Exposition

Unburying, from Liminals, Emerging: Three Contexts for a Microtonal Prepared Piano (2025)

Matt Choboter
matt A choboter

About this exposition

Can an acoustic grand piano be sonically and conceptually reimagined so as to re-negotiate its foundational assumptions around tuning and timbre? Why should the piano continue to be so accustomed to only one tuning system? In contrast, how can “pure sounds” (ratios found in the harmonic series) co-exist with ethnically diverse microtonal tunings? Spanning a period from 2020-2022, “Unburying, from Liminals, Emerging” explores a microtonal prepared piano in three artistic contexts. These include: a solo project called “Postcards of Nostalgia; a chamber ensemble consisting of saxophone trio, percussion and piano; and a “percussion ensemble with soprano saxophone called Juniper Fuse. Dialoging with a newly invented tuning system, what emergent properties might we find when magnetic piano preparations are used to evoke specific timbral effects from Balinese Gamelan and Indian Karnatik music? Collectively, how can this expanded notion of “piano” merge with spatialization to facilitate interactive experiences for audiences? How might a process-oriented Jungian-inspired dream work communicate itself so as to distill and coalesce a fertile musical landscape?
typeresearch exposition
keywordspiano, solo performance, solo improvisation, solowork, improvisation, improvised music, composition, composer as performer, compositional processes, prepared piano, tuning, tuning system, microtonal music, Microtonality, Microtonal system, gamelan, Karnatik Music, Carnatic, Jung, juniper, psychology, spatialisation, spatialization, recording, extended techniques, extended instrument, Multiculturalism, chamber ensemble, acoustic, liminality, liminal experiences, Liminal Space, dreams, dreaming, dreamwork, music, Transducer, magnetism, holism, Holistic practice, ecology, drone, rhythm language, rhythm, polyrhythm, groove, jazz, contemporary music, experimental, paintings, Score, interdisciplinary, RMC alumni, RMC
date22/04/2025
published22/04/2025
last modified22/04/2025
statuspublished
share statuspublic
copyright2025
licenseCC BY-NC-ND
languageEnglish
urlhttps://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/1656067/1666678
doihttps://doi.org/10.22501/rmc.1656067
published inRhythmic Music Conservatory, Copenhagen
portal issue0. Published Research by Advanced Postgraduate Diploma students


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