A Piano Mill is a hybrid building and musical instrument located at Willsons Downfall in Northern New South Wales, Australia. It was designed and purpose-built to house sixteen reclaimed pianos in a tower structure. The instrument is designed to have the sixteen pianos played simultaneously.[1]
General information | |
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Address | Harringans Lane |
Town or city | Willsons Downfall, NSW |
Country | Australia |
Website | |
Piano Mill |
History
editThe first Piano Mill, constructed in Willsons Downfall, Northern New South Wales, Australia, was designed by architect Bruce Wolfe specifically for composer Erik Griswold.[2] This structure is a copper clad tower approximately 9m tall with a footprint of 4.5m X 4.5m and its lowest floor is 1.6m above the ground allowing the pianos to be installed post-construction.[3] The mill is equipped with tuned grader blades as chimes and two sonic periscopes. To launch The Piano Mill, Griswold composed a new work, All’s grist that comes to the mill, that responds to various influences such as architecture, the natural environment and Australia's colonial history.[4][5] It was performed in the Piano Mill on Sunday March 27, 2016, and since that time there have been two subsequent pieces written for the instrument.[6]
The first Piano Mill has won awards including a World Architecture Festival 2018 Award for the Culture category, a National Commendation at the Australian Institute of Architects 2017 Awards and a National Award for Experimental Music at the 2017 APRA AMCOS Art Music Awards.
References
edit- ^ "The Piano Mill". Resonate Magazine. Australia: Australian Music Centre.
- ^ Wolfe, Bruce (2018). The Piano Mill. Melbourne, Australia: Uro Publications. p. 96. ISBN 9780994396600.
- ^ Li, Rosa. "Piano". Australia Highlife Downs Living. Queensland Magazines.
- ^ Griswold, Erik (December 2017). "The Piano Mill: Nostalgic Music and Architecture in the Australian Bush". Leonardo Music Journal. - (27): 53–54.
- ^ May, Melissa. "The Road to The Piano Mill". ABC Classic FM. Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
- ^ Ward, Donna. "'Instrumental' building at Wilsons Downfall wins music award". Fairfax Media. Tenterfield Star.
- ^ "World Architecture Festival 2018 Category Winners". World Architecture Festival. England: EMAP Publishing Limited.
- ^ "2017 National Architecture Awards: Small Project Architecture Commendation". ArchitectureAU. Australia: Architecture Media.
- ^ "Building powered by 16 pianos wins national gong". News Corp Australia. Stanthope Border Post.
External links
edit- https://architectureau.com/articles/the-piano-mill/
- http://www.thepianomill.org/
- https://uropublications.com/products/the-piano-mill