EMPOWERED DRUMS

Empowered Drums

Empowered Drums is an augmented drum set “emancipated” from both an anthropological and a sonic perspective through the use of four transducers, which allow the instrument to function simultaneously as the source of its acoustic sound and as the resonating body for electronically generated outputs. The transducers also enable the controlled generation of electroacoustic feedback, transforming the drum kit into a self-generative and self-narrating sonic entity whose behaviour emerges from the interaction between material properties, digital processing, performative gestures, and the acoustic environment. Rather than treating technology as an extension of human control, this project adopts a posthuman perspective in which musical agency is distributed across human and non-human actors. Situated within this framework, Empowered Drums challenges the conception of the instrument as a passive tool and instead proposes an expanded, relational mode of performance that disrupts the dualism between human and matter.

Francesca Remigi: drums, electronics, composition

Francesca Remigi

Bergamo/Berlin-based musician, Francesca Remigi is a multifaceted drummer and an inquisitive improviser who explores post-instrumental practices redefining the role and the identity of the drummer-performer. Nuova Generazione Jazz 2021, Top Jazz 2022 (MusicaJazz) and Pathways to Jazz 2024 awardee, Francesca Remigi is known for her international collaborations in the avant-garde and contemporary jazz scene featuring musicians such as Steve Lehman, Danilo Perez, Jen Shyu, Linda May Oh, Val Jeanty, Reinier Baas, Kris Davis, Bruno Chevillon, Alexander Hawkins, Antonello Salis, Gianluigi Trovesi, Tomeka Reid, Angelika Niescier, Nicole Glover, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Carmen Staaf, Dayna Stephens, Yuhan Su, Camila Nebbia, DoYeon Kim, Trevor Dunn, Robert Landfermann, Antonio Faraò, Mario Biondi, Simona Molinari and many others, with appearances at EFG London Jazz Festival 2020, Panama Jazz Festival 2022, DC Jazz Festival 2021, Melbourne International Jazz Festival 2022, L’Off Jazz 2022 (Montréal), Tashkent Jazz Festival 2024, North Sea Jazz Festival 2024, Jarasum Jazz Festival 2024 and Montreaux Jazz Festival 2025.