11,000 Strings Tuned Slightly Differently Makes Music to Engulf an Audience Encircled by 50 Pianos (Video)

A performance unlike any other just wrapped up in New York City, where an audience of a few lucky hundred were encircled by 50 pianos.

The pianists played out a piece called “ 11,000 Strings ,” named for the number of strings in 50 pianos, each of which was tuned slightly differently than the others.

The tuning was the smallest difference perceptible to the human hear—all 50 pianos fit between one half-step, but not a single was in tune with the others.

What resulted was a “sonic forest,” according to New York Magazine; “like to take an airplane for the first time,” according to the New York Times; or “like sitting in a spaceship being rocked by cosmic waves.” according to Art News.

The story of this monumental performance begins with the composer Georg Friedrich Haas of the now-stor