Esteban Thilliez

Compose · Listen · Print

The composing machine.

Play a phrase on its keys, listen back, then turn the crank. The machine engraves your notes and prints them on its paper.

The composing machine: a charcoal case with ivory and black keys, a brass string action with orange dampers, a control panel, a hand crank, a sheet cutter, and blank paper waiting in its print rollers.
Loads a 3D model of about 11 MB. The panel works without it.

How it was made

From an imagined object to a working one.

The machine began as a generated sketch. It was rebuilt in Blender as a set of real parts: a cast frame, a strung action with felt dampers, rollers and a crank. The site engraves your notes with VexFlow and prints them onto the model's paper as you turn the handle. In the browser it runs on three.js, lit from light baked in Blender, and plays through the Web Audio API.

The original imagined instrument: a sculpted dark metal case, piano keyboard, brass mechanism, orange controls and flowing manuscript.
The first sketch
The modeled machine, rendered in Blender.
The Blender model

The panel

Your phrase.

Play from here or with your keyboard: keys A to K.

Preparing the score…

Composition controls
The hand-powered press

A blank sheet, ready for your phrase.

Hold with a pointer or the Space key to advance the paper. Release to pause. Activating with assistive technology advances one quarter turn.

A fresh sheet?

Your current notes and printing progress will be replaced.

Draft

Your small composition.

Save the image

Pull the lever to cut it off and start a new sheet (or press N).

From a small machine to a real piano: hear what Esteban writes →

    The machine plays the Salamander Grand Piano, sampled by Alexander Holm and shared under CC BY 3.0.