Asuna

A LIVE MUSICAL PERFORMANCE WITH OVER 100 TOY KEYBOARDS

Asuna (Japan) presents 100 Keyboards: more than one hundred toy keyboards sounding simultaneously in a unique performance of resonance and sonic interference.

Each keyboard plays a sustained note of a specific pitch, and as the number of tones increases, a strange moiré effect emerges. Since most of the keyboards used are inexpensive or toy models, their tuning may slightly drift when played for an extended time on batteries. This subtle detuning generates a complex resonance.

The performance focuses on the phenomenon of “interference sound,” a complex distribution of sound pressure and other parameters that occurs when sound waves of the same frequency but different propagation directions overlap. The result is a moiré-like sound pattern produced by the resonances created through minute tonal differences.

By changing the direction of one’s ears or moving among the keyboards, the overlapping sounds and resonances in the space produce shifting hums, loops, and rhythms at every point.