￥Prepared Piano is the practice of modifying acoustic pianos with the placement of found objects between their strings, hammers, and dampers. Coming from the school of experimental 20th century music and musique concrète, the technique embraces the concept of noise as music, as pioneered by composers such as John Cage.

 

For this sample collection, contemporary composer/producer/pianist Christopher Marianetti meticulously prepared his baby grand Yamaha with selectively sized metal screws, rubber gaskets, and painter’s tape. Recorded in a sunlit loft in SoHo, NY, this pack features his stream of consciousness musings, meditations, and grooves as well as individual recordings of each note’s unique characteristics. The resultant multiphonics paired with deceptively simple melodies elicit a sense of “the foreign in the familiar.”

 

Recorded and mixed by Chris Botta.