Piano / Forte

Exhibition at OYFO Techniekmuseum, in Hengelo (NL) from 23 April to 28 August 2022. The work was installed in conjunction of the showing of Mariska de Groot’s sound sculpture BROM.

Piano / Forte is a sound sculpture in which two piano harps – the pianos stripped of the keys and supporting parts – swing in the air like pendulums. Inside the pianos, a sensor (accelerometer) measures the variations in x, y, z positions, communicating with a custom made software that translates the motion into sound frequencies. These frequencies are sent back into the pianos via electromagnets (transducers) attached to the harps. Instead of being hammered by keys, the sound is generated by the transducers vibrating directly onto the piano’s body, resulting in a multitude of resonances and reverberations.

Piano / Forte is another collaboration between Mike Rijnierse and Rob Bothof. The artists thank Jimi Hellinga for recording and playing along with the hurdy-gurdy.

Jimi Heilinga plays the hurdy-gurdy in a conversation with sound sculpture Piano / Forte

Video documentation of Piano / Forte at DordtYart, Dordrecht (NL) 2018: