We started the day placing a large subwoofer on its surfaces to use it as resonator, sending signal sweeps through the speaker and we recorded the vibrations through the piano itself.
Having all these different mics and locations really opened up many different sounds that the piano made while we were torturing it.
We used 11 microphones on this day, along with some contact mics attached to various parts of the piano. This session allowed us to really experiment with a lot of different tools and gain a wide palate of material. This was something I had been eager to do for some time, taking inspiration from the likes of John Cage’s prepared piano with finding ways to interact the instrument with various objects. While we are the subject of recording, not too long ago a good friend of mine was needing to get rid of an old upright piano so I gladly offered to take it off her hands.
