REM@KE

REM@KE (Reconstructing Embodied Musical Knowledge at the Keyboard) is a project funded by the European Research Council (ERC) through a Synergy Grant. Its aim is to reconstruct the sound and function of lost historical musical instruments while developing new theoretical, experimental and digital tools to investigate the musical knowledge that emerges from the interaction between instruments and their performers.

Musical instruments occupy a unique place within cultural heritage. To ensure their preservation, they are often removed from use, yet an instrument that can no longer be played loses an essential part of its identity. REM@KE addresses this challenge by investigating how these instruments sounded, how they were built and how they were played, making it possible to reconstruct them and recover their voices through both physical replicas and digital technologies.

To achieve these goals, the project has developed a new research framework, Cognitive and Digital Organology (CaDO), bringing together organology, performance practice, cognitive science and digital technologies. This interdisciplinary approach considers musical instruments not simply as objects, but as part of a network of relationships involving makers, performers, scholars and listeners.

By rethinking the relationship between instrument, gesture and music, REM@KE seeks to restore the voices of historical instruments, deepen our understanding of past musical practices, and contribute to the preservation and enhancement of a cultural heritage that might otherwise remain silent.