Beethoven, but all the keys on this piano are tuned to middle C

5 March 2019, 17:25

What does a piano sound like if all the notes are tuned to one pitch? This is an exceptionally strange (but also rather awesome) version of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata.

For an ad campaign a few years ago, Android came up with the perfect metaphor for society: a piano.

The thinking is that all the notes on a piano are together, but different. So if you make all the notes the same, rather than individually tuned 
– well, you can hear the result in this version of the finale from Beethoven's 'Moonlight' Sonata.

Even if it sounds quite interestingly percussive, I think we can all agree that if you're heading along to a piano recital, it's going to be much better to have those 88 individual notes.

Let's celebrate with another performance of this sonata movement, complete with visualisation so you can enjoy every note.