Hauschka is an accomplished German pianist who is well known for playing "prepared piano" and creating film scores for a ton of movies and shows. He was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for scoring the film Lion with Dustin O'Hallaran, and did the score for the HBO Show Gunpowder starring Kit Harrington - Jon Snow on Game of Thrones.
Volker Bertelmann AKA Hauschka
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Prepared piano is when you place objects inside the piano in between the strings to create new sounds. The technique was created as we know it in 1938 by John Cage. Hauschka uses prepared piano to create metallic rubbing and scratching sounds in his compositions. It gives the effect of multiple instruments taking part when it's actually just him playing. It adds a percussive effect to his music, and also sounds like there are string instruments playing too. You can see him improvise using this technique in this video.
I saw Hauschka live in 2010 and I was absolutely blown away! It looked like he was sticking pencils, forks, and clothespins inside of his piano and changing their placement depending on which song he was going to play next. I don't play any instruments myself, I was just trying to comprehend why he put specific objects in their certain places. The most incredible moment was when he put ping pong balls inside and they all started hopping around while he was hitting the keys, you can see an example of this here
Below are some songs from his 2008 album titled Ferndorf, he is accompanied by some string instruments as well. I hope you guys enjoy, and please feel free to share your favorite piano compositions as well!
Hauschka - Alma
Hauschka - Blue Bicycle
Hauschka - Heimat
