MECHANICS
from ancient greek Μηχανική, the art of building a machine
Concert for CELLO and OBJECTS
MECHANICS is a concert for prepared cello that emerges from an ongoing exploration of objects, materials, and assemblies. It seeks to develop new extended techniques, experiment with creative processes, and discover unheard sounds and unexpected behaviors of the instrument.
The performance balances on the edge between the subjective and the objective, questioning the role of the composer/improviser. The musician’s free will is constantly countered by objective, mechanical elements—devoid of intention or imagination—that slip beyond his control and participate in the act of creation.
Mauro Basilio applies various unstable physical systems to his cello—vibrating, bouncing, and rotating objects that interfere with the musical gesture and introduce elements of chance.
Electric motors, pegs, sticks, and everyday items are repurposed as extensions of the instrument, turning it into a kind of automaton that produces a responsive soundscape to comply with.
Mauro Basilio allows the music to compose itself—ever-changing yet coherent. The musician is subject to external, neutral, and accidental forces as a cog within an autonomous machine.
The research into extended techniques for cello aims to expand the instrument’s sonic range and polyphonic possibilities without relying on electronics, but rather on simple electro-mechanical tools, often handcrafted by Mauro Basilio himself. His approach embraces a return to simplicity, experimental instrument building, and the recycling of found objects and materials.
The cello preparation kit—that is, the collection of objects the performer keeps within reach during the concert—is constantly evolving. Each step of the journey becomes an opportunity to compose with the environment — its materials, its people, its sounds.
In 2025, Mauro Basilio begins producing a phonographic object that embodies his musical concept.
The album MECHANICS—released on both CD and cassette—investigates how the uniqueness, unpredictability, and fragility of improvised performances can be preserved within the reproducible format of a physical medium. Though the packaging is serialized and all copies appear identical, each one contains a different recording.
The album is a work in progress — an ongoing musical flow that moves from one device to another, from one listener to another.
To bring this singular vision to life, Basilio establishes his own independent record label: StudioFa.