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Pachydermic Piano

Prefabricated piano provokes playful prancing
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More than once Voice has seen videos of elephants enjoying music. An elephant is a fairly intelligent creature. It occurred to him that an elephant or two could be trained to play a piano-like device, if it were large enough. Perhaps we could learn something of the elephant's mind, or even learn something about the nature of music. Its keys would be designed to respond to large feet and/or trunks.
Voice, Mar 24 2019

Yes. Bigger keys please. https://ca.video.se...18d058&action=click
[2 fries shy of a happy meal, Mar 24 2019]

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       What would the keys be made of? - his brothers and sisters?
xenzag, Mar 24 2019
  

       No, of human teeth of course.
pocmloc, Mar 24 2019
  

       I think elephants would probably find a theremin a little easier to manage.
MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 24 2019
  

       They'd be good at pounding oil drums, so percussion could be the way to go. (yes, I know the piano is a percussion instrument too)
xenzag, Mar 24 2019
  

       Big = slow. I'm thinking, instead of "foot-sized" keys (try playing a piano with hands instead of fingers...), create a keyboard that maps to the length of the trunk. An elephant's trunk has thousands of muscles, and so huge degrees-of- freedom. They would probably look at a human piano and go "Pfft. Only 88 keys. Amateurs."
neutrinos_shadow, Mar 24 2019
  

       Might they not have a greater affinity with a brass instrument, such as a trumpet ?
8th of 7, Mar 24 2019
  

       If I were an elephant (which, contrary to superficial appearances, is not the case), I'd probably prefer it if humans would try playing infra-sound instruments.
MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 24 2019
  

       Timpani is the drum they play when elephants are walking by. Not sure who they are, but you know what I mean. That might be cool. Hold the mallets with their trunks. Get a gong in there too. [+]
doctorremulac3, Mar 25 2019
  

       In a rare moment of practicality, use lamps projecting onto the ground, elephant foot/trunk occludes the light = a note, they will soon catch. Slightly better than using up the last of the unobtainium.   

       NB what role does the Mahout play, and what about the groupies?
not_morrison_rm, Mar 25 2019
  

       How about a Jean Michel Jarre-style laser harp?
Wrongfellow, Mar 25 2019
  

       The Intercalary used to have an elephant, which he got as the result of a very ill- advised bet. He was living in Pinner at the time, and had endless trouble with the council over it. In the end, it turned out that there were no specific regulations governing the keeping of elephants in Pinner per se, but Building Regs caught him out on account of the floor loading and inadequate fire escapes. So, he had to get rid of it (not an easy thing to do in Pinner). But while he had it, it apparently sat or stepped on his Korg Arp Odyssey and on a Moog; unfortunately both of these happened while he was out, so he didn't get to hear the result.
MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 26 2019
  

       [Ian], you must B sharp
pocmloc, Mar 26 2019
  

       He could just have moved to Elephant and Castle?
not_morrison_rm, Mar 26 2019
  

       Ahhh, Plegthorpe's Gambit ... he'll be in Nidd if he's not very careful ...
8th of 7, Mar 27 2019
  
      
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