Etienne Nillesen is a Dutch sound artist based in Cologne.

His solo work is built around two specially tuned snare drums. The two drums are tuned in a precise microtonal relationship, a specific interval determined by the acoustics of the membrane itself. From this setup arises a music of sustained pitches, overtones, beatings, and difference tones — sound that fills a room, changes character as it moves through space, and is heard differently depending on where and how one listens.

The music is patient. Small differences in intonation, pressure, and contact set things in motion. From two pitches, a third arises, then a fourth. The sound keeps opening. Form is not given in advance. It emerges from what happens between the pitches, the space, and the listener.

Each performance creates a space. The room becomes part of the music. So does the listener.

His work has been presented at Ruhrtriennale, Gare du Nord Basel, Forum Neue Musik Luzern, Meakusma, and nyMusikk Bergen, among other contemporary music festivals and concert series across Europe, North America, and South America.

He is a faculty member at ArtEZ University of the Arts. Grants from Musikfonds, the Ministry of Culture and Science NRW, and the Art Foundation of NRW have supported his work.

“[…] once we let Nillesen cast his spell, an entire world opens up.”
— Peter Margasak, Nowhere Street

TWEE out now on SOFA music.

TWEE (2026) Released on SOFA Music in co-production with Deutschlandfunk. Recorded at Deutschlandfunk Kammermusiksaal, Cologne.

en (2024) Released on SOFA Music in co-production with Deutschlandfunk. Recorded at Deutschlandfunk Kammermusiksaal, Cologne.