SONIC MATTER
LAB
Symbolic Jazz
First Project
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SONIC MATTER
LAB
SONIC MATTER
LAB
Sonic Matter Lab is an open platform for artistic research on AI in music performance. Every project is an artistic work at the centre, mediated by a shared methodological device. Symbolic Jazz is the first — a direct continuation of the Giancarlo Schiaffini / Nuova Consonanza / Italian Instabile Orchestra tradition, extended into human-AI interaction, open to various instrumental ensembles (Project 01 begins at the acoustic chromatic harp 6/6 with electric effects and MIDI technology, in a jazz context; Projects 02..N bring other instruments).
The platform. Browser-based, modular; citable by DOI, source shared with reviewers on invitation (all rights reserved). Bibliography of 14+ integrated technologies (Claude, Magenta, TF.js, RapidLib, WebLLM…), trace schema v2.0, SMLE.N benchmark engine, network of external researchers with institutional email.
The artistic works. Each project is a situated practice, with its own cycle of public performances, symbols, lead researcher. Project 01 — Symbolic Jazz (Vanessa D'Aversa, harp, 2026–). Project 02..N — external researchers via the cross-institutional network.
The shared data. Every performance opens a Sonic Matter Lab Experiment SMLE.N: multi-actor snapshot every 10 seconds, persistent, reproducible. Empirical material for the Research Catalogue, academic papers, EP/album, final artistic examinations.
Sonic Matter Lab is a curated network of institutional artistic research projects, not an open-signup platform. Project 01 — Symbolic Jazz is the founding project. New projects (02..N) join through application.
Researchers with an institutional affiliation (university, conservatory, research centre) who want to bring their own musical project into the Lab — with an institutional email. PhD candidates, post-docs, professors, research staff, independent artists with institutional partnerships.
Institutional standing, methodological coherence with the Lab's shared methodology (SMLE.N benchmarks, multi-actor trace v2.0, federation), and artistic seriousness. We keep the federation small enough to be a real community.
Submit the application form via the Apply to join tab when you click Sign in. The lead researcher reviews each submission and replies to your institutional email within 14 days — accepted, in review with questions, or declined with rationale.
Acoustic chromatic harp 6/6 + electric effects chain + MIDI technology in a jazz context — Vanessa's instrument for Project 01. Hybrid instrument: acoustic core, electric processing, MIDI for foot-switches and AI triggers. Plus microphone capture and biosensors. The Lab framework is instrument-agnostic: the timbre detector identifies the instrument family, the AI places its response in a complementary register — works for any acoustic instrument or ensemble (saxophone, double bass, voice, electronics…). Project 02..N bring their own. Input: symbolic text, voice, MIDI, graphic scores, live-captured audio. Engine: Claude (symbolic AI), Magenta (generative), Agent (trainable native neural network), in-browser LLM voice. Output: digital cymatics Chladni/Water/Lissajous/Fluid, OSC, audio synth.
Performance, Installation, Research mode. Setlist of 12 pieces, MIDI footswitch, deterministic local fallback (never goes dark). Bootstrap chat to co-define parameters before each session. Queue of AI proposals with approve / edit / refuse.
Module V — conditions C1-C6 (shared genesis / audio-only / FFT-driven / decoupled / mismatched / mute). Mobile listener kiosk, opt-in biosensors (Polar H10 HR/HRV, Muse 2 EEG), inter-subject correlation, performer-listener coupling. Publishable ZIP export.
The Lab is the research instrument; Unalome is the public app — Vanessa's frequency & cymatics app for a general audience. They share literally the same visual engine (one visual spec, one FFT, one provenance discipline): patterns published here flow into the app, live concerts stream through both. One research programme, two surfaces.