Inside-Out Piano II
2014The second prototype was finished in April 2014, built by Pierre Malbos with Athena Swan funding at Brunel University.
After several years of playing Inside-Out Piano I, the back-to-front piano which forced me – in a good way – to make my own music (no-one else wanted to write for a keyboard that made no sense!), I was able to commission Pierre Malbos to make the second prototype. And this was a different scale: an old French Erard from the turn of the century, a lovely but very old and dying instrument which we have breathed new life into!
He turned the strings 90 degrees, to make the most majestic and monolithic piano I’ve ever seen.
See this piano in the building here..
To my total amazement, Pierre and Thierry created a frame system whereby the piano is pivoted… so it can swing!
That’s why I started making theatre shows.
Below are just some of the nearly 5000 pictures that were taken during the building process. Imagine having to do every single tiny, tiny, detailed thing 88 times! It shows enormous patience and expert craftsmanship and I am indebted to Pierre for having done this incredible thing for me: building me my own, fully functioning but beyond that, totally poetic piano! It’s a relief to play normally again, after over 5 years of experimenting on a back-to-front Inside-Out Piano!
