[silence] Prepared piano

[Daniel Wolf]

A sample set,  sound font, or even a physical model of a prepared piano  
may well be useful for new music making, but it introduces a number of  
problems when used as a substitute for a real prepared piano in existing  
repertoire.   A piano is notoriously difficult to sample in the first  
place, and prepared piano sounds introduce a larger number of variables  
into the problem.  Among these problems are the variations in sound with  
the velocity and timing of the attak, the variations in the sound  
associated with use of the pedals, especially the una corda pedal (many  
preparations are fastened between pairs of wires, others woven through  
sets of three wires, making dramatic sound variations when una corda is  
used), and not least of all, the wide range of effects due to the total  
ensemble of preparations, largely caused by resonance and sympathetic  
vibrations.  Moreover, although Cage's preparations were meticulous  
notated, the unavoidable variations from one instrument and player to  
another are qualities that the composer came to embrace, whenever he  
encountered musicians who took on the music with seriousness and  
sensitivity.   For all of these reasons, I suspect that an electronic  
substitute is unlikely to be of much use for performances of Cage's works,  
even as a rehearsal instrument.

Daniel Wolf
composer
Frankfurt