Piano/Forte

Installation at OYFO Techniekmuseum, Hengelo (NL) April – August, 2022

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 with Rob Bothof. With thanks to Jimi Hellinga for the recordings and improvising along with the hurdy-gurdy.

See also Piano / Forte at DordtYart, 2018: