Martha’s Thumpyard

A sample session without some thumps at the end is a sample-session wasted. I recently was trying to re-create the sound of Tom Wait’s masterpiece “Martha” with a very out of tune Broadwood 85 note piano and discovered a marvel of resonance. Something about all the strings being un-harmonious. But also the low notes lacking the dominant fundamental you find in younger pianos (this one is from between 1927 to 1933).

The effect is a satisfying metallic clang followed by an inglorious natural reverb. I’ve made two versions “Au Naturel” as I found it then one, tuned, filtered and sploshed up titled “Au Revoir” (excuse my spelling).