Instagram story viewer> @augmentedinstrumentslab> Posts

🎹🎚️🥁Augmented Instruments Lab 🎛️🎸🎻

@augmentedinstrumentslab

1.2K

followers

589

following

Led by Prof. Andrew McPherson
📍Dyson School of Design Engineering at @imperialcollege && Centre for Digital Music (C4DM) at @officialqmul

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

Download All

🎹 Happy International Music Day!

To celebrate, we are sharing this introduction to the Magnetic Resonator Piano (MRP) – a hybrid acoustic-electronic instrument created by Professor Andrew McPherson, founder and director of the @augmentedinstrumentslab at the Dyson School of Design Engineering.

The MRP uses electromagnets to vibrate the strings of a grand piano, extending its musical vocabulary to include infinite sustain, crescendos, pitch bends, harmonics and entirely new timbres – all produced acoustically, without speakers.

Is it possible to reinvent one of the world's most iconic instruments? Watch our video to find out. 🎶

@imperialcollege @imperialcollegeengineering

#InternationalMusicDay #MusicTechnology #NewMusicalInstruments by @augmentedinstrumentslab

81

0

5 days ago

Wires! Electronics at Eight will be sizzling, shimmering and crackling with the #magneticresonatorpiano at @barbicancentre @guildhallschool on the 13th of Oct featuring @xeniapestova playing her own pieces alongside premieres by GSMD students and staff, plus music by @eileenmcloughlinmusic @teacake_94 @ollie.p.hawker @forasnafuaime

@augmentedinstrumentslab @lwolstanholme

Photos by @frankowski for @prsfoundation New Music Biennial (hello, @hardrainse)
@cmcireland taken in Milton Court Concert Hall by @augmentedinstrumentslab

104

4

19 days ago

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION - APPLY BY 28th SEPTEMBER

Artists will be working one-on-one with an instrument designer and with one another to learn a new kind of vocal feedback instrument called Ephemerides.

When: October/November 2026, Imperial College London, South Kensington

Who: Musicians and Sound Artists who identify as trans or disabled (focus on vocal disabilities) are invited to participate in a study involving a new kind of vocal feedback instrument. We're looking for participants who wish to experiment and (de/re)mystify the idea of voice through instrumental technique.

What will you receive? £150 in vouchers on Bandcamp, an opportunity to help shape the development of a new instrument, work with other artists and researchers on voice, and contribute to design research surrounding trans and disabled perspectives.

More info at instrumentslab.org, link to survey in @junebug.codes bio by @augmentedinstrumentslab

88

4

a month ago

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION - APPLY BY 28TH SEPTEMBER

Artists will be working one-on-one with instrument designers and with one another to learn a new kind of vocal feedback instrument called Ephemerides.

When: October/November 2026, Imperial College London, South Kensington

Who: Musicians and Sound Artists who identify as trans or disabled (focus on vocal disabilities) are invited to participate in a study involving a new kind of vocal feedback instrument. We're looking for participants who wish to experiment and (de/re)mystify the idea of voice through instrumental technique.

What will you receive? £150 in vouchers on Bandcamp, an opportunity to help shape the development of a new instrument, work with other artists and researchers on voice, and contribute to design research surrounding trans and disabled perspectives.

More info at instrumentslab.org, or link in @junebug.codes bio. taken in South Kensington by @augmentedinstrumentslab

393

15

a month ago

Bach + MRP! @xeniapestova plays J.S. Bach’s chorale “Werde munter, mein Gemüte” on the #magneticresonatorpiano from @augmentedinstrumentslab at @imperialcollege @imperialdyson. Video by @ovenglovelove

New instruments and new technologies can absolutely work with old music - check out Xenia’s recording of @karlheinzessl “Gold,Berg.Werk” on @ergodos.ie for J.S. Bach’s “Goldberg Variations” with spatialised algorithmic electronic interludes.

#bach #jsbach #baroquemusic #electronicmusic taken in Dyson School of Design Engineering by @augmentedinstrumentslab

37

2

3 months ago

A few months ago @cohendjc and I were lucky enough to document Andrew McPherson’s truly mesmeric Magnetic Resonator Piano ‘MRP’ of the @augmentedinstrumentslab played by the exceptional @xeniapestova and seen here performing her own composition ‘Glowing Radioactive Elements - Actinium’ (2019) but among many others on the day, this was my personal favourite though.

MRP Technician - @lwolstanholme
Sound Recordist - @mattdavison99
Producer - @nicolerobson
@ohkestrel_film

Always special to document the instruments at the lab. Thanks as ever to the lovely @lia_mice for the original intro and videos we shot there.

The magnetic resonator piano (MRP) is an augmented piano which uses electromagnets to elicit new sounds from the strings of a grand piano. The MRP extends the sonic vocabulary of the piano to include infinite sustain, crescendos from silence, harmonics, pitch bends and new timbres, all produced acoustically without the use of speakers.
The MRP is an electronic instrument, but the experience of playing it closely resembles the acoustic piano it inherits from. An optical scanner on the piano keyboard measures the continuous position of every key, enabling subtle, delicate gestures that would not produce sound on an ordinary piano, even as all the techniques of traditional piano playing remain available. The kit can be installed in any grand piano. taken in Imperial College London by @augmentedinstrumentslab

47

4

3 months ago

Yesterday we wrapped up our co-hosting of #NIME2026 with the inaugural NIME open day held at our own institution, @imperialdyson.

For this free event we had 40 demos spread out across the building, with around 200 attendees coming along, connecting attendees of the NIME community with the London music tech scene!

Thanks to everyone who attended or brought along a demo to share! We'll be recapping some other highlights from co-hosting the largest ever New Interfaces for Musical Expression conference over the coming weeks! taken in Dyson School of Design Engineering by @augmentedinstrumentslab

86

3

3 months ago

Two wheelchairs at Heathrow, #nime2026 here we come! Robin Dussurget aka Cicanoise arrives for our gig Thursday night at @richmixlondon . First pleasant bit of accessibility information: all new electric London black cabs have built in wheelchair ramps. Traveling in style! by @augmentedinstrumentslab

97

4

3 months ago

Are you a user of experimental music technology or a maker and designer of new musical instruments? Come and spend an afternoon at the Dyson School of Design Engineering! 🎵

The @augmentedinstrumentslab, led by Professor Andrew McPherson, invites you to join the NIME Open Day – a free, drop-in afternoon of informal demos, live performances and socialising with researchers, artists and industry practitioners working at the frontier of new musical instruments and music technology.

📆 27 June (Saturday)
🕟 12:00 – 5:00pm
📍 Dyson Building, Imperial College London

Free and open to all. Spaces are limited so register in advance not to miss out.

🌱 Find out more and register via the link in our LinkTree.

#NIME2026 #MusicTechnology #ExperimentalMusic by @augmentedinstrumentslab

71

2

4 months ago

We're co-hosting #NIME2026 in less than 2 weeks over at @lborolondon! We're also presenting 5 papers at the conference! See the details below and stay tuned for all the other things that our lab is getting up to for NIME!

On Values, Technological Mediation, and the Artifacts they Create. Brittney Allen and Andrew McPherson

Z-Wah: Appropriating the Wah via Digital Impedance Synthesis. Francisco Bernardo and Andrew McPherson

Techniques for Closely-Coupled Sensing and Actuation in Digital Musical Instruments. Matthew Davison, Adam Schmidt, and Andrew McPherson

Ephemerides: A Microtonal Feedback Instrument Based On Transgender Voice Training Technique. June Kuhn and Andrew McPherson

Sustained Interests: Active Collocated String Control with Lorentz Time Division Multiplexing. Adam Schmidt and Andrew McPherson taken in Loughborough University London by @augmentedinstrumentslab

97

0

4 months ago

What happens when you reimagine an instrument that hasn't changed in 150 years? 🎹

The Magnetic Resonator Piano (MRP) is a hybrid acoustic-electronic instrument that uses electromagnets to vibrate the piano strings, creating entirely new sounds without a single speaker. Developed by the Augmented Instruments Lab @augmentedinstrumentslab at the Dyson School of Design Engineering, the MRP has featured in over 40 compositions and three film scores since its creation in 2009.

Come, hear it – and play it – for yourself! 🎶

Don't miss out – register for @exrdfestival and come to discover design engineering with us this weekend! 👁️

📍 Dyson Building | 6–7 June

#GreatExhibitionRoadFestival #GERF2026 #DesignEngineering #Innovation @imperialdessoc @imperialcollegeengineering @imperialcollege by @augmentedinstrumentslab

78

0

4 months ago

Want to see the Magnetic Resonator Piano in person? Head to the link in our bio to sign up for our free lab open day in London on the 27th of June! taken in Imperial College London by @augmentedinstrumentslab

31

0

5 months ago