Knowra Extended technique Extended technique An unconventional way of playing an instrument that expands its usual sounds or techniques, often by altering how it is touched, blown, struck, or otherwise activated.
Prepared piano : A piano altered by placing objects on or between its strings to change their timbre. Objects placed inside the piano transform ordinary key strikes into metallic, muted, or buzzing sounds.
Henry Cowell : An American composer and pianist known for experimental music and unconventional piano techniques. His tone clusters and direct manipulation of piano strings helped establish new approaches to instrumental sound.
Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima : A 1960 composition by Krzysztof Penderecki for 52 string instruments, known for clusters and unconventional playing methods. Its dense use of string effects made radical instrumental sonorities audible to a wide audience.
Standard instrumental technique : The established methods of playing an instrument that produce its conventional sounds. Extended techniques depart from these methods, though once-unusual techniques can become standard practice.
Multiphonics : A technique that produces multiple pitches simultaneously on a normally monophonic wind instrument. Unusual fingering and breath control make a single wind instrument sound several notes at once.
John Cage : An American composer whose experimental works challenged conventional ideas about music, performance, and chance. His prepared piano compositions made altered instrumental timbre a compositional foundation.
Black Angels : A 1970 string quartet by George Crumb that combines conventional playing with amplified and unconventional sounds. Crumb uses effects such as bowing and striking to turn the quartet into a varied sound world.
Instrument preparation : The alteration of an instrument before performance by adding, removing, or changing components. Preparation changes the instrument itself, while many extended techniques rely only on the player's actions.
Sul ponticello : A bowed-string technique performed near the bridge, producing a bright, often glassy tone. Moving the bow toward the bridge changes string vibration and emphasizes upper partials.
Helmut Lachenmann : A German composer known for musique concrète instrumentale and unconventional instrumental sounds. His music treats the physical actions and noises of instrumental performance as compositional material.
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