Interacting with the piano

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (By Research Publications) and awarded by Brunel University.Several performances relating to this thesis will shortly be made available for viewing from this page. Publication 8 has been published by New Interfaces for Musical Expression as a conference article in the proceedings of NIME'09, pages 203-206. Publication 9 has been published by MIT Press, Boston as a journal article in the Leonardo Music Journal, volume 20, pages 47-55. Both articles can be viewed from the links below.This thesis explores the expansion of the piano performance environment, using technology to augment the sound, the playing area of the piano and its surroundings, and/or the performer's own body in controlling electronic elements of the music. In particular I examine the extension of piano technique and how this is affected by adding technology. I also discuss collaborative compositional processes in creating co-authored musical works and have given a critical appraisal of the different technological systems used in all of these pieces. I have also introduced ideas about developing the structure of the piano to better suit contemporary techniques and the addition of technological elements in piano playing. These ideas are represented by my own "Inside-out Piano", illustrated within the thesis. Throughout this work many new pieces for piano and live electronics have been generated and I hope these may also be useful as a resource for other pianists exploring their own interactions with the piano