PianoVerse Blog

“Stanley” the Interactive Piano Takes Song Requests...

Fri, 20 Jul 2012 16:02:08 -0400

“Stanley” the Interactive Piano Takes Song Requests On Twitter!

“Stanley”, the interactive piano, will be taking song requests through its Twitter account @StanleyPiano. Make them now because he’ll only be playing from July 20-22!

This fun piano was created for Seattle’s Capitol Hill Block Party by creative agency Digital Kitchen.

Learn more about “Stanley” The Piano at stanleypiano.com

Beautiful. Kuha’o, The Blind Musical Prodigy. Kuha’o...

Sat, 07 Jul 2012 16:27:00 -0400

Beautiful. Kuha’o, The Blind Musical Prodigy.

Kuha’o is a Hawaiian-born blind musical prodigy. He discovered his piano and organ talent only three years ago! Interestingly, his name translates as “extraordinary gift.” I have to agree this young man has a wonderful talent.

Kuha’o has a dream to be able to put out his first CD. If you’d like to help, check out the full details on their Kickstarter page.

Watch more piano performances on Kuha’o’s YouTube channel.

NOTE: Watch the entire video for full impact.

Little Red Piano - Tokyo 2012. Jason Azcona takes a little red...

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 16:27:43 -0400

Little Red Piano - Tokyo 2012.

Jason Azcona takes a little red piano for an adventure around Tokyo. I kind of want to get one for myself now.

"In music the passions enjoy themselves."

Fri, 08 Jun 2012 17:48:27 -0400

“In music the passions enjoy themselves.”

- Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, 1886

Museum of Endangered Sounds. Make your own electronic musical...

Fri, 08 Jun 2012 16:26:36 -0400

Museum of Endangered Sounds.

Make your own electronic musical symphony using sounds of endangered technology and see how many of them you’re actually familiar with. Try not to feel too old.

The Museum of Endangered Sounds is operated and created by Brendan Chilcutt. He launched this site in January 2012 as a way to preserve the sounds made famous by old technologies and electronics.

Non-boring Classical Musician Portraits. Nikolaj Lund reinvents...

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 16:29:41 -0400

Non-boring Classical Musician Portraits.

Nikolaj Lund reinvents portraiture of classical musicians by adding some fun and excitement in unexpected ways.

See more of his amazing portraits on his website.

Breathtaking! Lighting the Sails on Sydney Opera...

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 16:26:22 -0400

Breathtaking! Lighting the Sails on Sydney Opera House.

Multi-award winning German design collective URBANSCREEN transformed Sydney Opera House with their Lighting of the Sails.

Visit the URBANSCREEN website to see more of their artistic and architectural projections.

Interactive Musical Wall Brightens Hospital...

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 16:24:39 -0400

Interactive Musical Wall Brightens Hospital Spirit.

Montreal-based interactive media specialists Moment Factory created a musical wall to stimulate childrens’ imaginations as they wait for their doctor’s appointment at the CHU Ste-Justine Hospital.

The experience begins when hospital visitors touch the wall. By moving their hands and fingers around, they produce vibrant lines and shapes that trace their movement and produce musical notes.

No doubt a smile-inducing experience for visitors of all ages. Hope to see this in more hospitals and other public spaces!

"There’s music in the sighing of a reed; There’s music in the gushing of a..."

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 13:04:50 -0400

“There’s music in the sighing of a reed;
There’s music in the gushing of a rill;
There’s music in all things, if men had ears:
Their earth is but an echo of the spheres.”

- Lord Byron (1788–1824), a British poet and a leading figure in the Romantic movement

The DIY Gramophone Made Out Of Paper. Design student, Jón...

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 16:23:49 -0400

The DIY Gramophone Made Out Of Paper.

Design student, Jón Hólmgeirsson, from the Iceland Academy of the Arts has designed a fold-it-yourself gramaphone.

Called the ‘Jónófón’, the paper gramophone consists of a plywood base, a paper cup, and a thick paper horn to amplify sound.

Yet another item to add to my list of nifty things I’d like to have. Too bad he hasn’t announced his release date yet.

Monkeys + Synthesizers… An entertaining concept but...

Thu, 31 May 2012 16:16:55 -0400

Monkeys + Synthesizers…

An entertaining concept but it’s not really music to my ears.

This video is a promo for the Voltfestivalen electronic music and art festival in Sweden, which opens on June 9th.

"Are we not formed, as notes of music are, For one another, though dissimilar?"

Thu, 31 May 2012 13:09:56 -0400

“Are we not formed, as notes of music are,
For one another, though dissimilar?”

- Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822), a major English Romantic poets and regarded as the finest lyric poets in the English Language

ChoreoBots: a music visualization platform. The ChoreoBots...

Wed, 30 May 2012 16:26:00 -0400

ChoreoBots: a music visualization platform.

The ChoreoBots respond to ambient sound in realtime. Imagine how crazy these would look in a live show.

ChoreoBots consist of a set of internally illuminated modular forms that physically deform in response to changes in ambient sound. To visually delineate different components of music, three different module sizes were developed, each with there own respective input response range. The modules also detect tactile pressure, enabling the system to double as an input platform.

Music: Mount Kimbie-Sketch On Glass

Tabla: Sumeet Banerji

See more work from The Computational Design Lab.

Darth Vader Theme, Beethoven Style. Richard Grayson improvises...

Tue, 29 May 2012 16:25:51 -0400

Darth Vader Theme, Beethoven Style.

Richard Grayson improvises the Darth Vader theme in classical piano at the Crossroads School.

What’s not to love about this? I guess classical and pop culture colliding isn’t so bad sometimes.

Also check out Grayson playing the Star Wars theme in the style of a Baroque Gavotte.

Architecture from Music: Anistropia by...

Mon, 28 May 2012 16:28:19 -0400

Architecture from Music: Anistropia by Orproject

“Anisotropia,” is a building proposal for the Busan Opera House in South Korea by architectural firm Orproject. The structure is based off of a piano piece composed by the firm’s director.

While the proposal looks gorgeous, there are questions about why the firm didn’t choose a song related to Busan, South Korea? What was the process for converting music into architecture?

Click here to read more.

“What Tau Sounds Like.” Converting Math into...

Sun, 27 May 2012 16:21:21 -0400

“What Tau Sounds Like.” Converting Math into Music.

Musician Michael John Blake interprets mathematical constant Tau. Who knew math could sound so beautiful?

You can get the track here.

A Playable, Fruity, Jell-O Piano You Can Eat. A new way to play...

Sat, 26 May 2012 16:21:55 -0400

A Playable, Fruity, Jell-O Piano You Can Eat.

A new way to play with your food! Astrida Valigorsky, Ranjit Bhatnagar, Mimi Hui, and Catarina Mota of NYC Resistor created a playable and edible toy piano called The Resistor JelTone.

See more of the JelTone in action or see more of their unconventional instrument creations here.

Origami Pop-Up Piano Greeting Card. Graphic designer and...

Fri, 25 May 2012 16:31:54 -0400

Origami Pop-Up Piano Greeting Card.

Graphic designer and interior architect, Scott Withers, created this pop-up piano card just for fun. I would love to give this to each of our piano students. Too bad he’s not selling them.

Check out some of his other amazing origami pop-up cards.

The Ruin and Decay of Abandoned Pianos. I’m sure many will...

Thu, 24 May 2012 16:31:29 -0400

The Ruin and Decay of Abandoned Pianos.

I’m sure many will agree that seeing these rotten and destroyed pianos is heartbreaking. At the same time, there is a strange haunting appeal that fascinates me.

See more abandoned pianos on Deviantart, Flickr, and forums.

"Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness."

Wed, 23 May 2012 17:01:37 -0400

“Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.”

- Maya Angelou in Gather Together in My Name