#Pianodrome at the Edinburgh International Science Festival

What is a pianodrome? We can guarantee that by the time the end of August comes you will know what a Pianodrome is!

#Pianodrome is a sculpture, an acoustic concert venue, a lecture theatre and musical instrument.

The lead artist is Tim Vincent-Smith who will make #Pianodrome, a 100 seater amphitheatre made from 50 discarded pianos. Tim told us when we visited his studio that he had been inspired by the Anatomy Theatre at the University of Edinburgh Medical School.

He is working with Matt Wright the producer to bring this idea to life. The #Pianodrome house band SiNK (they are two of the members of SiNK) is the creative force and will be playing during August in the new music space.

In the summer this year artist Tim Vincent-Smith and a team of helpers will build an amphitheatre at the Botanics. This will be formed out of discarded pianos and you will be able to help if you wish. This will be a unique performance space housed under a geodesic dome roof.

Tim told us when we visited his studio that he had been inspired by the Anatomy Theatre at the University of Edinburgh Medical School and also by working at the Famous Spiegeltent which is put up and taken down in smallish pieces across the world.

Working with Matt Wright the producer to bring this idea to life, the pair are not without talent and creativity. The #Pianodrome house band SiNK (yes that is them too) is the creative force and will be playing during August in the new music space.

Although Tim plays saxophone in the band he played one of the working pianos for us when we visited his workshop (And he played violin when we went to see SiNK recently!)

The #Pianodrome will be a completely unique sculpture which can be used to create music for and by people of all ages and music abilities. It will be a musical instrument and a performance place for everyone.

Tim said: “This is a radical reimagining of what the piano is and can be in today’s throw away culture. We are taking fabulous old instruments that have been condemned to the rubbish tip and turning them into something new and astonishing. This will spark our collective imagination and release a cascade of creativity which will be highly entertaining and at the same time good for the environment.”

“No piano is junk. No person is ‘unmusical’. The Pianodrome is a musical instrument and performance place free for everyone. All you have to do is play – and I don’t just mean the piano.”

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In the summer this year artist Tim Vincent-Smith and a team of helpers will put up the amphitheatre at the Botanics.But before that they are running a crowdfunder campaign which you can read more about here.

Before this massive building project, the team are taking up residence at Inverleith House during the Edinburgh International Science Festival.

You can drop in to Inverleith House any day until 14 April between 10am and 5.00pm to see what the team are planning and also take part in some workshops and activities.

On 7 April  the Pianodrome Resonancy begins.

On 6 and 13 April 2018 there are 3 hour long workshops using the keys from a discarded piano which will be pieced together into unique geodesic art. These are based on Buckminster Fuller’s theories about how to make efficient structures using maths. You will be able to create your own geodesic model which you can take home, but you will also be able to work in a team creating a unique artwork which will be displayed in the #Pianodrome.

On 6 and 13 April 2018 there are Instrument Making Workshops at Inverleith House when you can explore the sounds which can be made out of dissected pianos.

More details on the Edinburgh International Science Festival website here.