Few days ago I started thinking about how I could re-purpose the keyboard of the dismantled piano I keep in the garden, so I thought to build a new instrument by combining it with some other parts I had laying around.
I ended up with this mechanical hybrid thing I thought to call "Bassoforte" (bass + pianoforte).
The neck is from a broken electric bass, as a bridge I used a cabinet handle, the pickups are from a guitar, and the part
at the top where the strings are attached is a chimney cap, which works as resonator as well as percussive sound.
The track I created is a tribute to my Dad who is a big fan of Western comic books and "spaghetti western" films,
and because of him I am too.
Below you can see the video and pictures with more detailed descriptions.
I hope you'll like it.
I ended up with this mechanical hybrid thing I thought to call "Bassoforte" (bass + pianoforte).
The neck is from a broken electric bass, as a bridge I used a cabinet handle, the pickups are from a guitar, and the part
at the top where the strings are attached is a chimney cap, which works as resonator as well as percussive sound.
The track I created is a tribute to my Dad who is a big fan of Western comic books and "spaghetti western" films,
and because of him I am too.
Below you can see the video and pictures with more detailed descriptions.
I hope you'll like it.
Video
Pictures
This was taken was I was still figuring out how to build it.
Detail of the chimney cap. Every note played on the strings makes it resonate.
Here I was playing the Bassoforte with a double bass bow.
I installed the guitar pickups so I could play acoustic and electric sounds.
A screenshot of Amplitube 3, the amp modeling software I used to amp the bass line and the distorted sound.
Here you can see how the keys/strings action works.
The neck is slightly tilted so when I press a key I can push all four strings at the same time. but because the piano keys are not perpendicular to the frets the tuning is imprecise (which I like) and can also generate in
between semitones. How strong I push the keys also affects the tuning.
It can be a little tricky to play but overall I'm very happy about how it came out.
The "Bassoforte" track is also available as an high-quality download on my Bandcamp page:
http://diegostocco.bandcamp.com/track/bassoforte
http://diegostocco.bandcamp.com/track/bassoforte
