A member of the Crow Hill community (Dave Marris) reached out to us: “There is a piano here in York that needs rescuing“.
An act of incredible generosity, we were gifted this as it needed to go to a good home. Pianos are extraordinary machines which, because of their unique and complex – and highly pressurized – make up, will seldom sound the same from one day to the next. So, before giving this John Brinsmead & Sons piano the TLC it needs, a tune up, a spruce up, a dusting, we thought we’d capture it in this moment.
Off the back of a van after being transported from Northern England to Scotland. A little road-weary a little worse-for-wear. A little like us sometimes.
On a quiet morning, with only a few people around at the Rugshop, Bogu and Emilia set about capturing the piano using two AKG microphones and a room mic.
Emilia: “We thought this 100 year-old piano was worth bringing back to life. A certain melancholy, a slightly weathered voice, the sound of a century of life pressed into wood, felt, wire and strings. Not intimate exactly, but familiar in the way that old things can be, as though they’ve been quietly observing the world for a hundred years and have a few things left to say. While we were in the middle of the recording, the piano tuner happened to drop by: ‘Yes, that’s a nice piano,’ he said, ‘but it’s not ready to be sampled.’ Well… a little late for that.
Funny how we can all look at the same instrument and see something different. We all have our own way of hearing things, and what one person notices might be completely different from what someone else hears. And sometimes, that’s exactly what makes sampling so interesting…In the end, it’s all a matter of perspective.
With its dusty strings and ivory keys marked by time, it may not be perfect, and that’s rather the point. Sometimes, the imperfections are where the music lives.”
What has been created is a very characterful, out-of-tune and definitely old sounding piano without it going the full pub or honky tonk. For songs and scenes that need a little dilapidated wear and tear this piano is the perfect candidate.
Huge thanks to Dave for so generously donating this incredible piano!