Sonic Boom – Mikołaj Rytowski

«Sonic Boom» is the Gare du Nord's new Artist-in-Residence programme. Eight emerging artists from the fields of contemporary and experimental music, sound performance and music theatre are given space and support for their artistic development.

Over a period of two years, they will each create and present two Cartes Blanches in which they can express their individual artistic approaches. The programme is accompanied by a discourse and mentoring format.

For this Sonic Boom evening, Mikołaj Rytowski invites artists Etienne Nillesen and Fabrizio di Salvo, who have each developed their own artistic practice around the snare drum. The concert presents three radically different perspectives on the same instrument. Each performance reimagines the snare drum – its function is shifted, its sound expanded and, in some cases, literally turned upside down.

With approaches ranging from sound sculptures to acoustic depth explorations to immersive spatial installations, the three artists open up the snare drum as a place of resonance, experimentation and transformation – an instrument that constantly surprises, provokes and becomes audible in new ways.

Etienne Nillesen
Etienne Nillesen's exploration of the snare drum fundamentally redefines the instrument: for him, it is no longer merely a vehicle for rhythmic functions, but a self-contained harmonic and melodic entity that speaks in harmonies, textures and changing tones. This is not about advanced technique, but about rethinking what the snare drum can be.
His performances unfold slowly, with patience and precise attention to the acoustic moment. At the centre is an exploration of resonance: the drumhead becomes a dynamic surface that reveals a field of overtones and microtonal interactions. Nillesen works with two snare drums whose overtone structures are closely matched, creating long-lasting tones, dense harmonic textures and pulsating interference patterns. Rhythm does not arise as a predetermined structure, but as a by-product of the harmonic processes.

The form emerges through the real-time negotiation of sonic possibilities and attentive listening to the instrument, the space and the moment. What begins minimalistically grows into an immersive, vibrant field of sonic details in which every change is perceptible. This music defies conventional categorisation. It is neither classically percussive, nor ambient, nor strictly composed. The music revolves around sound, silence and the spaces in between.
Etienne comes from the Netherlands, lives and works in Cologne and teaches at the ArtEZ Academy of Music in Arnhem (NLD). He performs internationally at festivals, museums, concert series and venues dedicated to contemporary and experimental music. His work has been praised by critics worldwide.

Fabrizio di Salvo – «ptera»
«ptera» is an electroacoustic instrument that translates the principle of stridulation, the sound-producing friction between two surfaces, into a controllable musical system. Inspired by the vocalisations of certain insects such as crickets, leafhoppers and cicadas, «ptera» transfers their biomechanical sound production to electromagnetically excited metal components.

The instrument consists of six prepared snare drums and their metal snare wires, each of which is set in motion by two precisely adjustable electromagnets. Without acoustic amplification, the snare wires produce a wide spectrum of friction and noise sounds. This frees the snare drum from its traditional function as a rhythmic element: instead of acting as a pulse generator, it becomes an unstable resonating surface whose sound behaviour is directly influenced by its materiality. The two large electromagnets per snare can be used to create beats that generate an oscillating field of tension within the sound body. Together, they create a constantly changing sound texture that unlocks new potential in the instrument and condenses dynamic, noise and friction sounds into a multi-layered composition.

«ptera» is not intended to be a biomimetic instrument, but rather an artistic and musical abstraction of physiological processes. Biological principles serve as a compositional starting point from which a unique tonal logic emerges. The resulting textures move between organic behaviour and artificial precision, deliberately positioning themselves beyond established categories of natural sound and instrument making.

Fabrizio di Salvo (1981) is a sound artist who grew up in Bern and works at the Bern University of the Arts. His practice uses instrument making as a reflective method for exploring materiality and creates sonic infrastructures shaped by resonant materials, form and listening. Moving away from paradigms of control, his work encompasses improvisation and relational sound practices as ethical and social encounters.
His works have been presented at Ars Electronica, Wien Modern, Milano Musica, Kunsthalle Bern, Kunsthaus Pasquart Biel, Kunstmuseum La Chaux-de-Fonds and Museum der Kulturen Basel, among others.

Mikołaj Rytowski – «the snare drum project»
The Snare Drum Project is a multisensory performance and installation that reinterprets the role of percussion. With an ensemble of twenty prepared snare drums distributed throughout the performance space, the piece functions simultaneously as a spatial sound installation and a live performance platform.
The project is rooted in Rytowski's personal history: the snare drum was his first instrument and forms the starting point for his evolving relationship with percussion and sound. The interplay of music, light and space creates an immersive environment in which percussion becomes not only audible but also physically experiential. Each presentation responds to the space – sometimes as a concert, sometimes as an installation.

Mikołaj Rytowski is a versatile artist with roots in music and performance. His practice – between sound art, improvisation, composition and collaborative forms of work – questions the boundaries between acoustic and electronic instruments. He has been living in Basel since 2019, where he studied at the Basel Academy of Music and has been active in the local and international music scene ever since. hschule für Musik Basel and remains active in the local and international music scene.

With

Etienne Nillesen, Fabrizio di Salvo, Mikołaj Rytowski (snare drum)

Prices

CHF 35.-/25.-/15.- (free choice at the box office or in advance)
Free admission applies to persons with residence permit N, F or S. / CHF 5.- students of the Hochschule für Musik FHNW and the Musicology Seminar of the University of Basel / CHF 10.- members Colourkey, KulturLegi and children under 12 years.

Links

→ etiennenillesen.com
→ fabriziodisalvo.com
→ mikolajrytowski.com