A multi-layered, multimedia approach to the open question of «Italian identity» in sound and music. Through a variety of approaches, from essay to memoir, interview, video playlist, and open letter, this Special hopes to foster a broader conversation on the past and present of Italian culture, as it asks the unanswered question: what can be labeled as Italian music, after all? Order the book version of this Special now. Edited by Francesco Fusaro.

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    Sonic Traces: From Italy
    Book
    The Norient Special «Sonic Traces: From Italy» is a multi-layered, multimedia approach to the open question of «Italian Identity» in sound and music. A 132 page print version of the Norient Online Special.
  • The unanswered question, that of identity (design by Marina Benetti).
    Prelude in an Interrogative Mood
    Introduction by Francesco Fusaro
    Some people think they know what Italian music is, until you really start to ask.
  • Self-portrait of Lorenzo Brusci (courtesy of the author; additional design by Marina Benetti).
    Speaking Music
    Short Essay by Lorenzo Brusci
    Drawing from his first-hand experience with sound installations and AI-assisted music composition, musician and philosopher Lorenzo Brusci, founder of MUSICO, offers a multimedia techno-poetic essay on the history and current status of machine-assisted musicking.
  • Still from a video shot during a performance of tecnopizzica at a carnival party at Università di Lecce in 1998 (Piero Fumarola’s personal archive; image courtesy of Giovanna Martelloni and Ernesto Fumarola; additional design by Marina Benetti).
    Turbo Sud: South Italian Traditional Rhythms and Their Encounters with Electronic Music
    Essay by Agostino Quaranta
    Taking cues from his interdisciplinary and research-based project Turbo Sud, visual artist and music producer Agostino Quaranta unearths the almost forgotten memories of electronic experiments made with pizzica pizzica, in the Southeast of Italy.

Sonic Traces: From Italy

This Special is curated by Francesco Fusaro and funded by Italia Music Export, with the kind support of Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Londra and the Festival of Italian Literature in London.

Norient Special 009: Sonic Traces: From Italy