A visitor plays the LED piano in the atrium of the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry beneath a large OMSI sign

03, Oregon Museum of Science & Industry

OMSI, #Seeing Sounds

Venue: Oregon Museum of Science & Industry
Built: 2014
On view: Sep 2015 to Jan 2016
Collaboration: Piano Push Play · CymaSpace · Lucid Design
Medium: LED piano, interactive installation

#Seeing Sounds LED Piano (2014)

A one-of-a-kind piano wired with digital LEDs programmed to respond to sound vibrations.

I wired the instrument with digital light emitting diodes (LEDs) and programmed them so that anyone who sits down to play can see the sound they are making.

The keys create tones that resonate at different frequencies and amplitudes. That audio is analyzed and translated into color and movement in the light.

I built it for OMSI in collaboration with Piano Push Play, CymaSpace and Lucid Design. It stood in the museum for the public to play from September 2015 to January 2016.

A long-bearded man plays the upright piano in the workshop, the panel above the keys washed violet with a red and green bloom of light following his hands

Two children at the keyboard, one seated and one standing, as the piano's front panel glows pink, blue and green; a CymaSpace crew member and another visitor watch from behind

A CymaSpace staff member seated at the piano bench shows a young boy how to play, the lit panel above the keys shifting through green, pink and blue

Wide view of the OMSI atrium: a visitor in a beanie plays the piano under the red neon OMSI sign while the instrument's panel burns orange, green and magenta

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