prepared piano

The prepared piano was developed by John Cage in 1940 when he needed percussion-like sounds for a dance accompaniment but had only a piano available. By inserting various objects between the strings — bolts, screws, pieces of rubber, weather stripping, and other materials — Cage transformed the piano into a one-person percussion orchestra. Each preparation affects only specific notes, changing their timbre, pitch, and decay characteristics while leaving neighboring notes unaltered. Cage's Sonatas and Interludes (1946–48), a cycle of twenty pieces for prepared piano, is the technique's masterpiece, creating a gamelan-like sound world of extraordinary beauty and variety from a single instrument. The preparations must be placed with great precision — Cage's scores include detailed tables specifying the exact type, size, and position of each object. The concept has influenced countless composers and performers, and the idea of "preparing" instruments has extended to guitar, harp, and virtually every other acoustic instrument.