Morning Cup O' Joe

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Bowed Piano Ensemble

Images Programs Morning Features 2008 Feb Bowedpiano300
Can we make playing the piano anymore complicated? Apparently so.

To get a sense of what the bowed piano is, imagine a grand piano with the lid lifted off. Ten musicians crowd around, leaning over the innards of the instrument, like a team of surgeons performing an operation.

The primary sound is produced by a bow of nylon fish-line, which is rosined, and that’s just threaded under the piano string and across it. There’s another kind of bow, which is a stick of wood which has horse hair affixed to it, and that’s rubbed against the strings to produce a short, percussive sound.

February 6, 2008 - Posted by Mike | Music, Oddities

5 Comments

  1. How interesting, I’ve never heard of this. I’m learning about all sorts of new musical intstruments lately. Every heard of the theremin? I just found out about it when writing a post on the Thai Elephant (yes, real ones) Orchestra.

    Comment by Jenny | February 6, 2008

  2. I’ve this in action. It was on one of those 80′s Reality TV shows, I think it was “Ripley’s Believe it or Not” or “That’s Incredible”.

    Very cool sound.

    Comment by xraytech | February 6, 2008

  3. Like this…

    Comment by xraytech | February 6, 2008

  4. Finally reading the comments on this. Up above Jenny commented about the Theremin. It just so happens I have one! Definitely an intriguing instrument… not to mention super fun! (When it comes to electronic instrument/gadgetry, I’m a junkie.)

    Comment by Joe | February 10, 2008

  5. [...] A fellow reader metion an instrument called a “Theremin” Filed under: Geeks and Gadgetry, Music, Oddities, Video — xraytech @ 4:00 pm A fellow reader mentioned an instrument called a ”Theremin” on a recent post. [...]

    Pingback by A fellow reader metion an instrument called a “Theremin” « Morning Cup O’ Joe | February 10, 2008


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