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by Phyllis Chen
Author: chenphyllis
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A good bunch for the 2nd UnCaged
Thanks to everyone who sent in submissions for the 2nd UnCaged Toy Piano Competition! I have been utterly giddy and thrilled with this year’s submissions. I don’t know how it’s going to be possible to pick one winner. I have browsed through some of the scores and I am already impressed with the abundance of good toy piano ideas people are sending me. When I came home from the post office yesterday carrying a bagful of submissions, I felt like a kid on Christmas Day. I’m glad that I will have the help of Wendy Mae Chambers, Margaret Leng Tan and Nathan Davis to look at all of this year’s works.
I decided to host a toy piano composition competiton over a year ago when I was looking for more works written for the instrument. This year, I have received works from the US, Germany, Finland, Sweden, Australia, Korea, Japan, Greece, Portugal, Argentina, and England. I cannot thank the composers enough for spending time and energy on such a specific and quirky project. I’ll be in touch with everyone very soon!
After performing my solo toy piano concerts, many people  like to tell me  what other instruments the toy piano reminds them of. I always thought this was something people did since they were still grappling with the idea of a toy piano as a musical instrument. I have been told that it sounds like  a kalimba (African thumb piano), a koto (Japanese plucked instrument), a xylophone, a celeste, a gamelan, vibes, clock chimes, a harpsichord, a musicbox, teacups, silverware, and many many other instruments. Oddly, it seems like the instrument has the least to do with the sound of an actual piano.  The piano is such a popular instrument that our ears are so accustomed to hearing it in any musical genre, whether it be at bars, clubs, concert halls, on the radio, or in living rooms. But the toy piano has its appearance, but the sound is so chameleon-like and hard to peg. From one moment it has the ability to sound quite melodic and delicate, mimicking the child-like innocence that people often associate with a toy piano, and all of a sudden it can sound like a bright percussive instrument made of plastic. I am still completely enthralled by the ever-changing nature of the toy piano’s sound. With this great ability to change,there is still so much potential for new music and new experiments–l still feel like a kid discovering an instrument for the first time!
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Coraline (the musical) is now showing
Tonight was our first run-through of Coraline the musical at the Lucille Lortel Theater.  I have felt extremely lucky and excited to be part of this incredibly unique project. The music is written by the singer-songwriter Stephin Merritt (from the Magnetic Fields) and everything is scored for solo musician. I am playing toy pianos, prepared piano and regular “adult” piano throughout the entire show. This is a project that was apparently in the making for over seven years between Stephin, Neil Gaiman (author),  David Greenspan (bookwright) and Leigh Silverman (director).  I joined the team about a year ago when I came to New York to explore prepared piano sounds with Stephin. I can still remember some of the odd noises we seem to be able to create by cramming a lot of  junk into an upright piano. The “finished” prepared piano has evolved quite a lot since then–in fact, 69 out of the 88 keys of the piano have some sort of preparation on it. The timbre of the piano is altered by using screws, bolts, erasers, rubber bands, playing cards, jingle bells, banana clips, pennies, pipe cleaner, a knitting needle and other found objects. The amount of detail in this show is a bit overwhelming, but I believe it to be a truly magical piece of work. Please come see it at the Lucille Lortel Theater (Bedford/Christopher St.) in the West Village! Previews start tomorrow and our official opening is June 1st.
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The Kawai Toy Piano
Last month, Rob and I visited Tokyo during our month-long trip to Asia. We were very lucky to meet Takuji Kawai, a Japanese pianist/toypianist/composer/improviser who arranged two concerts for us at the Flying Teapot. I was really excited about meeting another toy pianist. We decided to split both concerts with a 25-minute solo set from both of us, followed by improvisations on toy pianos. Takuji was inspired by the idea of having two toy pianists on the same concert, so he wrote a piece for two toy pianos entitled “Cromlech.” I was also thrilled when my toy pianist/composer friend David Smooke also agreed to write a brand-new two toy piano piece, “Toy With Me.”
Takuji told me that toy pianos are not so rare in Japanese pop music. I found it quite intriguing to perform for an audience that has some musical association with the toy piano. I was surprised to see his instrument; It is a two-and-a-half octave Kawai toy piano. The keys on his toy piano are slimmer and shorter than the Jaymar and Schoenhuts that I own. The sound of the instrument was quite different too– the rods inside the toy piano are hollow, so the sound is a bit warmer and less brittle. The instrument is also “in tune” so it displayed a celeste-like quality to it. It was the first time I performed on toy piano and felt like my instrument was the biggest one in the room!
The two concerts were a very memorable experience for us. I really loved Takuji’s solo toy piano pieces. I found his point of view to be beautifully introverted, lyrical, and quite conceptual. The live improvisations were extremely engaging for me on both nights, since I do not do this on a regular basis. My next two blog entries will be about this experience and also the new duo toy piano pieces written for the occasion.