Hauschka: Tiny Desk Concert

Robin Hilton | April 24, 2024
The last time Volker Bertelmann stopped by NPR to perform as Hauschka, back in 2010, he dumped handfuls of Ping-Pong balls and anything else he could think of over the strings of our in-house grand piano, a performance captured in one of NPR's pristine studios (in a building that no longer exists). But for the Tiny Desk, the pianist and composer assumed the challenge of preparing our significantly smaller upright in a much-less-controlled environment.
It's hard to spot everything Hauschka deployed for this mostly improvised set, but after dismantling much of the piano's cabinet, he stuffed the strings with tin foil, a glob of pink putty, cellophane, piano tuner mutes, sleigh bells, gaffers tape and whatever else he could rummage from a large bag of toys he carries with him.
Hauschka is joined by cellists Carol Anne Bosco and Devree Lewis who, since the set was mostly improvised, were told to simply come on "about 10 minutes" into his performance. Note that the songs are named for the location they were performed, in this case "Washington," and numbered. The closing cut, "Loved Ones," is from his latest album, Philanthropy.
Bertelmann's performance at the Tiny Desk comes just over a year after winning an Oscar for his score to the film All Quiet On The Western Front.
SET LIST
"Washington One"
"Washington Two"
"Washington Three"
"Loved Ones"
MUSICIANS
Hauschka, aka Volker Bertelmann: piano
Carol Anne Bosco: cello
Devree Lewis: cello
TINY DESK TEAM
Producer: Robin Hilton
Director/Editor: Maia Stern
Audio Technical Director: Josephine Nyounai
Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter
Videographers: Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant, Sofia Seidel
Audio Engineer: Neil Tevault
Production Assistant: Ashley Pointer
Photographer: Michael Zamora
Tiny Desk Team: Hazel Cills, Kara Frame
Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson
VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins
#nprmusic #tinydesk #hauschka

[@whereismymind1]

if you drift off too far from your spaceship and look around, this is the soundtrack.

[@ronshina4022]

0:01 Washington One 3:32 Washington Two 8:22 Washington Three 12:39 Loved Ones ❤ (cellos)

[@CouchCommander5000]

I've never seen or heard anything quite like that. Wow

[@joshualacour3825]

😂😂😂😂

[@andrucho_3557]

Live undera rock or what

[@CouchCommander5000]

@@andrucho_3557 Bahahahahaha. ok loser. nice profile pic. is that so everyone can tell how cool you are 😃

[@tinkertoy53171]

PHENOMENAL! LOVE LOVE & MORE LOVE

[@paulwezeman9804]

That was quite interesting! Unique experience listening with bewilderment and anticipation. Found it to be very fluid, Rhythmic and entertaining. I enjoyed this! Thank you sir!! Well done 👏

[@rafaelmagno4861]

That's so amazing, no words for this show. 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

[@christophervincent3520]

"Glad to see your creative piano tuner ended in 'harmony' with the cellists"! Only jesting. I very much enjoyed this. Indeed, it is great to have such contrasts on NPR.

[@macabrekid5342]

I'd like to hear him colab with Thom Yorke.

[@pauldidier6101]

Seriously!

[@mountainhobbit1971]

I was thinking TOOL

[@KW-kr9gh]

Oh man, Thom Yorke and Tool would be super cool collabs!

[@rimbaud0000]

Loving the variety of Tiny Desk, and always superb sound engineering

[@AlsoAnonAs]

The last song just transports you, found my self swaying gently with my eyes half closed

[@ilikedoom2707]

I really enjoy his stuff. Reminds me a lot of Ryuichi Sakamoto so the fact that this is all improvised is very impressive.

[@dianehinson2170]

Refreshing. So creative ❤

[@Groundedsquirrel]

As a kid I watched a piano tuner try to wrestle our old upright no one else wanted and was fascinated by the inner workings. Soon my sister and I were all up in there using it like a percussion instrument. Many years later at a warehouse party there was a tower built from old piano innards. You would break off a hammer on your way up, climbing and playing with other climbers with their hammers. It was destruction and creation throughput the night till the only unbroken strings were the deep bass ones. It felt complete.

[@steventaylor8421]

Very creative putting percussion in the piano. Creates a nice soundscape.

[@Auldhelm]

He is a mad scientist

[@TioYesi]

Excelente!. Gracias!!

[@MariaJose-oh5yh]

Amazing!

[@drag0neta]

Wow.... 🎉🪷🌄🌿🌞🌌☀️✨💫🌻🌅🧬🌟👽

[@dblbassted]

Glad to see that minimalism is alive and well in contemporary music. Brilliant work!

[@frankboyd.]

Sounds like a 1950's office when we had typewriters.

[@kojamps]

Wow, this is a whole adventure of a music experience

[@soodle_noup_3890]

This reminds me of that video of the guy with the giant marble machine in the white room that plays music

[@VrataVenet]

Wintergarten.... But his music is a lot more enjoyable than this cacophony

[@kellebond8879]

Just in first one and it’s much like my sleep… 🫤 that said it’s familiar. I’m rather unsettled that my mind is playing a full color movie of a day in my life. Sharing for sure.

[@heathertea2704]

Perfect Music for a psychological thriller.

[@__J_____]

Spectacular

[@mukundjajoo1]

Phenomenal

[@haukekasten]

Hauschka 🔥

[@genepozniak]

Finally! For a long while, I thought Tiny Desk had gone totally pop and rap. But at long last, something unusual, more NPR-like!

[@RobertDPore]

Oh there have been the usual assortment of Jazz, Classical, and more offbeat artists as well the past few weeks. Check out Tarta Relena in particular - that one was weird and awesome in all the best ways.

[@genepozniak]

@@RobertDPore Hey, thanks for the tip on Tarta Relena. They were great! :-)

[@BestFitSquareChannel]

Brilliant!

[@andginisin]

So nice. Makes me want to dance

[@tommyjuergens4589]

Grandios.

[@barbaraosorio8806]

Un maestro !! Otro nivel

[@orangepuffs6796]

I’m like 90% sure that this isn’t Vulfpeck

[@iondelic5967]

Didn't know that Saul Goodman had hidden talents!

[@JocelioHenriqueDosSantos]

Fortaleza ,Brasil ❤

[@zizimugen4470]

I have synesthesia of sound and sight. I could tell something was up at 0:15. I’m paused at 0:50 now. Let’s hear this journey maybe? 3:36 ooh, there’s the path. 9:36 there’s a lot of wandering, but not really much direction. 11:36 I can hear the pictures he’s painting, but we just haven’t gone anywhere. It’s almost like the intro to a Desert Dwellers song, but it just… keeps keeps keeps introducing. 15:41 the first 12 minutes seemed like the place being built, should have been more adventurous. Yeah, there wasn’t really much melody in there. That took discipline to make it to the actual song.

[@ThePopsicle1234]

Loved this set! The flow between each piece, while they seemed to be chaotic and arbritrary. Completely unexpected and enjoyable. Thank you for introducing Hauschka into our lives!

[@GizzyDillespee]

I had something similar to this when I was a toddler... except it was all brightly colored plastic, and there were only 6 or 7 giant plastic keys, and the fiddly bits couldn't be removed so easily. I think the adult version is better. If they'd updated the kids' version to sound a little better (and to be more interesting... there weren't enough danglies, and they were too similar and cheap sounding), then I think there would be many more adults still doing this.

[@IuryATB]

Good morning from Brazil

[@tinkertoy53171]

See ....... this hynotizing intentional ;) LOVE IT!

[@sabrowenie]

Last visit, my grandson dumped a set of Lego’s into my piano. Spent a few hours getting them out. Next time he visits I’ll let him add Tinker Toys and play a duet.

[@davatza]

😮😮❤❤uuou. Fascinating*

[@wtylermcgee]

Crazy amount of haters in the comments. This is really very interesting, not something I'd normally put on, but clearly well crafted, different and very very musical. Loved it, thanks!

[@bobleroe3859]

Haters? If I don't enjoy something, I'm not being hateful; it's a matter of individual taste and preference.

[@wtylermcgee]

@@bobleroe3859 sure, music is subjective. The comments I'm talking about are rude about the musician and the music... You can say you don't like something without being rude. If you were not rude in your comment, then I wasn't talking about you

[@itsoktocry1]

looks like an indie horror movie

[@simaril]

something only the artist can do with a piano

[@user-gl5ld9vm7i]

Kind of like 80s group---- "Art of Noise" 😅

[@Pugernot2022]

Finally early?!

[@blurg233]

See! There were a couple of good things that came out of the pandemic…

[@143GiGi]

👏👏👏

[@mhoop1]

...how high was he and how effed up was the piano when he first found this sound? I went to a concert that was of the similar ilk last fall at an Earthquaker Devices event and a guy with a rotating glass bowl contraption that he played like a glass harmonica along with 2 other guys doing odd things with effects loops and such where very interesting at first....but after about 20 minutes and it not really progressing I had to leave. to each their own i guess?

[@MakersTeleMark]

I feel so so bad for any piano tech looking at this. Excellent mic work by the NPR staff.

[@paulwhetstone0473]

I was really enjoying the pulse driven textures of his electronic effects and prepared piano performance UNTIL the cellists arrived and broke the spell…although I enjoyed the slow cross fade. I was imaging an ensemble of dancers.

[@moca6562]

Músicas pra ouvir assistindo Tom e Jerry. Sim, o desenho...

[@vialwash]

Westworld ❤️

[@thedeeprot]

[@mixag2602]

Harry Oldman learned to play the piano ???

[@Robyamdam]

we getting weird on NPR today

[@KW-kr9gh]

In the best way. 😅

[@thiakelleher9348]

Beautifully & brilliantly creative for this chaotic place 🌎✨️💝

[@jimmyvau]

Found the inspiration for the music in Tears of the Kingdom

[@frankboyd.]

I heard a woodpecker on a metal pole play this before so this is actually a cover song.

[@andrucho_3557]

Al I asked for new melodies style Zelda

[@slane_design]

I can now explain to my doctor what my migraine feels like.

[@k3vinoliv3r4]

Traigan a “el mato un policía motorizado”plss

[@tommyjuergens4589]

Blurred Edges Music

[@user-vj8zm7oh9l]

🇧🇷💚

[@DaydreamExchange]

2x playback speed is bonkers.

[@DaydreamExchange]

Especially here. 11:30

[@DaydreamExchange]

It really slaps when 13:19 comes in.

[@frankboyd.]

If you play it backwards on 78 rpm You can hear " I bury Paul"

[@pauldidier6101]

OK. Had to do that. Good fun!

[@elyupi_]

Loved ones the only good

[@davidsonandverlinabishop9173]

Prepared piano...

[@frankboyd.]

Good for soundtracks. His neighbours all wear straightjackets.

[@markbass_trojanthinking]

Ok different

[@voicedrifter]

2/10 - Didn't peel the plastic off the display of his Ableton Push.

[@gameboi20]

This music you here in rayman 2

[@Arnold-ur7bz]

Saul Goodman?

[@WalterBurton]

Uh-huh. 🤨

[@Mu5icPr0ducer]

Who is the blonde violinist? 😊

[@user-vf6lp5re9m]

.......for ASMR poject's...😅🤣😅

[@matthewjones2513]

Defund npr.......except the music part.😅

[@okcuc999]

🤣🤣

[@chtidede]

Il doit s'agir d'un piano récupéré dans la bande de Gaza !

[@carotannoiata]

Nik Bartch on acid

[@papabucks8582]

First!

[@j.thorgard]

wow I'm early

[@timurmakhambek8464]

Cycles plugin does the same :)

[@elmojones852]

Just Noise .

[@karlsmusiclab7205]

I don't understand the musicality behind this.

[@michaelfoxbrass]

That’s an honest and useful comment. I like it, but it is definitely out of the mainstream. Listen to compositions by John Cage (works for “prepared piano”) and by Philip Glass (nearly anything) for some of his influences. This artist often plays polyrhythmic patterns, where one beat/meter is kept for a line played in the right hand, and a different beat/meter for a line played by the left hand. And he’s using a looper/sequencer and a mixer to blend real-time sounds and recorded one’s. A lot of musicianship/training is necessary to do the things he’s doing, it’s not just tinkering. I find that by listening to this type of music as more of a meditation, or as a experiment, I enjoy it more than if were I’m listen for its harmonies and melodies.

[@miahdpapa9304]

This guy is trolling

[@MakersTeleMark]

Probably rolling is more like it.

[@ifitsrusteditsmine]

This is yoko ono but it's a piano

[@barbiec4312]

That’s hilarious! 😂

[@joshualacour3825]

I’m sorry, but I’m confused

[@jaredcaines6688]

You don’t have to apologize… but perhaps confusion is the point. Music and art isn’t always meant to evoke warm feelings (though I would argue by the end, it’s quite warm and lovely). Imagine what it would feel like to be put in an insane asylum because you’ve gone crazy, have a radically transformative experience and then find yourself well and living peacefully. This music, to me, tells that type of story. The end wouldn’t feel as nice without the contrasting experience at the beginning. Anyway, just thought I’d share in case it alleviates some of your confusion. :)

[@worldcitizen9202]

nope .... just nope ....

[@WalterBurton]

Puts sh*t in an upright to make it sound ... different. Cool, bro. Everybody should have a hobby. 🙄

[@bobleroe3859]

Mostly noise until the cellists showed up.

[@jaredcaines6688]

The “noise” is meant to evoke an emotion. What I got was the feeling of being a patient in mental hospital because I’ve gone crazy…then I have a radical transformation and find myself living peacefully in the forest by the end. The mental hospital part is not comfortable (is music meant to always make us feel comfortable?) but without the tension in the beginning, the part with the cellos wouldn’t have the same impact.

[@bobleroe3859]

@@jaredcaines6688 Brandford Marsalis has a CD called Crazy People Music. A woman told him that jazz is the music crazy people would make if you gave them instruments. Though I think most jazz is more than noise. Well, I enjoyed part of this performance!

[@mercoledi_falco]

Oh dear, Piano has a bitter experience.. it's too painful to watch to me. sorry

[@wakaran7790]

Its sad you can't how unnatural the pristine sound of a piano is. Whilst beautiful, things exist. And the piano isn't hurt.

[@mercoledi_falco]

​@@wakaran7790 Just i put myself in that one's shoes. and i don't think Anything Goes is right.

[@AlanDSouza-pe3gx]

​@@wakaran7790 The piano isn't hurt but my ears sure do.

[@Heather_Rena]

first of all, WHAT? I have no clue what you are saying. Im guessing that English isn't your first language. This piece isn't about the piano. It's about the feeling.I'm 46 and have played since I was 4 and it's still one of my go-tos when I need a release.

[@AlanDSouza-pe3gx]

@@Heather_Rena may be a visit to the ENT is in order

[@sheritadavis9228]

No thank you

[@lindamon5101]

All that money for lessons and this is what you bring to us? Why?

[@jaredcaines6688]

Because some composers refuse to be conventional. Music wouldn’t have evolved over the years without the ones who dared to do something different.

[@romullen3971]

Trump for the arts!

[@anonymous_friend]

Instrument abuse should be a felony.

[@jaredcaines6688]

Who says it’s abuse, lol. It could be quite pleasurable… 😏

[@axioms22]

This is unlistenable pretentious garbage

[@jaredcaines6688]

People had a similar reaction to Beethoven’s later works…then future composers studied them because they understood how brilliant they were. Music evolves because people dare to do something different.

[@AlanDSouza-pe3gx]

This has to be an elaborate scam.

[@tbray25]

What is the definition of music without soul??? This. Nerd boy, this is irritating and a sonic assault on the civilian population. Imagine living next door to this guy. Ok at 13 mins it becomes bearable. I drunkenly honest rn 😅

[@jaredcaines6688]

Hmm…People hated Beethoven’s later works at the time…until future musicians realized how brilliant they were. Debussy’s music wasn’t popular at the time either…but then everyone later realized how genius his music was. I’m not comparing this guy to them…only pointing out that music has changed over the centuries because composers and musicians dared to do something different. Perhaps we can try and expand our perspective just a bit.

[@04bucmic]

Horrible music, sorry. Timing issues, sound is bad. I love special, unique music and artists but this is not my friend.