Hauschka

These are pieces of art.Listening to a piece by Hauschka can be deceiving: What sounds like an ensemble of musicians and instruments is just one man, performing at one piano. His real name is Volker Bertelmann, and he hails from Dusseldorf, Germany, where he works with his "prepared piano." He wrests disruptive sounds from the instrument's 88 keys by outfitting the strings or mallets with objects such as ping-pong balls, aluminum foil and leather. His new album is titled Foreign Landscapes, and he recently visited NPR's studios to demonstrate his craft. 
Bertelmann's work is based upon an exploration of the possibilities of the prepared piano - a playfully disruptive intervention into the preconceived idea of the piano  as a pure-toned, perfected instrument. Bertelmann explores and influences the outcome of his music by modifying parts of the instrument, attaching various objects to the strings to create a sound described as "a delicate, sometimes haunting form of experimental piano music".Hauschka's sound borrows as much from John Cage 's same-titled prepared piano works and the historic predecessors of Les Six– namely Erik Satie.

Filmed at the Vortex Jazz Club as part of our OffBeat series. Following on from the documentary series that we've running on BeatCast about the making of Haushka's latest album Foreign Landscapes I jumped at the chance to film a session with such a unique artist.
Hauschka's new record "Foreign Landscapes" was released by FatCat Records on October 25th 2010.