{"product_id":"zubin-kanga-cyborg-pianist","title":"Zubin Kanga: Cyborg Pianist","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhat is the future of the piano? This is a question that pianist, composer, and technologist \u003cstrong\u003eZubin Kanga\u003c\/strong\u003e has explored for over a decade now and one which he investigates in his first solo release on NMC, \u003cem\u003eCyborg Pianist\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eInviting some of the most inventive and forward-thinking composers of today to incorporate a host of cutting-edge technological alterations and extensions into their new works for solo piano, Kanga develops a new 'cyborg sonic identity' for an instrument that has remained largely unchanged for the past century.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCommissioned as part of Kanga's multi-year music and research project Cyborg Soloists, \u003cem\u003eCyborg Pianist\u003c\/em\u003e is a treasure trove of technological innovation as six distinct compositional voices unlock new possibilities in piano composition and performance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eLaura Bowler's SHOW(ti)ME\u003c\/em\u003e incorporates a fascinating combination of interdisciplinary elements to explore the disparity between performers' public personas and their private anxieties, including layers of pre-recorded music, sound effects and words, piano, and MiMU sensor gloves which Kanga uses to shape sound using motion and gesture.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe MiMU gloves were also used to mould the sound of a Korg Prologue synthesizer on the dreamy, restless \u003cem\u003eHypnagogia (after Bach)\u003c\/em\u003e, a piece by Zubin Kanga inspired by listening to Bach half-asleep on long-haul flights.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCounterfeits (Siminica)\u003c\/em\u003e by \u003cstrong\u003eLaurence Osborn\u003c\/strong\u003e uses the touch-sensitive keys of the TouchKeys keyboard - another brand new technology - to trigger live samples of Osborn's voice imitating a historical Romanian folk singer.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe TouchKeys allows the vocal samples to bend and slide in pitch in response to Kanga's precise finger movements, exploring the intertwined relationship between 'voice' and piano.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe TouchKeys keyboard makes an appearance again in \u003cem\u003eOliver Leith's Vicentino, love you - studies for keyboard\u003c\/em\u003e, this time hooked up to the iconic Prophet Rev II synthesizer in an homage to a 16th-Century microtonal keyboard instrument.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe stormy swirls of sound of \u003cem\u003eShiva Feshareki's Whirling Dervishes\u003c\/em\u003e are produced using the British-Iranian turntablist's trademark ambisonic technology.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSpatialized turntable improvisations respond to composed material on the piano, representing the ecstatically meditative spinning of ancient Sufi tradition.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTo create her work \u003cem\u003eDEVIANCE\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eEmily Howard\u003c\/strong\u003e used EEG brain-scanning equipment to measure listeners' responses when played her music.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe data gathered in this experiment was then combined with piano music and AI-generated sounds to create a piece which explores how our brain processes music on multiple levels.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThroughout the album, what connects these six distinctive works is the piano, proving the instrument's astonishingly versatile and chameleon-like abilities that stand the test of time.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"NMC Recordings","offers":[{"title":"CDx2","offer_id":50440693383499,"sku":"2052487","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/5023363027922_4649594d_thumbnail_4096.webp?v=1726965303","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/fr\/products\/zubin-kanga-cyborg-pianist","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}