Augmented Organ-Vibraphone | Fabio Machiavelli

The Augmented Organ-Vibraphone is an instrument developed by Fabio Machiavelli in collaboration with Copenhagen-based percussionist Lorenzo Colombo, as part of Fabio's doctoral research in Nuovi Linguaggi Musicali at the Conservatorio Lucio Campiani (Mantova). Pressure sensors mounted above the vibraphone bars activate a network of sound-producing objects distributed around the instrument. These include solenoids that strike the instrument's own frame and bars, small sound devices housed in wooden boxes and projected through 3D-printed resonating tubes, and loudspeakers placed at the periphery of the setup. The whole system is driven by Arduino-based electronics and a custom Max/MSP patch.

The performer acts on three levels at once. They press the sensors to trigger the distributed sources, open and close the resonating tubes by hand to filter them in real time, and play the bars with mallets in the conventional way. The instrument therefore has no single, stable sound source: a gesture on one part of the keyboard can make sound emerge somewhere else, and the line between playing and controlling tends to dissolve.

The project at IAC is organised in two one-week periods (2–9 October and 7–14 December), with software development continuing in between. The work focuses on hardware ergonomics, sensor calibration, tube acoustics and signal routing. It also reshapes the Max/MSP control architecture based on feedback from the performer. Lorenzo Colombo joins the second period, and his involvement informs both the technical and the performative development, which culminates in a public presentation in December.

Fabio Machiavelli (Pisa, 1993) is a composer whose activity spans composition, performance, and instrument building. He studied Percussion Instruments with Jonathan Faralli (MA in Percussion Instruments, 2018), and Composition with Giovanni Verrando (MA in Composition, 2022), Claudio Vaira, Fabio De Sanctis De Benedictis (BA in Composition, 2020), and others. He continued his education at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena with Salvatore Sciarrino, receiving the Diploma di Merito in 2024. He is currently a PhD student at the Conservatory of Mantua.

Visit Fabio Machiavelli's artist page – fabiomachiavelli.com