Nora, The Piano-Playing Cat
This wonderful video features Nora, the piano-playing cat. Not a synthesizer, but it is a keyboard instrument.
In addition to the simple cuteness of a cat playing piano, I actually found myself listening to music itself. Clearly a lot of major and minor seconds, mostly because they are easy to reach with a single paw, but there is also the strong repeating rhythm. And she seems remarkably consistent over multiple brief “performances.”
I recommend listening to Nora's music without observing the video, as I am now, and you will hear an interesting minimal atonal piece that stands on its own. Many detractors of atonal and free-rhythm music often argue that “their five-year old could do that” or even that their pet could do that, but perhaps the fact that it captures childlike and cat-like innocence is part of the charm such music.
August 11th, 2009 at 9:27 am
[...] as a “joke.” But it is a genuine musical performance, and as we have noted our past review of Nora there is a definite characteristic and quality to the music that she plays. Mindaugas Piečaitis [...]