Francesca Remigi – “Empowered Drums”

Empowered Drums is an artistic research project born from the desire to expand the sonic vocabulary of the drum set by rethinking the role of the drummer within the contemporary performance context. Through a process of preparing and transforming the instrument, the drum set is reconfigured as an electroacoustic device capable of generating, amplifying, and modulating its own sound in real time. The core of the project consists of applying transducers to the resonant heads of the drums, which allow the instrument to amplify its own acoustic output and to
activate and control feedback phenomena, thus producing new timbral and expressive possibilities. The integration of programming and sound synthesis via Max/MSP and Supercollider allows for the further shaping of these responses, transforming feedback into sustained sound materials, textures, and environments with which the performer can interact in an improvisational context. Empowered Drums is part of a doctoral research project dedicated to developing the identity of the drummer-performer through solo practice on augmented instruments. The project explores how the interaction between body, gesture, sound object, and technology can redefine the figure of the drummer, expanding their role from a mere producer of rhythm to a creator of complex and autonomous soundscapes.