Project

Cembalo Scrivano

A project inspired by Media Archeology studies and Remediation theory: understanding new technologies taking into account the evolution of “past new media”. The Cembalo Scrivano is an augmented typewriter. By detecting the typing activity it generates and manipulates audio and visual materials in real-time. This project is inspired by the writing machine invented by Giuseppe Ravizza in 1855 (one of the first writing machine in the history). Ravizza called his invention Cembalo Scrivano (Scribe Harpsichord) due to the usage of piano-keys. In order to implement his machine Ravizza borrowed the interaction paradigm of the Harpsichord (from music to typewriting). The CS raises from the same design approach but it establishes the inverse analogy. Starting from the interaction paradigm of the typewriter I implement an instrument for sonic art (from typewriting to music).