Simon Ings

The musical note that can trigger cold sweats and sightings of the dead

The eerie power of a certain low A is just one of many mysterious vibrations explored by the composer Richard Mainwaring

Richard Mainwaring. [Courtesy of Profile Books] 
issue 30 April 2022

Imagine that all the frequencies nature affords were laid out on an extended piano keyboard. Never mind that some waves are mechanical, propagated through air or some other fluid, and other waves are electro-magnetic and can pass through a vacuum. Lay them down together, and what do you get?

The startling answer is a surprisingly narrow piano.

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