Andrew McPherson MET-lab, Drexel University

All sound is being produced from the piano strings and soundboard, without speakers.

Each actuator is driven with its own amplifter

The instrument is played with two keyboards

The upper keyboard controls the electromagnets alone

Traditional and electronic sounds can be played in conjunction from the piano keyboard

The actuators can also be used to modify the natural sound of the piano.

The waveform is continuously adjustable to provide a wide variety of timbres.

In this excerpt, the left hand notes are electronically sustained and timbrally altered.

Here, the actuators create glissandos from the 1st to the 8th partials of the lower strings.

Intro

The Evolution of the Piano

Previous Piano Innovations

Attack & Decay

String Bowing

Keyboard Scanner

Resonance Takeover

Pitch Bend Effect

Glowing Radioactive Elements & Atomic Legacies

Closing Remarks

Andrew McPherson MET-lab, Drexel University

Electromagnets induce vibrations in the strings independently of the hammer mechanism

Credos from silence

Pitch bends (lightly press adjacent key)

Vibrato (variable pressure on key)

Harmonic series glissando (delicate vibrato on unpressed key)