All That Remains
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Commissioned by
The Barlow Endowment Solo Piano and Live Electroacoustics (using Pure Data) 9 minutes 
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This work is written for and dedicated to Keith Kirchoff. http://www.keithkirchoff.com/
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RECORDING
Program Note
Ruins fascinate me. Whether it is an abandoned factory at the edge of town, or a rusted car frame I find while hiking, my curiosity is always peaked. What was this object like during its prime? Who operated it? What was life like for them? I recently read about an increasingly common phenomena in urban areas; piano graveyards. The piano had its boom back in the early 1900's as almost all middle class american families owned a piano. All those millions of pianos are now arriving at the end of their lives because they can't stay in tune, the mechanisms are breaking, and ultimately because our society has shifted its focus from music making to music consumption.
A friend of mine recently got a new piano. He tried to sell his old one, kept dropping the price, and eventually listed it for free on craigslist. Not a single person expressed interest in it! He was fond of the old piano and hated to just dump it, so he and his wife decided they would invite me to have a recording session with it. No restrictions; I could do anything I'd ever dreamed of doing. This was my chance to prepare the piano and do extended techniques that no piano technician would ever allow! My friend and I had an incredible experience sawing the strings, ripping apart the key mechanisms, dropping dumbbells and bowling balls on the soundboard, cutting the strings, hammering on the wood, etc., and we got some incredible sounds. Yet, the experience was more than just a great recording session. I could not stop thinking about that piano and how it must have felt. Would it be grateful to give its owner and I one last hurrah before dying? What if the piano could tell me its thoughts and feelings? What would be its fondest memories? Would it have a favorite tune? Ironically, as I destroyed this old piano, I felt I was discovering the essence of the piano. There was something still there; something more than just old hammers and strings. The soul of the piano was all that remained.
Technical Requirements
This work uses free software called Pure Data to process the live electronics. Download and install Pd- extended by visiting puredata.info/downloads/pd-extended. Please email [email protected] to request the patch and all related files.
You must have the following equipment to perform this piece:
Ruins fascinate me. Whether it is an abandoned factory at the edge of town, or a rusted car frame I find while hiking, my curiosity is always peaked. What was this object like during its prime? Who operated it? What was life like for them? I recently read about an increasingly common phenomena in urban areas; piano graveyards. The piano had its boom back in the early 1900's as almost all middle class american families owned a piano. All those millions of pianos are now arriving at the end of their lives because they can't stay in tune, the mechanisms are breaking, and ultimately because our society has shifted its focus from music making to music consumption.
A friend of mine recently got a new piano. He tried to sell his old one, kept dropping the price, and eventually listed it for free on craigslist. Not a single person expressed interest in it! He was fond of the old piano and hated to just dump it, so he and his wife decided they would invite me to have a recording session with it. No restrictions; I could do anything I'd ever dreamed of doing. This was my chance to prepare the piano and do extended techniques that no piano technician would ever allow! My friend and I had an incredible experience sawing the strings, ripping apart the key mechanisms, dropping dumbbells and bowling balls on the soundboard, cutting the strings, hammering on the wood, etc., and we got some incredible sounds. Yet, the experience was more than just a great recording session. I could not stop thinking about that piano and how it must have felt. Would it be grateful to give its owner and I one last hurrah before dying? What if the piano could tell me its thoughts and feelings? What would be its fondest memories? Would it have a favorite tune? Ironically, as I destroyed this old piano, I felt I was discovering the essence of the piano. There was something still there; something more than just old hammers and strings. The soul of the piano was all that remained.
Technical Requirements
This work uses free software called Pure Data to process the live electronics. Download and install Pd- extended by visiting puredata.info/downloads/pd-extended. Please email [email protected] to request the patch and all related files.
You must have the following equipment to perform this piece:
- laptop (MAC preferred)
- audio interface (MOTU Traveler or similar)
- microphone (placed in middle of piano)
- USB or midi footpedal
- Two loudspeakers placed in stereo configuration
Composer's verbal Program Note
PURCHASE
The destroyed piano image is used via CC license from Kryziz Bonny (accessed on flickr.com)