What if You Could See Piano Music as Well as Hear it?
- Editor OGN Daily
- 27 minutes ago
- 1 min read
It took three years of experimentation, but an engineer has succeeded in creating a “magical piano” that shows music as individual bursts of colour as the instrument’s keys are played.
There's a phenomenon known as synesthesia, whereby one sensory stimulant causes the stimulation of another, unrelated sense. One form of synesthesia that individuals with this condition (known as synesthetes) experience is seeing colours when hearing music. This inexplicable cognitive connection has long intrigued engineer and content creator He Shijie of HTX Studio. So, in an effort to visualize the phenomenon - without using AI or CGI - He (with a capital H, because that's his name) set out to create a “magical piano” that displayed bursts of colour when each of the 68 notes are played.
After several failed attempts, He finally found the solution which he christened the “Blue tears piano,” and it's powered by bioluminescent algae.
The piano is connected to a water tank filled with these organisms, which are then triggered by air bubbles. This makes them glow all the way to the surface using the same principle that makes them to light up coastlines around the world as waves hit the sand. Ultimately, this gives each of the keys that make up the piano a way to visually express sound.
He’s “magical piano” and the video chronicling its creation can be seen below. “We never gave up on that image in our heads,” He writes. “And finally, I can say we did it.”
