Metal Instruments explores the point where acoustic percussion begins to resemble electronic sound.

Recorded at the Royal Danish Academy of Music with sound engineer John Cleworth, the pack is built from bell plates, tuned gongs and Sixxen, the microtonal metallic instruments designed by Iannis Xenakis. Each instrument is approached as raw material for rhythm, resonance and texture, using different beaters, resonators and playing techniques to bring out its less familiar qualities.

Bell plates develop into long, evolving drones and unstable harmonic textures, as well as dense micro-beats created by repeatedly exciting their natural resonances. Tuned gongs become waves of shifting rhythm and movement, while the unusual tuning of the Sixxen opens up more dissonant and unconventional harmonic material.

The collection ends with a series of performed rhythmic cells that move away from the grid, preserving the timing, gesture and natural instability of acoustic playing.

Organised by instrument and technique, Metal Instruments is a collection of physical sounds ready to be cut, layered, pitched and transformed further.

About Lorenzo Colombo

Lorenzo Colombo is a Copenhagen-based percussionist, performer, and sound artist working across contemporary music, experimental performance, and electronics. He is a founding member of NEKO3 and several other ensembles, and teaches percussion and post-instrumental and multimedia performance at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, where he received his Soloist Diploma in 2023.

His work includes collaborations with composers such as Simon Steen-Andersen, Simon Løffler, and Alexander Schubert. He received the Léonie Sonning Talent Prize in 2022 and is the founder of the independent record label Don't Look Back.

What's Inside

29 x Bell Plate samples

12 x Tuned Gongs

4 x Sixxen samples

4 x Rhythmical Constructions