Under a Roof – Inside a Piano are a series of pieces based on the same recording process used in The Absent Listener series, which were made using continuous and unsupervised soundscape recordings on a single rural 14 acre property in Northern Ontario. The difference with this series is that the recordings are made at a fixed location on that property, an outdoor weathering piano situated under a shed roof and bolted to a deck. Two matched condenser microphones are located under the shed roof and another pair inside the piano.

The soundscape recorded is coloured by the connected physical structures of the roof, deck and piano. The piano is a passive instrument in this case, being played by the elements and animals around it. The internal resonances, the bending and flexing of the wood with shifts in temperature, all influence what is captured on the recordings.

Shifting Temperatures, Heavy Vehicles and Pileated Woodpeckers (March 22 to 24, 2025) – 57:48

This piece includes recordings from a 48 hour period in the early spring where the temperature shifted from -2 Celsius to -14 and then back up to 0. The lowest point in the temperature led to the popping of nearby trees and the piano, decking and roof structures. The colder weather kept the ground hard, which allowed for trucks and heavy equipment to be used in the area along with chainsaws. Pileated woodpeckers were also very active in their spring preparations.

Squirrel Inside the Piano, Magnolia Warbler, Leopard Frogs and Rain (June 17, 2025) – 26:32

The events in this piece were recorded in a three hour period in the late spring. It happened during the last leg of my return home from a trip to Toronto. In fact, the arrival of our vehicle is included in the piece and the rain storm that is audible after our arrival was playing out visually in the skies ahead of us while we were driving. Unknown to me at the time was that a red squirrel decided to investigate behind the lid of the piano and even triggered a few notes in the process, which thankfully were recorded in my absence. When I listened to the recording of the squirrel’s interactions with the piano, I decided to start investigating and used the recording of the squirrel as the basis for very understated processed sounds embedded into the piece. It was the first time since 2014 or so that I have used processed sounds in my work.

Weathered Piano Location

To listen to the piano being played, this improvisation by Nadene Thériault-Copeland was recorded in early April 2025. She called the piece Longing for Spring, as you can see winter coats are still needed in the early weeks of Spring. See her weatheredpianos project website for more background on her interest in Weathered Pianos.