Once in a Window

Custom sample-based piano instrument, interior piano re-amping, field recordings
Vocal performance and original piano performance by Richard English

This piece centers on a custom-built sample instrument designed to “perform the performance” of the piano. The system captures piano gestures and re-articulates them through a parallel sample architecture.

All material is performed into or re-amped through the piano body, maintaining a consistent resonant identity across sources.

Distortion saturation and delay feedback are driven by real-time harmonic analysis of the piano. An accumulation of the instrument’s overtone structure determines the degree of spectral saturation and feedback intensity.

Field recordings are triggered generatively according to internal system conditions rather than a fixed timeline, producing an evolving texture that interacts with the piano-derived material.

The work investigates how a secondary instrument can mirror, fragment, and extend a live acoustic source while remaining structurally coupled to it.