Dan Tepfer: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

Watch Dan Tepfer play "Canon At The Octave", "Tremolo", "TriadSculpture" and "Constant Motion" at the Tiny Desk.
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Aug. 29, 2019 | Colin Marshall -- Dan Tepfer has transformed the acoustic piano entirely with his new project, Natural Machines. Watch the keys and you'll see this Disklavier - a player piano - plucking notes on its own. But it's not a prerecorded script.
Here's how it works: Tepfer plays a note, and a computer program he authored reads those notes and tells the piano what to play in response. Tepfer can load different algorithms into the program that determine the pattern of playback, like one that returns the same note, only an octave higher. Another will play the inverted note based on the center of the piano keys. These rules create interesting restrictions that Tepfer says make room for thoughtful improvisation. In his words, he's not writing these songs, so much as writing the way they work. To better communicate what's happening between him and the piano, Tepfer converted these audio-impulse data into visualizations on the screen behind him, displaying in real time the notes he plays followed by the piano's feedback. We dive even deeper into this project in a recent Jazz Night in America video piece.
Perhaps the trickiest part here, unlike a human-to-human duo, is that the computer plays along with 100 percent accuracy based solely on Tepfer's moves. He compares it to dancing with a robot that never misses a beat. Tepfer has to play in kind to keep the train on the tracks, but if he falls out of step, so does the computer. On the other hand, Tepfer has unlocked a new frontier of music available to acoustic piano players: He's essentially given himself more limbs to play the piano at once, and at times we see more than 10 keys pressed at a time or a sequence of notes played at seemingly superhuman speeds. It's a central idea to what innovative technology enables for us - that which is impossible for us to achieve on our own.
SET LIST
"Canon At The Octave"
"Tremolo"
"TriadSculpture"
"Constant Motion"
MUSICIANS
Dan Tepfer: piano, coding
CREDITS
Producers: Colin Marshall, Morgan Noelle Smith; Creative Director: Bob Boilen; Audio Engineers: Josh Rogosin, James Willetts; Videographers: Morgan Noelle Smith, Bronson Arcuri; Associate Producer: Bobby Carter; Production Assistant: Paul Georgoulis; Photo: Olivia Falcigno/NPR

[@tadpoleeeee]

Everyone gangsta till the piano starts playing itself

[@dmz140]

“I like to think of music as Living at the intersection of algorithmic and spiritual”. I love this!

[@Eindacor_DS]

i'm so happy this exists

[@alexmiller1175]

It's always amazing to see a person discuss a topic that they are truly passionate about, you can see it particularly around the 10:00 minute mark in his explanation.

[@kimyMmE]

I was with my mouth open watching the shapes. just wow.

[@aiieeee5166]

when he clicks four times with one hand and five times with the other .... that is a talented man 😂😂

[@aiieeee5166]

@9:42

[@jamosensei]

Bob, you sure know how to pick 'em. Another win for TDC, with the selection of another fantastic artist & Obi-Wan Rogosin's ability to make the sound translate so well it feels like its not coming from my simple computer speakers! Bravissimo!!!

[@TRIPPLEJAY00]

When Tiny Desk meets TED Talks 🤘

[@Corpoyerlachapelle]

Gorgeous, fun and I love the name. Bravo, Dan.

[@abaneyone]

Tiny Desk does it again! Jazz is always on another level, a different plane. This ain't no top 40 pop music, it's way beyond that!

[@timelapsecapsule4341]

Like Top100? /s

[@mrkeng1]

Nah I prefer to listen to other musical genres (with less arrogant people)

[@abaneyone]

@@mrkeng1 Such as?

[@gin4106]

Actually you don't need to announce it like it's a big deal

[@dougfrankenberger]

@@mrkeng1 Well that statement certainly had no arrogance to it did it?

[@ImaginaryG0d]

NPR, thank you very much for giving him and his instrument the platform. Imagine Ludovico Einaudi collaborating with Dan Tepfer... sweet dream

[@williamsprestong]

This is amazing. It's neat to hear him humming too.

[@juliamckenzie5361]

very cool...love the visual of the audible geometry

[@abitofben8066]

Someone should show this guy lights that change to music. It would probably make his week.

[@TheMissOmni]

As someone who's worked as an audiovisual tech, I choked so hard with laughter!

[@ctchrisf]

heh I'm using app, while listening to this love it www2.meethue.com/en-us/entertainment/hue-sync

[@kenjamincooks]

This is exactly what I want at 5am.

[@jjforyomama]

the word genius gets thrown around a lot, but Dan truly warrants the title. mesmerizing performance. thanks tiny desk for curating this!

[@ericfricke4512]

And he's got a degree in astrophysics too... some people are too talented!

[@leif1075]

Did he write all these?

[@Daniel-yz3zf]

A perfect example of humans and technology working together in a positive way 🙂

[@TheFeelButton]

You blew me away Dan! Such a cool musical performance and so visually enchanting. Nicely done!! 🙏☺

[@sf5823]

Wow, fascinating project! Love the polarisation which is inherent in music and seeing it in a visual context aswell as the audio experience, had no idea a piano could do that, it's very cool how technology is becoming more and more integrated into a musical performance.

[@123muzeek]

Not only is the music beautiful, but the program visuals are also beautiful!

[@Opoczynski]

What a mind, what an ear. Quarantine could not be better. Thank you.

[@Zanskarma]

This is both fascinating and beautiful. So flipping cool!

[@meredithanthony]

Beyond brilliant! Gorgeous!

[@brendanpowers7865]

I feel like all I can say is thank you

[@absolutpot]

Amazing, incredible, fantastic!!

[@imsatanscott]

this was genuinely fascinating to watch and equally enjoyable to listen to.

[@eapeters12]

This man’s a genius.

[@chadshariak8632]

Guy is way too smart for this world. Amazing!

[@caramoonlynn]

He's going to make the universe explode!

[@mattmerewitz626]

Amazing. Congrats Dan!

[@danielsaxby]

Amazing. Tiny Desk always upping their game.

[@LittleLulubee]

Very cool. I love smart, creative people. And the graphics are a trip.

[@Crazyballhead123]

he is a wizard

[@marcscordato4385]

It’s a fascinating cross-pollination of Acoustic and electric old school and high tech . Tonality and atonality , it’s very complex and interesting .

[@StanleySagov]

lovely playing conceptual breadth and interesting moving music

[@michaelbutler2312]

i really enjoyed this trip! thanks

[@pascualitto88]

Vu hier en concert à la maison de l’océan, alors que j’étais venu pour l’autre partie ; découverte et fascinant !

[@santimosso]

Wow!!! great project, awesome improvisations and graphics! Completely different aproach of music.

[@mcook6005]

I like this version of the future :)

[@모타운걸]

I slightly understanding what is contemporary music and how it works! WOW it’s awsome

[@lilianenoel7430]

Fantastique , j, adore bravo.

[@deagalore]

I was sold after the 1st 5 seconds

[@lhogdk69]

very engaging...very creative..kudos!

[@McMakua]

That was incredible!

[@t3chn0kiwi1]

Totally mesmerizing

[@Wkkbooks]

Amazing!

[@amandahernandez5870]

¡Ah!... ¡Maestro 🎵! Qué buena calidad interpretativa y buen gusto 💕. Felicidades

[@jazzfan7491]

Obviously a crazy genius

[@eleonoraconti1914]

Incredible!

[@ChickanWingify]

botw vibes for sure. get this dude on the team for the next game this is super impressive

[@Swaggerbagger5000]

my first thought listening to this

[@artuno1207]

Breath of The Wild, for those unaware, one of the entries in the Legend of Zelda game series.

[@CarlCampbell]

Thought the same when I heard the first piece. Last one sounds very much like a battle theme.

[@MarnixMohrmannPiano]

Absolutely fascinating

[@salvaDVD]

Wow, that's amazing! So interesting and so beautiful!

[@Maternidarks]

This is like the first minutes of DISNEY Fantasia (the visualization of the music) ♥️

[@ozeas.carvalho]

Awesome!

[@cicilynnofficial]

That was cool!

[@lordbuddybear]

Reminds me of the one with Ólafur Arnalds. But I love the visual design!

[@maxicortesbravo4109]

lo mejor que veo desde hace tiempo los NPR TINY DESK CONCERT. Hagan uno con Frusciante por favoooorrr!!!

[@udomatthiasdrums5322]

love it!!

[@bobwalshe1508]

He's printing complex sounds....nuts

[@teresayoung93]

I accidentally clicked on this and I am not disappointed.

[@chrisbrooks7700]

thank you , would love to hear you in person ,...

[@dennismenezes9423]

awesome

[@Mistakenbacon]

Get Say Anything. Everyone would love it.

[@JustTutupa]

I'd love to see Dan and Steve Reich together one day. Amazing performance!

[@JoaqoSkater1]

Cool vibes bro

[@malekelwarshfani6956]

Genius

[@theoldkid5725]

Omg,Brad Mehldau & this Set Up...

[@ShannonTheMojito]

Grateful for the auto play that bright me here

[@itsbello__]

We see you Casper,, nobody's fooled!

[@daveThbfusion]

WHoα this was awesome even if you could not see the visualizations, Pen one hand ✍️ , tiny journaling 📓 in the other, letting your own mind wander, divining the recesses of mind and body synapses, guiding the ouija_ic like a one lone man operett_ic ouija tactilliation Suede of the blues clarity

[@michaelcristoferi6845]

I'm not sure if this was answered, but do the keys that react to his actions respond with the same force? or is it strictly digital and recognizes a press or non press?

[@jalfredprufrock620]

"Strictly digital" doesn't have to mean binary. MIDI has provided for 128 levels of velocity since at least the 80s, so that would be the bare minimum resolution for something like this I'd say. What's heard in the clip pretty much confirms this. The notes the program is playing clearly vary indynamics.

[@jd_loade]

This is so underrated, 45,752 views in 4 days. smh, as soon as they hear jazz or classical they just stop watching

[@SpaghettiBreakfastBand]

I really love tiny desk! If you could have the band Good Morning play that would be awesome! i dont know if you guys take requests like that but i think they would be great for this platform and theres no good live footage of them!! pls do!

[@sommelierofstench]

nice ted talk here

[@Si-Al-Ti]

TriadSculpture reminds me of the later stuff from Esbjörn Svensson Trio.

[@pauljohnson4083]

Bill Laurance needs a Tiny Desk ASAP.

[@mjgarratt]

First and foremost a great pianist, but to the have the brain to add all that extra... just amazing. Would love to see how other artists would respond to this technology, Brad Mehldau obviously, but Thom Yorke, Nahre Sol, Jacob Collier to name a few.

[@JIsaacMardis]

Jacob Collier was the first person I thought of

[@WhompingWalrus]

The idea to incorporate all the algorithmic interaction & visualization stuff is great and pretty novel, I'm not trying to minimize that, but techy stuff like that really isn't that hard to get into if anyone has an interest in it. There are so many tools out there today that simplify the pipelines to get it all going, that anyone with an idea can realistically implement it without devoting a decade of their life to studying how (: It's a lot more intimidating at face-value than it is difficult, once you get down to it.

[@pdg887]

Dude invented the visualizer from windows media player

[@AmelieZh]

🤯🤯 what in the world...

[@Me_preppy]

14:39 like reverse Piano Hero

[@nataliemscrzysxycoolharris9623]

*I like*

[@DJMotorMouth713]

Tobe Nwigwe has the best Tiny Desk of all time

[@victordali2404]

Amazing.... Sigh... Thank you.

[@rowandunstan1811]

Did he grow two extra invisible hands??? How the crap is this happening?!?!? This is some dark magic

[@payphones]

player pianos has existed forever, they just look like normal pianos now : - )

[@adenhaigler2164]

🔥🔥

[@InclusiveMusicUK]

LOVE XXX

[@jipes]

Very innovative and challenging to still do music with a twist

[@bamdadadl9559]

Wow

[@DiaYiannopoulou]

❤❤❤

[@BamBam-gs7eb]

Teknowloooogiiieeee

[@tawandamaps]

That piano 🧐🧐🧐

[@TPJN777]

Get Robin Fox and his lasers on Tiny Desk

[@OakKnobFarm]

@11:00 This should be called the Radiohead algorithm.

[@ayluisssss]

Might as well call the police as my mind is currently missing 🤯

[@hallelgoldenberg8699]

that's so fucking cool

[@meilaniwilson8777]

You should get AJR !,!

[@roidAholic]

Did he program the piano to play certain parts? I don't understand

[@The-Euroclydon]

From what my pea-brain could gather- he wrote multiple programs that cause the piano to respond in particular ways in real time. Each song is showcasing a different rule-set.

[@lararomerosebastian2200]

Does anyone know how I can implement similar algorithms but with a midi controller ?, I saw another video where the supercollider screen is seen but I don't know if this is how it creates them, does anyone know something or if it can be done and how can it be done in max?

[@istrem_puh]

How do some keys play themselves?

[@inef85]

WinAmp: it's 1997, we should have audio visualizations for any music (kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGXQoJahp62YrtEm13s) NPR: it's 2019, we should have some jazz audio visualizations