PREPARED PIANO to do whatever you want . When you do know the basics , it ’ s not that invasive .
CM : How did you get into prepared piano ?
Sol : My first introduction was John Cage ’ s music . He ’ s written so much for prepared piano . I was introduced to it in music history / piano repertoire class in the early 2010s . But in the class , you move through different bits of music history ( quickly ) and it didn ’ t appeal to me then .
CM : So , what tipped you over the edge ?
Sol : Formally studying Cage ’ s sonatas and interludes , which piqued my interest … It was at a time where , compositionally speaking , I was interested in writing for percussion instruments . But , because of the practical aspects of preparing a piano , it ’ s not something that you do every day . When I started to do it myself , play a prepared piano , and experienced it firsthand , [ I felt ] there was something invigorating and interesting about it from the listener ’ s perspective .
CM : What about from a player ’ s perspective ?
Sol : The thing that fascinated me at first is that it disconnects the muscle memory of you playing certain notes and being used to hearing certain pitches . I was preparing the piano the way John Cage did and performing his sonatas and interludes . What I wanted to do was write a set of pieces using the same preparation . With that preparation , you lose the essence of the piano aside from a few notes and pitches , so when you ’ re playing it , the sound is dramatically different . At first , I was practicing those pieces on a regular piano but when I started playing the prepared piano , it took a while to get used to it because I wasn ’ t expecting that sound , even though I ’ ve heard recordings . But each recording will be different depending on the material that you use and the piano , so that brings spontaneity to the table . You ’ ll react and respond in different ways . Then I switched to experimenting with improvisation and writing for prepared piano , which was a completely different thing again . It detaches that connection I have – in a tactile sense – with what I ’ m playing versus what I ’ m hearing . So , it ’ s like a new , different instrument .
CM : In terms of preparations , how did you move forward and innovate as you ’ ve composed over time ?
Sol : I mostly use rubber and silicone , wood , and copper . I prefer the blend of those sounds with the timbre of the actual piano . I think it ’ s just exploring what I preferred , but I ’ m also very practical . I recognize that if I write something with 20 different elaborate sets of materials , chances are I ’ m not going to want to play that piece in performance . And , as a composer , it will be much harder to show someone else how to do it should they want to play the piece . So , the preparations I ’ ve chosen are minimal and easy to put in place . I ’ ve experimented with erasers , rubber bands , wooden shims , but the material I love the most is strips of a silicone baking mat . It ’ s the most reliable sound on different pianos and it ’ s sturdy and stays in place because it ’ s firm but flexible .
NAHRE SOL ’ S RECORDING SETUP FOR ALICE IN WONDERLAND
Interface : Universal Audio Apollo x4
Microphones : Soyuz 013 FET small-diaphragm condenser microphone & DPA 4006A omnidirectional mic
Laptop : Apple MacBook Pro 13-in . ( 2015 )
DAW : Logic Pro X
Digital readers , for a closer look at Nahre Sol ’ s recording process , watch her video .
CANADIAN MUSICIAN 53