Diego Stocco forged a niche for himself in the music world by creating sounds using custom-made instruments and unusual sources. His sonic palette includes sounds culled from sources as simple as sand and as drastic as a burning piano.

The hybrid instruments Stocco concocts, like the Experibass, generally involve sawing common musical instruments in half and attaching them to other instruments or less-conventional objects.

Film composers use Stocco’s sought-after sounds — which are delivered in a multisample format or in loops — in their scores, earning the Italian-born experimentalist a full page of credits as “music sound designer” on IMDb.

For Guy Ritchie’s recent production of Sherlock Holmes , he was credited as “featured soloist,” because composer Hans Zimmer hired Stocco, who moved to Los Angeles in 2007, to perform parts on his Experibass.

These videos were made using pictures and video Stocco took during recording sessions. He composed the songs entirely from sounds created in each sound-design session. The text that accompanies the videos comes straight from Stocco.

Above:

Bassoforte (Wired.com Exclusive)

“A few days ago, I started thinking about how I could repurpose the keyboard of the dismantled piano I keep in the garden, so I thought to build a new instrument by combining it with some other parts I had lying around. I ended up with this mechanical hybrid thing I thought to call “bassoforte.”

“The neck is from a broken electric bass, the bridge is a door handle, the pickups are from a guitar, and the part at the top where the strings are attached is a chimney cap, which works as a resonator as well as adding a percussive sound.

“The track I created is a tribute to my dad, who is a big fan of Western comic books and spaghetti Western films (and because of him, I am too).” —Diego Stocco

The Burning Piano

“I sampled sounds and noises while the piano was burning. Since I only had one take, I recorded as much material as possible.

“Initially I was pointing the gas-flame lighter directly at the strings, and I was playing single notes, but eventually the fire started to burn the hammers and other parts of the piano, and at that point the strings were exploding because of the temperature. Later during the day, I moved the piano and recorded additional sounds with the rest of the burned strings.” —Diego Stocco

Music From Sand

“I had some sandbags in the backyard that I used in November during a rainy day. I was moving them to a different spot when I heard the noise of the sand. I thought that maybe I could try a new sound-design technique, so I bought some piezo-film transducers and started to experiment with them.

“The entire track is created only out of tuned sand tones — no additional sounds or waveforms. I emphasized the inner notes of the sand grains and mapped them on a sampler as a series of instruments. The grooves are all played live with various techniques, including taping two piezo films to my fingers.” —Diego Stocco

Experibass

“While visiting a luthier a few weeks ago looking for parts, I had an idea in mind for an instrument I wanted to build. My curiosity was to hear the sound of violin, viola and cello strings amplified through the body of a double bass. I came up with a quadruple-neck experimental somethingthat I thought to call “experibass.”

“To play it, I used cello and double bass bows, a little device I built with fishing line and hose clamps, a paintbrush, a fork, spoons, a kick-drum pedal and a drum stick.” —Diego Stocco

Music From a Bonsai

“I always liked bonsai trees. I was curious to try the approach I used for “Music From a Tree” on a smaller scale, so I bought a bonsai and recorded this little experimental piece.

“To determine the key, I used the lowest note I could play and recorded the rest around it. Besides playing the leaves, I used bows of different sizes, a piano hammer and a paintbrush. As far as microphones go, I used my Røde NT6, a customized stethoscope and tiny MEAS piezo transducers.

“I played all the sounds and rhythms only with the bonsai. I didn’t use any synthesizer or samplers to create or modify the sounds.” —Diego Stocco

Dissonant Echoes

“A short, abstract piece created during one of the sessions I did for an upcoming project. I used an old dismantled piano, antique zithers collected in the past few months and metallic wind chimes. Played with piano hammers and a dulcimer bow.” —Diego Stocco

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