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Experimental music composer Christian Wolff in his prepared piano performance, 2007.
Experimental music composer Christian Wolff in his prepared piano performance, 2007. Christian Wolff (born March 8, 1934) is an American Composer of experimental classical music.

A prepared piano is a piano which has had its sound altered by placing objects (preparations) between or on the strings or on the hammers or dampers. The piano is a Musical instrument played by means of a keyboard that produces sound by striking steel strings with Felt covered hammers

The idea of altering an instrument's timbre through the use of external objects has been applied to instruments other than the piano; see, for example, prepared guitar. In Music, timbre (ˈtæm-bər' like timber, or, from Fr timbre tɛ̃bʁ is the quality of a Musical note or sound that distinguishes different A prepared guitar is a Guitar which has had its Timbre altered by placing various objects on or between the instrument's strings including other Extended

Contents

History

John Cage was undoubtedly the composer who put the "prepared piano" concept on the world map, and coined the term. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> John Milton Cage Jr He credited Henry Cowell, and, to a lesser extent, Erik Satie, for contributing to the idea, and was probably unaware of many other precedents described below. Henry Cowell ( March 11, 1897 – December 10, 1965) was an American Composer, musical theorist, Pianist Alfred Éric Leslie Satie ( Honfleur, 17 May 1866 – Paris, 1 July 1925) was a French Composer and Erik Satie prepared the piano for the performance of ‘Le Piège de Méduse’ (1913), a lyrical comedy considered to be the first example of surrealist drama. For its performance Satie put paper between the strings of the piano to create a mechanical effect.

Precedents

Since the later days of the harpsichord (17th-18th century) stringed keyboard instruments could have registers, for instance giving a drier or more ample sound when a stop was pulled (a stop in the meaning of a similar disposition for organs, known as organ stops). A harpsichord is a Musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. An organ stop (or just stop) is a component of a Pipe organ which admits pressurized air (known as wind) to a set of Organ pipes Its name The organ (from Greek όργανον – organon "organ instrument tool" is a Keyboard instrument of one or more divisions each An organ stop (or just stop) is a component of a Pipe organ which admits pressurized air (known as wind) to a set of Organ pipes Its name

Fortepiano
Main article: Fortepiano

When the first pianos were invented around the beginning of the 18th century, the only "coloring" of the sounds produced by the instrument resulted from how the individual keys were pressed ("loud" = "forte", or "softly" = "piano", giving the name to the instrument: fortepiano). Fortepiano designates the early version of the Piano, from its invention by the Italian instrument maker Bartolomeo Cristofori around 1700 up to the early 19th century The piano is a Musical instrument played by means of a keyboard that produces sound by striking steel strings with Felt covered hammers Fortepiano designates the early version of the Piano, from its invention by the Italian instrument maker Bartolomeo Cristofori around 1700 up to the early 19th century A type of "register", first implemented with a "stop" above the keyboard, which became a standard device for pianos in the second half of the 18th century was engaging or disengaging the muting of the strings after the release of a key. Only by the end of the 18th century the muting mechanism was triggered with a pedal, after an intermediate period when this "register" was operated by the pianist's knees.

Reed stop

But the idea of harpsichord-like registers lived on: in the early 19th century some pianos were provided with a "reed" stop, which lowered a strip of paper onto the strings. A reed is a thin strip of material which vibrates to produce a sound on a Musical instrument. This led musicologists like Tom Beghin to believe that the technique of placing a strip of paper on piano strings would probably have originated before it was standardised as a register operated with stops, and that, for instance, Mozart's Alla Turca can safely be played with a piece of paper on some of the strings as a "historical" interpretation (see http://www.klara.be/html/klara_cds.html or http://streampower.belgacom.be/vrt/klara/beghin_mozart.mp3 for an audio example of this Alla Turca played on a "prepared" rebuilt "authentic" Mozart piano, in Tom Beghin's interpretation). Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 's Piano Sonata No 11 in A major K 331 (300i is a sonata in three movements Andante

Turkish stop

Around the turn of the nineteenth century, "Turkish" music was so popular that piano manufacturers made special pianos with a "Turkish stop", also called the "military" or "Janissary" stop. The player would press a pedal which caused a bell to ring and/or a padded hammer to strike the soundboard in imitation of a bass drum. The Turkish stop was popular for playing the famous Mozart Rondo alla Turca, K. 331.

Luthéal
Main article: Luthéal

In the 1920s a new invention was presented, the Luthéal, which extended the "register" possibilities of a piano to its maximum, producing cimbalon-like sounds in some registers, exploiting harmonics of the strings when pulling other register-stops, and also some registers making other objects, which were lowered just above the strings, resound. The luthéal is a kind of Prepared piano which extended the "register" possibilities of a piano by producing Cimbalon -like sounds in some registers exploiting The 1920s is sometimes referred to as the " Jazz Age " or the " Roaring Twenties " when speaking about the United States and Canada The luthéal is a kind of Prepared piano which extended the "register" possibilities of a piano by producing Cimbalon -like sounds in some registers exploiting The cimbalom (most common English spelling is a concert Hammer dulcimer. In Acoustics and Telecommunication, the harmonic of a Wave is a component Frequency of the signal that is an Integer But that instrument became obsolete before it became popular, partly due to most of the mechanics of the instrument being too sensitive, needing constant adjustment. The only pieces in the general repertoire to feature the Luthéal are L'Enfant et les Sortilèges (1920–5) and Tzigane (1924) by Maurice Ravel, performances of which tend to substitute an upright piano, either prepared with paper or straight. L'enfant et les sortilèges Fantaisie lyrique en deux parties ( The Child and the Spells A Lyric Fantasy in Two Parts) is an Opera in one act with music "Tzigane" also means "gypsy" see Gypsy (disambiguation.

The short rise and fall of the Luthéal in 1920s Paris took place about a decade after the only French experiment John Cage was probably aware of when he developed the "prepared piano" idea around the middle of the 20th century: Erik Satie's execution of the piano version of the Piège de Méduse incidental music in 1913 or 1914, in which case the preparation was limited again to placing sheets of paper on the piano strings, in order to imitate the "mechanical" sound of the monkey puppet which figured in the play. Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city Alfred Éric Leslie Satie ( Honfleur, 17 May 1866 – Paris, 1 July 1925) was a French Composer and Le piège de Méduse ("Medusa's trap" is a short play of which Erik Satie wrote both the text and the Incidental music. Year 1913 ( MCMXIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Year 1914 ( MCMXIV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Whether Satie himself saw any connection to a "tradition" of applying paper strips on piano strings is not known.

Ragamalika

Another precedent was an experiment by the French composer Maurice Delage (1879–1961): his Ragamalika (1912–22), based on the classical music of India, calls for a piece of cardboard to be placed under the B-flat in the second line of the bass clef to dampen the sound, imitating the sound of an Indian drum. Maurice Delage (1879&ndash1961 was a French Composer and Pianist. [1]

John Cage and later composers

See also: Works for prepared piano by John Cage

The first composer to use prepared piano extensively was John Cage, who is often (though inaccurately) credited with inventing the instrument. American Avant-garde Composer John Cage (1912&ndash1992 started composing for Prepared piano in 1940 A composer (literally meaning 'one who puts together' is a person who creates Music, usually in the medium of notation, for Interpretation and Performance WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> John Milton Cage Jr Cage certainly popularized the prepared piano, particularly by the seminal Sonatas and Interludes, and inspired many other composers. Sonatas and Interludes is a collection of twenty pieces for Prepared piano by American Avant-garde Composer John Cage (1912&ndash1992 Arvo Pärt's popular Tabula Rasa (1977) is one of the better-known compositions to make extensive use of a prepared piano. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Arvo Pärt (born 11 September 1935 in Paide, Estonia) (ˈɑr̺vɔ

Cage first prepared a piano when he was commissioned to write music for "Bacchanale", a dance by Syvilla Fort in 1938. Dance (from French danser, perhaps from Frankish) is an Art form that generally refers to movement of the body usually rhythmic Syvilla Fort ( July 3 1917 – November 8 1975) was an American dancer choreographer and dance educator For some time previously, Cage had been writing exclusively for a percussion ensemble, but the hall where Fort’s dance was to be staged had no room for a percussion group. The only instrument available was a single grand piano. After some consideration, Cage said that he realized it was possible “to place in the hands of a single pianist the equivalent of an entire percussion orchestra . . . With just one musician, you can really do an unlimited number of things on the inside of the piano if you have at your disposal an 'exploded' keyboard. ” (Cage and Charles, 38) Cage would often quip that by preparing a piano he left it in better condition than he found it.

Cage himself said he was greatly inspired by Henry Cowell's experiments with the so-called string piano, in which the performer plucks and scrapes the strings of the piano directly. Henry Cowell ( March 11, 1897 – December 10, 1965) was an American Composer, musical theorist, Pianist String piano is a term coined by American composer-theorist Henry Cowell (1897–1965 to collectively describe those pianistic Extended techniques in which sound is

In Cage's use, the preparations are typically nuts, bolts and pieces of rubber to be lodged between and entwined around the strings. Some preparations make duller, more percussive sounds than usual, while others create sonorous bell-like tones. A bell is a simple Sound -making device The bell is a Percussion instrument and an Idiophone. Additionally, the individual parts of a preparation like a nut loosely screwed onto a bolt will vibrate themselves, adding their own unique sound. By placing the preparation between two of the strings on a note which has three strings assigned to it, it is possible to change the timbre of that note by depressing the soft pedal on the piano, which moves the hammers so they strike only two strings instead of all three (the soft pedal is traditionally called "una corda" on a grand). In Music, timbre (ˈtæm-bər' like timber, or, from Fr timbre tɛ̃bʁ is the quality of a Musical note or sound that distinguishes different Other prepared piano sounds can be reminiscent of mbiras, marimbas, bells, wood blocks, Indonesian gamelan instruments, or many other sounds less easily defined. See also Thumb piano In Zimbabwean music, the mbira is a Musical instrument consisting of a wooden board to which staggered metal keys In some parts of Africa the term "marimba" refers to the Kalimba. A bell is a simple Sound -making device The bell is a Percussion instrument and an Idiophone. A gamelan is a musical ensemble of Indonesia typically featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones xylophones drums and gongs bamboo flutes bowed and

Although it is possible to prepare an upright piano in this way to some extent, it is far easier, and far more common, on a grand piano.

On some pianos, a bar is installed above the hammers and activated by the center pedal. This bar can be furnished with felt - which will significantly mute the sound of the piano (a practice mute) or strips of cloth tape with metal attached to the ends, and the hammers will hit the metal bits onto the string. This is sometimes called a mandolin attachment - although mandolin players would likely object that the sound is nothing like a mandolin. This gives a sound similar to the "tack piano" but can instantly be returned to a regular piano sound by releasing the center pedal.

In classical music, the American composer Lou Harrison has called for tack piano in some of his compositions, primarily for its clarity of tone. Lou Silver Harrison ( May 14, 1917 &ndash February 2, 2003) was an American The composer Conlon Nancarrow adapted his player pianos in a similar way, covering the hammers of his pianos with metal bands and hardened leather strips. Conlon Nancarrow (born October 27 1912 &ndash August 10 1997) was a U The player piano is a self-playing Piano, containing a pneumatic mechanism that plays on the piano action pre-programmed Music via perforated paper rolls The M acro E xpansion T emplate A ttribute L anguage complements TAL, providing macros which allow the reuse of code across Leather is a material created through the Tanning of hides and Skins of Animals primarily Cattlehide The Tanning process

More recent composers to use prepared pianos include Michael Staley, Philip Corner, Carson Kievman, Jason Moran and Stephen Scott. Philip (Lionel Corner (born April 10, 1933; name sometimes given as Phil Corner) is an American Composer, Trombonist, Vocalist Jason Moran (born January 21, 1975) is a Jazz pianist who debuted as a band leader with the 1999 album Soundtrack to Human Motion. Stephen Scott (b Corvallis, Oregon, 1944) is an American composer best known for his development of the Bowed piano (borrowed from Andrea Neumann takes an extreme approach to piano preparation, having gradually dismantled pianos until the wooden frame and piano strings are all that remain.

Australian composers Erik Griswold and Anthony Pateras have further developed the potential of the prepared piano in an improvisational context, as well as exploring the microtonal possibilities of the medium, while Ross Bolleter has taken the idea into an innovative direction - exploring the use of "ruined" pianos, or pianos decayed by weather and time. Ross Bolleter (born 1946 Subiaco Western Australia) is an Australian avantgarde Composer and Improviser notable for his experimentation on

Tack Piano
Main article: Tack piano

The phrase "prepared piano" is also sometimes applied to other kinds of preparations. The tack piano is a permanently altered version of an ordinary piano in which tacks or nails are placed on the hammers of the instrument at the point where the hammers hit the strings The "tack piano" is a piano which has been altered by inserting thumbtacks or small nails into the striking end of each hammer, so that the instrument will produce a more percussive sound and brighter timbre. The tack piano is a permanently altered version of an ordinary piano in which tacks or nails are placed on the hammers of the instrument at the point where the hammers hit the strings The resulting tone often resembles the sound of a very old and uncared-for piano. The tack piano has been used primarily in "honky-tonk"-style piano playing, or to make a piano sound like an antique piano which might have been heard in a saloon or brothel around the early 20th century. The application of tacks is generally discouraged by piano technicians as the tacks can drop off the hammers and lodge in the strings or jam the mechanism. On normal pianos, felt coverings on the hammers will harden with age (though not usually for at least several decades), yielding a characteristic "tinny" sound. This can be cured by softening the hammers with a device consisting of multiple needles, resembling a comb. Where the felt is too far gone, it can be simply replaced.

In popular music

Notes

  1. ^ Pasler, Jann (2000). "Race, Orientalism, and Distinction in the Wake of the 'Yellow Peril'. " In Western Music and Its Others: Difference, Representation, and Appropriation in Music, ed. Georgina Born and David Hesmondhalgh. Georgina Born (born 15 November 1955 in Wheatley Oxfordshire) is a British academic, anthropologist and Musician Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London: University of California Press, p. 107.
  2. ^ Mitchell, Tim Sedition and Alchemy : A Biography of John Cale, 2003, ISBN 0720611326
  3. ^ Philadelphia FRINGE Festival 2000 - Hyperpiano. Retrieved on 2005-12-23. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 962 - Byzantine-Arab Wars: Under the future Emperor Nicephorus Phocas, Byzantine troops stormed the city

References

See also

External links

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