'Decomposing piano' in South River, Ont., invites people to experiment with sound

Set up outdoors, exposed to the elements, a piano in South River, Ont., is slowly decomposing. But just because it's on its way to being ruined, that doesn't mean it can't be played.

It's a new art installation at New Adventures in Sound Art (NAISA), and it invites people to sit down, experiment with sound and reconsider their definitions of music.

Nadene Thériault-Copeland, NAISA's executive director, said she hopes to get people thinking "outside their box and thinking of what you can make out of sound rather than strictly organized sound through the standard pitches that we normally hear on a piano." 

The piano has been set up outdoors since early December. It's bolted to the ground, with a small roof overtop and a wooden bench. The plan is to leave the piano outdoors and let it decay over about two years. Thériault-Copeland said the idea was inspired by other similar projects she'd heard about throughout the world. 

There's an entire community that studies what are called "ruined pianos."

"It's been on my radar. I'm a piano player myself, I compose for acoustic instruments and I'm always interested in trying to explore other ways of making sounds out of traditional instruments. So it's definitely something that piqued my interest and I wanted to kind of run the experiment myself," Thériault-Copeland said. 

The piano in question was given to NAISA in an already semi-ruined state, Thériault-Copeland said, and it couldn't be perfectly tuned or brought to a concert standard. 

Thériault-Copeland said the winter elements have begun to affect the sound of the piano. 

"It's already starting to twang a little bit. Some of the lower keys you're hearing the strings in behind them when you play them, which means that the sound board's already starting to crack." 

NAISA will track the progression of the piano's decay as the months go by, with recordings and a livestream. Thériault-Copeland said she also hopes to host a series of performances with different artists. 

Anyone is welcome to stop by and try the piano for themselves — and Thériault-Copeland said some already are. 

"I'm always quite thrilled when I go in to sit down to play it to notice that someone else has been there before me because they've brushed all the snow off." 

LISTEN | Nadene Theriault-Copeland of New Adventures in Sound Art tells Morning North about what inspired the piano art: