Key Clef is an Italian producer, sound designer and live performer based in Berlin. Her artistic practice combines live improvisation with the construction of deeply immersive sonic environments, exploring sound as vibration, body and memory. Her work moves across contemporary electronic music, ambient and experimental forms, with a strong focus on perception and embodied listening.

Artist in Residence – 40Hz
Residency period: September 22 – October 15, 2025
Open Studio: October 14, 2025
Producer: Taketo Gohara

During her residency at the Musical Atelier of Casa degli Artisti as part of the 40Hz research platform, Key Clef developed a site-specific composition inspired by the idea of an acoustic maternal womb: an enveloping sonic space in which sub-frequencies act subtly yet powerfully on the body, fostering states of deep presence and perceptual suspension.

Compositional Research and Techniques

Key Clef’s research represents a significant step within the 40Hz project, introducing for the first time a clear rhythmic structure into the compositional framework. Her work integrates 40Hz frequencies in both pure and modulated forms, articulated through:
• binaural beats and isochronic tones
• hypnotic rhythmic patterns and pulsations
• mantric structures and extended electronic textures

These elements are combined within a compositional model that relates distant sonic layers, balancing low-frequency vibrations with mid and high frequency material. The result is a dense, material soundscape that operates simultaneously on a sensory, emotional and bodily level.

Her sonic language, suspended between ambient, dark electronics and psychedelic stratifications, aligns with the broader 40Hz objective of exploring how composed music can actively shape listening states rather than simply accompany them.

Open Studio and Public Research Sessions

On October 14, 2025, the Musical Atelier of Casa degli Artisti hosted the Open Studio dedicated to Key Clef, presented in two listening sessions at 8:00 PM and 9:00 PM. As with all Open Studios in the project, the event functioned both as a public performance and as a research setting.

EEG recordings were conducted on a selected group of participants, while the broader audience actively contributed to the research through structured scientific questionnaires administered before and after listening. This combined approach allowed the collection of neurophysiological and behavioral data under real listening conditions, reinforcing the methodological rigor of the project.

Contribution to the 40Hz Compositional Protocol

Key Clef’s residency marks the first structured integration of rhythm within the 40Hz compositional protocol. By introducing pulsation, repetition and temporal articulation into the exploration of sub-frequencies, her work opens new perceptual and expressive possibilities for the ongoing dialogue between music, neuroscience and therapeutic sound research.