Sounds, Shapes, and Colors

It was a beautiful fall day at the end of September when Henry Wang (Brown '28) and Yinan Jiang (RISD '27) visited the piano. The two friends each took their own inspiration from the piano as they worked together, Henry playing the piano and Yinan drawing in her notebook. Henry is a composer and improviser, and sees improvisation as "a dynamic interplay between the improviser and their surroundings—the performer's perception of the environment influences the improvised music, which in turn transforms the surrounding soundscape."

Yinan's drawings are inspired by her synesthesia, an ability to see colors and shapes that correspond to different sounds that she hears. Each component of her drawing, she explains, represents a different element of the soundscape: the rumble of the low bass notes, the tapping against the piano's wood, and the shouts of the children playing across the street each are translated into lines and swirls on her notepad.

"This is an overprepared piano," laughs Henry as he plunks away at the keys. "Every note has its own unique timbre. It's a piano tuned by nature."

Days in place: 592

Weather: sunny, 72°F