Robin Haigh

MORROW

“Despite being entirely mechanical, the piano has a reputation as an instrument well suited to expressive, “human” performances. Keyboard players do not physically touch the sound-making part of the instrument, and therefore our understanding of their expressivity comes through their tiny variations in volume and rhythm. In writing MORROW, I was given the chance to rethink this. I was asked to write for a new sort of piano, a keyboard upon which the performer’s minutest touch can directly influence the sound, via an array of TouchKeys sensors. I chose to use this opportunity to have the fingers’ positions minutely control both volume and rhythm - those elements of pianism deemed so crucial for expressivity. A piano for the future, excessively enhanced and reconfigured, playing a sort of sad ballade.”

Read more about MORROW in:

Kanga, Zubin, Mark Dyer, Caitlin Rowley and Jonathan Packham. 2024 “Reflections on Cyborg Collaborations: Cross-disciplinary collaborative practice in technologically-focused contemporary music.” Tempo 78, 308: 55-69. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0040298223000967

Featured on Zubin Kanga’s 2023 album Machine Dreams.