with piezo is the title of my research which concerns the composition of instrumental music implemented with a specific use of piezoelectric microphones - low cost and low fidelity1 contact microphones. During the research process, I explored a peculiar use of this technology not only to disclose and amplify the instrumental sound but also to produce otherwise unheard sounds, through a reinterpretation of some instrumental gestures, such as glissando, tapping, scraping, etc, produced by playing with the microphone directly on the instrument. Mainly because of the non-linear quality of unprocessed piezoelectric microphones, which thus present limits and different degrees of controllability and predictability - their introduction in my compositional work changed the relationships with the instrumental sound matter, bringing to question different aspects of my compositional approach. Therefore, during the whole research process, I looked for frameworks, theories, and examples, to understand and bring focus to my evolving compositional practice.
The opening chapter of my thesis starts by investigating the history of the contact microphone and the way it has become a cultural object. I consider diverse artistic experiences in the time window from the '60s to the '80s, when contact microphones began to be a widespread technology. From then on, the use of contact microphones has become common in a huge and diverse range of artistic experiences, most of them related to sound art and experimental music. The low cost of piezoelectric elements and their robustness are the main practical reasons for the spread of piezoelectric disks, whose technological features have been curiously kept as they were in the '80s, while at the same time, different applications of piezoelectricity underwent a remarkable development.
The second chapter addresses what kind of changes and interferences the introduction of piezoelectric microphones brings into the instrumental sound system. I start by observing the kind of impact the use of piezoelectric microphones on acoustic instruments has on the listening experience, which I defined as a "stethoscopic form of listening". In fact, comparing the piezoelectric microphone to a stethoscope, the listening experience can be understood as a form of mediate and technical listening, which brings to develop a different understanding of the sound matter framed by the piezo. I then address the role of the piezo within the instrumental system, from an ecological perspective, taking into account the complexity of the feedback network between the instrument and the performer, and the alteration of the usual perceptual habits. I finally consider how the introduction of piezo allows for the building of new instrumental systems, that becomes a relevant aspect of the compositional practice.
The third chapter highlights some relevant concepts that have emerged from my practice and have become operational within the development of my research. Most of them come from different disciplines such as compositional theory, electroacoustic theory, media theory, sociology, and media history. Working with piezo brought me first of all to consider the importance of framing the sound during the compositional process: this allowed me to better understand the properties and the intrinsic potentialities of the material I would deal with. So, I dwell on the relevance of a few spectromorphological concepts, concerning the understanding of instrumental sound matter and its shaping through the definition of different instrumental sound gestures, which inhabit various temporal dimensions. I go on by focusing on the quality of sonic intimacy, considering how the use of piezo tends to bring to the foreground a different perception of the proximity of sounds. I then address the role of notation in getting control over the definition of sonic ideas and the general progress of the work. I finally consider the role that memory has within the compositional work in anticipating and storing sonic ideas, taking advantage of the concept of the archive, borrowed from media theory.
The fourth chapter is dedicated to the main artistic outputs of my research. For each work, I will explain the technical setup, the context for which the piece has been written, and the compositional practice. Every piece tells something different about the use of the piezoelectric microphones and the way they have interacted and interfered with the embodied practices and habits implied in each instrumental system. But also about how piezoelectric microphones have influenced my relationship with musical material, allowing me to develop a more conscious compositional approach.
The text of these four chapters is supported by many examples from my artistic practice - with the exception of chapter one, whose examples are referred to the different mentioned authors. The thesis is finally completed by four appendices, mentioned in the text.
