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| Cage first prepared a piano when he was commissioned to write music for "Bacchanale", a ] by ] in 1948. For some time previously, Cage had been writing exclusively for a ] 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 then he found it. | Cage first prepared a piano when he was commissioned to write music for "Bacchanale", a ] by ] in 1948. For some time previously, Cage had been writing exclusively for a ] 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 then he found it. | ||
| There were some earlier precedents: |
There were some earlier precedents: although little known, the French composer ] (1879-1961) was an early composer to call for the preparation of the piano; 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.{{ref|autonumber}} | ||
| Cage himself said he was greatly inspired by ]'s experiments with the so-called ], in which the performer plucks and scrapes the strings of the piano directly. | Cage himself said he was greatly inspired by ]'s experiments with the so-called ], in which the performer plucks and scrapes the strings of the piano directly. | ||
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| The phrase "prepared piano" is also sometimes applied to other kinds of preparations. ], for example, used something he called the ], a piano with small nails stuck in the hammers to produce a more percussive sound. ] adapted his ]s in a similar way, covering the hammers with ] and ]. The application of tacks will produce a sound similar to a very old and uncared-for piano. In such pianos the felt covers on the hammers will harden with age, yielding a characteristic "tinny" sound. This is cured by softening the hammers with a multiple needle device resembling a comb. Application of tacks is generally discouraged by piano technicians as the tacks can drop off of the hammer and lodge in the strings or jam the mechanism. | The phrase "prepared piano" is also sometimes applied to other kinds of preparations. ], for example, used something he called the ], a piano with small nails stuck in the hammers to produce a more percussive sound. ] adapted his ]s in a similar way, covering the hammers with ] and ]. The application of tacks will produce a sound similar to a very old and uncared-for piano. In such pianos the felt covers on the hammers will harden with age, yielding a characteristic "tinny" sound. This is cured by softening the hammers with a multiple needle device resembling a comb. Application of tacks is generally discouraged by piano technicians as the tacks can drop off of the hammer and lodge in the strings or jam the mechanism. | ||
| More recent composers to use prepared pianos include ], ], ] and ]. |
More recent composers to use prepared pianos include ], ], ] and ]. | ||
| ==In popular music== | ==In popular music== | ||
Revision as of 21:13, 23 December 2005
A prepared piano is a piano that has had its sound altered by placing objects (preparations) between or on the strings or on the hammers or dampers.
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.
History
The first composer to use prepared piano extensively was John Cage, who is often (though inaccurately) credited with inventing the instrument. Cage certainly popularized the prepared piano, and inspired many other composers. Arvo Pärt's popular Tabula Rasa (1977) is one of the better-known compositions to make extensive use of a prepared piano.
Cage first prepared a piano when he was commissioned to write music for "Bacchanale", a dance by Syvilla Fort in 1948. 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 then he found it.
There were some earlier precedents: although little known, the French composer Maurice Delage (1879-1961) was an early composer to call for the preparation of the piano; 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. 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.
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. 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 ). Other prepared piano sounds can be reminsicent of mbiras, marimbas, bells, wood blocks, Indonesian gamelan instruments, or many other sounds less easily defined.
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.
The phrase "prepared piano" is also sometimes applied to other kinds of preparations. Lou Harrison, for example, used something he called the tack piano, a piano with small nails stuck in the hammers to produce a more percussive sound. Conlon Nancarrow adapted his player pianos in a similar way, covering the hammers with metal and leather. The application of tacks will produce a sound similar to a very old and uncared-for piano. In such pianos the felt covers on the hammers will harden with age, yielding a characteristic "tinny" sound. This is cured by softening the hammers with a multiple needle device resembling a comb. Application of tacks is generally discouraged by piano technicians as the tacks can drop off of the hammer and lodge in the strings or jam the mechanism.
More recent composers to use prepared pianos include Philip Corner, Carson Kievman, Aphex twin and Stephen Scott.
In popular music
Perhaps the best known recent use of prepared piano in pop music is the Flying Lizards' version of Barrett Strong's "Money (That's What I Want)". Featuring a piano prepared with small pieces of tin and phone books, the minimalist song had a unique sound that turned it into a huge hit in the early 1980s. It is now often used in advertisements.
In pop music, German pianist Fritz Schulz-Reichel had considerable success in about 1955 - 1957 on the hit parade with his prepared-piano recordings under the name Crazy Otto (Schräger Otto or "Slanted Otto" in German). During the craze, ragtime and blues pianist Johnny Maddox also recorded The Crazy Otto Medley with a tack piano, starting a "honky-tonk piano" fad. Both purportedly used thumbtacks in the felt hammers.
On his 1979 album Lodger, David Bowie used a looped prepared piano to provide the rhythmic basis of the track "African Night Flight".
More recently, the British electronic composer Aphex Twin used a prepared piano on his 2001 album drukqs. Artist Ben Folds has recorded numerous songs using a tack piano as well. Denman Maroney performs on what he has dubbed "hyperpiano", which "involves stopping, sliding, bowing, plucking, striking and strumming the strings with copper bars, aluminum bowls, rubber blocks, plastic boxes and other household objects."
Chris Bulter's The Waitresses use prepared piano on their song "No Guilt". Members of the Grateful Dead (Jerry Garcia, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, and Tom Constanten) used prepared piano on their infamous second studio album Anthem of the Sun.
Notes
- 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. Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London: University of California Press, p. 107.
- "Philadelphia FRINGE Festival 2000 - Hyperpiano". 2005-12-23.
References
- Cage, John, and Daniel Charles (1981). For The Birds: John Cage in Conversation with Daniel Charles. Marion Boyers. ISBN 0714526908
External links
Listening
- Epitonic.com: John Cage performed by Margaret Leng Tan, featuring In the Name of the Holocaust