Stellan Veloce

My name is Stellan Veloce, I am a musician, playing many instruments and trained as a cellist. I am also a composer. During the residency at Saari, I would like to continue exploring the potential of collective musicking through simple instruments such as the diatonic harmonica. I was first drawn to the harmonica because of how easily its tuning can be modified. By scraping away or adding small amounts of metal to the reeds, it is possible to experiment with alternative tunings and chord structures beyond equal temperament. I am particularly interested in exploring chord combinations that fall outside standard tempered systems.

A defining feature of the harmonica is that it produces sound both by blowing and drawing air, creating an immediate and intimate connection to the breath. Playing it can induce an almost altered physical state. This quality is especially evident in folk dance music traditions from different regions, such as Sardinia (where I grew up), the Black Sea region of Turkey, and Finland, for example.

I have experimented with retuning both the blow and draw notes to share the same tuning, transforming the instrument into a single tonal center with a strong drone quality. When playing traditional Sardinian rhythmic dance patterns on these retuned harmonicas, I hear similarities with synthesizer arpeggiator, an aesthetic proximity which I find interesting. This led me to further explore the physical aspects of the instrument, such as frequency filtering inside the mouth, as well as the emergence of multiphonics and combination tones in higher registers.

There are more aspects to the instrument that maybe does not have to do much with its sound but with the history and tropes connected to it: it is very inexpensive and easy to find second hand in the markets or on the internet and perhaps the most commodified musical instrument, produced in countless models with variations in reed organization and visual design. Through the act of retuning them, I often feel as though I am creating a new “product”, an object with its own singular identity even before a single note is played.

Culturally, the harmonica is associated to boredom, captivity, the army. Although I have not yet addressed these themes directly in my work, they remain present in my imagination, and I am interested in exploring them more consciously.

I would like to compose simple pieces that can be performed by both amateurs and professionals, integrating these sonic, physical, and cultural dimensions. I imagine this work as a form of experimental harmonica choir practice.

Stellan Veloce is a Berlin-based Sardinian multi-instrumentalist and composer. They studied cello at the Cagliari Conservatory and composition at the Universität der Künste Berlin and the California Institute of the Arts.

Their music focuses on timbral research, iteration and modulations of sound densities, integrating composition with improvisation and band playing. Their background in traditional Sardinian music is a important subliminal inspiration of their work. Beside performing live, they compose music for ensembles and for dance performances, favoring collaborative practices. They collaborate regularly with choreographer Sheena McGrandles, composer Neo Hülcker and filmmaker Silvia Maggi. They occasionally work on stage or studio in the pop music sphere.