SoulPancake

[SEE. THINK. TALK.]

Diego Stocco finds music in the most unlikely of places. Burning pianos. Lightbulbs. Sand. What will he think of next?

We’re a visually driven culture, relying heavily on what we see to understand the world. Maybe what we should be doing instead is listening. And I don't mean hearing. I hear just fine, but I'm not listening. Maybe I’m overstimulated and easily distracted—or maybe I never learned how to listen in kindergarten.

But something... er, someone... tells me I need to start listening: That person would be musician and sound designer Diego Stocco. Since coming across his work a while ago, I was fascinated at how he could discover sounds that I didn’t even know existed, extracting music and resonance from sand, lightbulbs, drying racks, and burning piano strings. Not only could Diego listen, but he could tune in at a whole other frequency. I had to learn for myself how Diego did it.

SP: What is sound design, and how did you get involved in it?
DIEGO: Sound design is the art of creating sounds that don’t yet exist. A sound designer can create an imaginary world of sounds—for a movie or video game or a musical composition. I started to play with sounds in my early teens. Honestly though, I’ve been totally unaware of the term 'sound design' until I was 21. At that time, I was still living in Italy and working in a studio and the owner suggested me that I was becoming a sound designer. I started reading about it and found out that it was an actual profession with amazing people involved.

SP: What different media have you used to create music and which was your favorite?
DIEGO: In a random order, I have used various material and objects like lightbulbs, toy instruments, a customized typewriter, a bedside table, a drying rack, noises from fridges, computers, a dimmer, water, sand, rocks, ceramics, and a burning piano. I don’t think I have a favorite one, though. They are all different. When I finished something I’m already looking forward to the next work.

SP: What does music mean to you?
DIEGO: Music is constantly evolving toward different directions. I think the definition of music itself is not static and unchangeable—certain genres didn’t even exist 50 years ago—and that’s a good thing because it means that music is an alive entity. To me, music is an expressive form of communication that allows unique types of interactions.

SP: If music can be made from sand, do you think that everything has a hidden potential?
DIEGO: Yes, I really think that there’s much more out there that what we can hear. Our auditory system is very limited if you consider the range of frequencies and intensities present in nature. Several animal species can perceive a much broader frequency range. In “Music from Sand,” I just transported into a more human-friendly range certain frequencies that otherwise we either perceive as noise, or we don’t perceive at all.

SP: Do you approach your work from a scientific or spiritual perspective?
DIEGO: I think it’s a little of both—I’m a spiritual person, but I believe in science as a way to better understand certain phenomena. I need to have a clear idea of what Im trying to achieve, otherwise I could simply miss it.
I’m using tools like microphones and digital converters, but it’s always my curiosity and imagination that push me in finding new ways to make sounds. Without a doubt, nature is incredibly rich and complex, I’m very interested in knowing more about the mechanisms that make things happen, but I approach them from an artistic point of view, with my sound I’m just proposing a possible version, not the ultimate one.

With what unlikely instrument would you like to see Diego Stucco next experiment?

:: mind-blowing sounds heard by Lindsay McComb