Meet Chromaplane: an Interview with Passepartout Duo

Thoughts on Inventing Instruments + KOMA Collaboration

Eldar Tagi · 08/02/24

Passepartout Duo, the musical partnership between pianist Nicoletta Favari and percussionist Christopher Salvito, is a unique creative force synthesized through world traveling, music-making, and instrument design. Referring to their practice as "slow music", the duo has been in a state of a nearly perpetual world tour over the last decade, during which they have been building new instruments, composing and performing music, and engaging with the local communities.

At SuperBooth 2024, the duo presented Chromaplane, a new instrument they have been developing and performing with over the past few years. Produced in collaboration with the renowned Berlin-based brand KOMA Elektronik, the Chromaplane is an extraordinary musical instrument that allows its player to harness the power of electromagnetic waves expressively through a very intuitive and clear interface. Intrigued by this concept and captivated by the instrument's ethereal tone and performance possibilities, we decided to learn more about it from Nico and Chris, as well as explore their inspiring life of travel and creativity.

As of the time of publishing this article, Chromaplane is in its initial funding stage on Kickstarter—and has already reached over four times its funding goal. Given KOMA's excellent track record, Passepartout Duo's sheer inventiveness, and the public's overwhelming enthusiasm for this new instrument, we have no doubt that it will be a great success. If you're looking to get your hands on a Chromaplane sooner rather than later, check out the Kickstarter campaign here. Additionally, Nico and Chris are visiting our Burbank Showroom on August 14th, 2024—so stop by between 3pm and 8pm to meet them, chat, and try out Chromaplane for yourself.

That aside, let's learn more about Passepartout Duo and the Chromaplane straight from Nico and Chris.

An Interview with Passepartout Duo

Passepartout Duo

Eldar Tagi: Hi Nicoletta and Christopher. It's a pleasure to have you join us. Can you share the origin story behind the formation of Passepartout Duo?

Nicoletta Favari + Christopher Salvito: We were about to graduate as music students when we met at a summer festival fellowship in Maine in 2015. Finding ourselves to be on identical wavelengths in terms of creative itch, chamber music interests, and general ambitions, we started the duo that month. We immediately applied to our first artist residency together, and started planning our first month-long tour too. Trying to organize opportunities that would put us closer geographically was key at the time, as Chris was based in the US, and Nico was based in Scotland. From there we kept playing together, primarily working through artist residencies and concert tours.

ET: How do your distinct backgrounds and artistic perspectives complement each other within the project?

NF + CS: We are both trained as performing instrumentalists, Nico on piano and Chris on percussion. This means that we come from quite similar backgrounds actually, similar musical taste, and aesthetics in general.

A friend funnily mentioned that in our work you could find a match between the Apollonian and Dionysian. It’s definitely possible to be much more Dionysian than us, but there is certainly a mix between a conceptual approach and just the fun of making music together. And overall, if either of us has an idea first, the other becomes its first critic. So when we put something out there, a piece of music as much as a new instrument design, it has gone through a lot of back and forth already.

ET: How would you describe the general philosophy that drives your work?

NF + CS: We have been reflecting on a concept we call “slow music”: with this term, we mean that our creative process starts from instrument making and ends with recording and performing. We like to be there every step of the way—it takes a bit of time because it starts from zero, and along the way we always reconsider the tools, the materials, the approach for creation, the language, the form, and the modality of the music.

Because of this approach, we see instruments as a kind of sacred object: the rare kind which is neither disposable nor replaceable. At their best, instruments are among the few objects that can provide a lifetime of fulfillment to a person. We feel they give us a sort of super power. We see the creation of instruments as an exploration of this super power, and an exploration of these wonderful things which somehow can evade the world’s modern concept of obsolescence.

ET: Your practice is quite multifaceted, involving composing and performing music, creating sound art installations, and designing and building unique instruments. All of this happens while you are on a "nearly continuous world tour." What is your creative process like, and how do you navigate all these aspects of your work?

NF + CS: All the mentioned approaches feed into each other. Different opportunities that are offered to us and different spaces that we find ourselves working in require us to do different things, or to shine light on different aspects of sound and music that intrigues us. At the end of the day though, performing live is the core of the duo, and what we would never want to give up.

We think that to discuss our travels, we have to discuss artist residencies first: these are the institutions and spaces around the world that have hosted our studio based practice for seven years now. Our creative process, our location at any given time, and our work itself is largely dependent on and informed by these magical places.

Passepartout Duo in residence at the European Ceramic Workcentre, NL in 2022

[Above: Passepartout Duo in residence at the European Ceramic Workcentre, NL in 2022.]

A friend once deeply left an impression on us by referencing a book by Rebecca Solnit, titled “A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster”. It tells about the sort of communities that people create after big catastrophic events such as earthquakes, hurricanes, and wars. And there is a space for musicians there too, as generators of a microworld of joy, for no particular reason, that do “the subtle work of making society”. Since then we have been thinking a lot about this connection between our role in society, and our creative output.

ET: On your website, you mention that the biggest impact of your traveling artist lifestyle has been on your approach to making music. Can you elaborate on this change?

NF + CS: There are both practical and philosophical ways in which travel has impacted our life and music-making. Of course, first it influences the choices we make in terms of our set up and instruments. We have been through a multi-year process of refinement to achieve a compact setup that would feel easy to carry, fast to set up, interesting to look at, all while still inspiring us from a musical point of view. The Chromaplane has marked a major step of progress for us in that sense.

Chromaplane Prototype n.1 at the Watermill Center, USA

[Above: Chromaplane Prototype n.1 at the Watermill Center, USA]

For our musical compositions, we have also learned to stay very flexible, so that we can stretch ourselves depending on audience expectations and circumstances. We want to play for anyone anywhere, which has had a big impact on the types of projects we can do and take on, and the way in which we realize any new ideas we have.

But maybe most of all, we feel continually inspired by the other people that we meet on the way: these encounters, and everything they tell us about life and music have totally transformed us as people and musicians.

ET: Can you share a couple of the most memorable instruments and performance setups you've designed over the years? What inspired them, and what kind of music did they foster you to create?

One of Passepartout Duo's first instruments, the glockboard (2020) One of Passepartout Duo's first instruments, the glockboard (2020)

NF + CS: The first set up we made ourselves was composed of a combination of simple wood and metal electroacoustic instruments: small marimbas, lyras, and also struck tines from toy pianos too. We were inspired mainly by an urge to make a portable musical world that we could take with us, and so we toured with this setup all the way from Tbilisi to Shanghai, going over land by train and stopping along the way to share our music. It was the first time we got to recontextualize our experimental approach in some very unusual circumstances. It tested both ourselves and our music, and it was the first time we realized that our instruments have to endure just as much as we do when we travel like this.

The Chromaplane pulls from the same understanding of music and composition, taking on the limitations of the instruments is almost always our starting point for musical material—we ask ourselves “what kind of music does this instrument want to make?”—we try our best not to fight with materials, but to instead allow them to be fully appreciated for what they are. We set on using two Chromaplanes facing one another, a configuration for our set called Circo Pobre, that we’ve been touring for about three years. We use the Chromaplane as a sort of abstracted electronic interpretation of the Basque wooden instrument called txalaparta. The Chromaplane made it possible for us to record a couple of albums too, one of which is a collaborative album and is deeply rooted in improvisation, which is not very common for us; that became possible only because of the immediacy of getting around the Chromaplane.

Finally, we have to mention all of our textile instruments and experiments—combining these two disparate worlds has been an interesting if turbulent part of our work that has given us an opportunity to embrace playfulness.

We have this idea that any musical instrument is really a mirror, you see in it a little of what you are yourself, and of what you know. It’s most interesting for us to see how others see, interpret, and eventually will make use of this work.

An assortment of textile instruments by Passepartout Duo

ET: What does it mean to be a traveling artist in the modern world? What challenges do you face with this lifestyle, and what benefits does it offer?

NF + CS: In a sense, traveling is an essential part of nearly every artist’s life. Especially as a musician, touring is the way in which we can share what we do on a person-to-person level. In terms of challenges, we do have a different sense for what the relationships we can foster are like, and how they evolve over time—we’re still figuring out what it means to make and be part of a community, while continuing to do what we do. In fact, we really hope that the instruments we make can contribute to that, and help us better connect with people.

[Above: Passepartout Duo In their studio in Niigata, JP; photo © Osamu Nakamura Photo, courtesy of YUI-PORT (Niigata City Center for Creative Arts and International Youth Exchange)]

ET: Your newest instrument invention, the Chromaplane, is a quite unusual electromagnetic synthesizer. Can you tell us the story behind this instrument? What inspired the idea, how long have you been developing it, and how did the collaboration with Koma come about?

NF + CS: The story of the Chromaplane really started in the summer of 2021, when we were finishing up a sound installation called Vibrant Matter, using textiles and electronics. We were playing with the idea of inductive coils and electromagnetism, and we were also trying a microphone as a way of performing with the installation. We were really impressed by how expressive and magical the interaction with these coils was.

Passepartout Duo's Vibrant Matter, photo copyright Kasper Heden Andersen

[Above: Vibrant Matter, photo © Kasper Heden Andersen]

Setting up a sound installation at every gig is not really practical though, so we immediately decided we needed to make it compact, portable, and performer-friendly. The isometric layout of the instrument’s coils, and the techniques we imagined using, are inspired a lot by Chris’ background as a percussionist—we just thought it would be fun to have a percussion instrument you play using microphones instead of sticks, and to be able to “hold” the struck note, something which percussion can’t really do.

From there we prototyped a few PCBs and enclosures, and made the first version of the Chromaplane in Sep. 2021. Then, we ‘premiered’ the instrument on our US and South American trips in 2022, where we performed dozens of concerts in many different circumstances using the instrument. We were so concerned in those months, because we had all these gigs lined up and only two Chromaplanes existed in the whole world, so if our bags got lost or even if we dropped one of them, we had no back up plan really… It was the Chromaplane’s preciousness in our life, and the reaction of audiences to it that pushed us to decide early on that the Chromaplane could potentially bring something new to the table in a more substantial way.

We decided to get in touch with KOMA because of all their previous work based around DIY approaches, community building, and their spirit of experimentation that comes through in products such as the Field Kit. Since then, we have really refined it together as a product offering, going through many prototypes, cycling them in different concert tours, and presenting it in its latest form at Superbooth this year.

ET: On the technical side of things, what is the architecture of the instrument?

NF + CS: We normally describe the instrument as two separate entities—the first is the electromagnetic surface, and the second is the pickup interface. The electromagnetic surface consists of ten flat copper spirals etched beneath the surface of the aluminum enclosure—these tuned fields each correspond to a pitch set by the musician through its square wave oscillator. Those fields have an isomorphic layout which fills the surface of the instrument and is organized into three rows. Each row has a corresponding switch that changes it down one octave. On its own, the electromagnetic surface is completely inaudible, but always present electromagnetically.

In order to play the instrument and listen for these fields, you use two pickups which, through the pickup interface, listen for and amplify the fields’ signals. There is further processing on this signal that gives the instrument its characteristic sound: a VCF, delay, and envelope follower. The VCF is modulated by the input signals of the two pickups by default, giving a kind of interdependence to the sound based on the combination of fields played and exaggerating any beating effects present. Finally, an external input allows you to connect any audio to the bottom left electromagnetic field, giving the possibility of feedback patching in addition to live mixing of signals.

We’ve kept the Chromaplane’s core architecture 100% analog from the beginning as we feel it gives its sound an organic and complex feeling.

On the whole, the Chromaplane is a simple instrument, but a lot of care and consideration has been put into every detail—everything here has been done deliberately: when we designed the Chromaplane, we made it for ourselves first, exactly as we needed it. In fact, it had many fewer features then. It has served us so well as two performers that every detail has been reconsidered at every step—our philosophy artistically and musically is all about exploring limitations, both world- and self-imposed, and that’s something we’re really interested to see how others explore through the Chromaplane.

ET: What are the ways Chromaplane can interface with other instruments/setups?

NF + CS: In the end, we think the very best way to use the Chromaplane with other instruments is as its own complete voice that you play, and then process further afterwards—so that means integrating it through further audio effects. Looping, delays, or granular effects really give the instrument a persistence and autonomy that can’t be achieved through always actively playing it.

That being said, the instrument has CV control over its integrated delay (time) and filter (frequency cutoff), so those can add dynamic movement to the instrument’s sound. Additionally, the instrument’s CV envelope follower output can be used to control and change external gear according to distance from the instrument’s surface.

The instrument also has an external audio input, that inserts an external signal to the bottom left-most field on the instrument's surface—this really opens up a world of possibilities that we haven’t even fully explored yet. It’s possible to create complex feedback loops that are controlled by your distance from that field, or have a dynamic effects send, or send a sequence or arpeggiation of another synth voice to add more harmonic movement beyond the notes present on the surface. Everything that goes through the external audio input would of course continue downstream to the filter and delay, which can be impacted by other movements on the surface.

KOMA Elektronik x Passepartout Duo Chromaplane

Finally, it’s also possible to insert non-pickup signals into the pickup inputs, something we’ve only begun exploring and would consider an experimental/alternative use, but you can still fully play the surface while integrating that external input by using a splitter to insert two or more additional pickups—everything would just be summed into the filter from there.

For folks who already have modular systems, it’s also possible to bypass the pickup-interface part of the instrument entirely and set up your own with just a few modules: all that would entail is setting up modules that pre-amplify the pickups slightly, and then patch them through further audio processing, if you already have a variety of modules, you could easily expand the Chromaplane to be stereo (panning two pickups to different sides), have other filter possibilities, independent envelope followers per pickups, more than two pickups—pretty much anything you can imagine.

ET: Is the instrument tuned to a particular musical scale or is it user-definable?

NF + CS: The instrument consists of ten oscillators that are each freely tuned by the user. Each oscillator has a corresponding adjustment screw, which is used to set the tuning. Setting the musical (or non-musical) scale of the Chromaplane already places us in a creative state—the limitation of ten notes (twenty notes counting the octave switches), really transforms the act of tuning into a compositional activity. The notes you choose, and the way you choose to arrange them on the surface, is a compositional process that will determine heavily the sound of the music you will make with the instrument.

To help better facilitate this way of thinking, we’ve created a website inviting people to tune, share, and organize different note layouts for the instrument. On the site, you can play a virtual version of the Chromaplane, and tune your analog one in person to the same notes you decide on the screen—you can share and save your tunings as a unique URL link, or even contribute a tuning to the community. We curated a seed of the tuning library based on general music theory and our own music practice. We see this not only as a way to increase the accessibility of the instrument, but also an open-sourcing of our musical and compositional process.

Chromaplane tuner

[Above: Chromaplane tuner]

Finally, we’ve also designed a tuner which can be placed over one of the fields to read out its current pitch—this allows you to tune without hearing the sound of the instrument. We’ve found it very useful for tuning during performances. Both the tuner and website are more limited than the instrument itself, because they are only set up to work with twelve tone equal temperament, while the Chromaplane can be tuned to any frequency.

We’d really love to see how this community approach toward tuning evolves from here.

ET: What is your current roadmap for Chromaplane's release?

NF + CS: The Kickstarter campaign for the Chromaplane started on July 23rd, and will run for about a month. During this period we will be holding a few selected live events, both in the US and in Europe, where more people will have the chance to try the instrument in person too. We will close off this adventure with a moment of community and music at the KOMA headquarters in Berlin at the end of September. Production of the instrument will follow, and all Kickstarter rewards should be shipped by the end of the year.

ET: Once Chromaplane is released, do you think your personal relationship with the instrument will change? Will it remain central to your performance setups, or are you planning to revisit and possibly change your travel setup again?

NF + CS: We certainly hope it does! Until this point, we’re really the only people who have a relationship with our instruments—how could that not change with many others playing the Chromaplane? Our hope for the Chromaplane is to create a sense of community around the active play and experimentation in music that inspires us, and to also push us to think more deeply about the instruments we make and the way we approach music too.

We had a first sort of disassociating experience, but a good one, as the Chromaplane was used by another performer on stage, and that was Sam Slater at Superbooth this year. We are definitely eagerly waiting to see what everybody else will do using the Chromaplane, and this will be inspiring too, as we think the Chromaplane will stay at the centre of our setup, at least for a little longer. As the newest features were added quite recently, we did not have quite enough time to explore them in our live set so, in a way, even if the whole Kickstarter adventure brings on a lot of excitement and joy, we can’t wait to go back to the bare and simple act of music making to explore it all ourselves! We can also imagine that future projects around the Chromaplane might be more collaborative, maybe joining it to other instruments or having multiple performers on multiple Chromaplanes. Everything is possible!

ET: Would you like to share any upcoming projects or plans with us?

NF + CS: We have two albums coming out this year, first a collaboration with the Japanese duo Inoyama Land, featuring the Chromaplane and some old-time Kurzweil and Casio keyboards too; and a solo release, that focuses on music we wrote while in residence at the Electronic Music Studio in Stockholm using their Serge and Buchla systems, alongside acoustic piano.

Passepartout Duo at the Serge Modular Music System in the studio at EMS in Stockholm, SE

[Above: Passepartout Duo at the Serge Modular Music System in the studio at EMS in Stockholm, SE]

We are also developing new ideas for sound installations that include embroidered fractal curves as inductors, radio feedback and transmissions, hydrophones and buoys…

ET: Is there anything else you would like our audience to know about Passepartout Duo?

NF + CS: Yes! You can always write to us, and you can also subscribe to our newsletter, and follow our steps, especially through Instagram, so that you can see anytime we visit near you!

[Ed.: Remember—Passepartout Duo is visiting our Burbank showroom on August 14th, 2024! Come by any time between 3pm and 8pm to learn about Chromaplane, to try it out for yourself, and to chat with Nico + Chris in person. And if you want a Chromaplane for yourself, be sure to check out the Kickstarter campaign here!]