Artist DIY: Lea Bertucci

Artist DIY is a series of videos made by artists in collaboration with FACT in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

FACT edits each episode remotely, while the artist shoots at their home or studio with whatever equipment they have available. In this episode, composer Lea Bertucci creates an improvised piece in isolation from her apartment in Queens.

Bertucci, who was at a residency in Porto as the pandemic began, was forced to cancel a European tour and return to New York. On her return, she dug out some field recordings from a trip to Brazil, and responded to the sounds of the locked-down city with her flute.

Artist DIY: Lea Bertucci
Artist DIY: Lea Bertucci

As well as filming a video for the performance itself, featuring visuals by her roommate Bradley Eros, Bertucci explains to FACT what tools and software she uses to record and manipulate acoustic instruments as well as offering advice for anyone in isolation wanting to do the same at home.

Bertucci’s latest release, Acoustic Shadows, began as a series of site-specific musical performances that took place in the hollow body of the Deutzer bridge in Koln, Germany. It’s available now on vinyl and digital formats from SA Recordings together with a sample library in a dedicated plugin.

Lea Bertucci’s music is available now from Bandcamp, where this Friday (May 1) the site will waive its revenue share and give all proceeds to artists.

Artist DIY: Lea Bertucci
Artist DIY: Lea Bertucci

Watch next: Signal Path: Zoë Mc Pherson on mangling sound and multimedia collaboration