A trio for actuated tabletop electric guitars, tam-tam, and electronics. This piece is the second episode of a cycle of works on self-driven acoustic instruments and their performative possibilities. It is written around two instruments whose sound production happens via acoustic means – the resonance of a very large plate in the Tam tam and the vibration of strings in two electric guitars – but which bodies are augmented with DIY electro-mechanical systems that allow sustained sound through feedback.
This setup alters the instruments’ behavior, bypassing traditional performance techniques and requiring a process of research of new modes of interaction together with the performers. The piece explores the instability of feedback as a compositional tool, where small physical changes in the setup, different instrument exemplars in the hands of different performers can produce radical sonic transformations. The work is part of a broader cycle investigating self-regulating acoustic systems and their performative potential.
