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Welcome to grand piano explorations of
Ralf Schmid | pianos, sensors, electronics
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Latest NEWS ➚
08 apr 2025 ➚: PYANOOK recorded "Still California" in Los Angeles
"Still California" — Stillness in Turbulent Times
During a two-month artist residency in the United States, PYANOOK witnessed a rapidly shifting political and societal landscape. In response to an overwhelming stream of dystopian headlines, he turned inward—composing music that embraces quietness and vulnerability as powerful counterpoints.
Rooted in themes of art and ecology, and infused with the spirit of California, these new works were captured in their purest form: performed on a rich grand piano and recorded directly to analog tape. "Still California" will be released later in 2025— a meditative, spacious, and deeply human sonic journey.
25 nov 24 ➚ Announcement: PYANOOK's next chapter.
PYANOOK has always embraced innovation and transformation in his artistic journey. In light of today’s global challenges, he is diving deeper into the urgent and highly promising topic of soil regeneration—exploring it through the lens of art and music.
In this new phase, PYANOOK will integrate advanced sensors into his setup to monitor plants, soil, and environmental data. Using his signature blend of piano artistry and mi.mu gloves, he will interact with this data to co-create music, forging a powerful connection between nature and sound.
This endeavor also marks the birth of a new initiative: SOIL MUSIC, a network he co-founded to raise awareness and foster collaboration around the vital role of soil in our ecosystem.
Join PYANOOK on this transformative journey where art meets the earth, and creativity inspires change. 🌱🎵. Follow news on this page and on www.soilmusic.org
16 aug 24 ➚ The new EP is out! Listen to the newest single Notknowing
Ralf Schmid, piano | electronics | vocals
"My new track "Notknowing" captures a meditative state of body and mind. As I listen deeply to my surroundings, I become aware of a profound connection between my music and the soil. The accompanying music video, where I cycle through lush green landscapes near my home, symbolizes my search for the harmonious relationships between movement, nature, and sound. "Notknowing" serves as a prelude to a new chapter in my creative journey." - PYANOOK
video shot by Rob Stirner
31 may 2024 ➚ PYANOOK releases new single: HYPERLIN
Ralf Schmid, piano | electronics | vocals
"Hyperlin reflects the perception of time at varied speeds. Inwardly my body is pushing, outwardly it moves as if in slow motion. The music mirrors my current state - an observant attitude, a pinch of resignation, a pinch of knowing that everything will be alright... a certain serenity, a sense of tenderness." - PYANOOK
video shot by Joo Kraus and Ralf Schmid in Cagliari, Sardegna
01 may 2024 ➚ PYANOOK's new track AERIAL ROOT reached 50.000 listeners on Apple Music!
27 apr 2024 ➚ PYANOOK solo concert at "International Jazzfestival Kraichgau"
27 apr 2024, 20.00h
Aula der Eisenhutschule Unteröwisheim
Foto: Thomas Eckl
12 apr 2024 ➚ PYANOOK releases new single: AERIAL ROOT
Ralf Schmid, piano | electronics | vocals
Monia Schmid, cello
"In Aerial Root, I envision the boundless, majestic expanse of a landscape with a person walking slowly into the unknown, with mixed feelings between security and melancholy. A plant in my studio with “Aerial Roots” above the surface served as co-inspiration, symbolizing intricate formations that unveil the unseen while remaining inherently fragile. And this track has a PYANOOK premiere: I am very thankful that my daughter Monia Schmid contributed wonderful resonant cello lines." - PYANOOK
06 apr 2024 ➚ PYANOOK's new single release ROOTOPIA has more than 100.000 listeners on Apple Music
Ralf Schmid, piano | electronics | flute | vocals
"My new track, Rootopia, is about the idea of a utopian world. Sometimes, I meditate in my studio and directly take the calmness and rootedness into a recording. I start Rootopia with a mantra-like bass and dream myself further and further into the idea of a world full of loving kindness, may it be in the future or just right in this moment." - PYANOOK
released on EDEL / NEUE MEISTER
24 nov 2023 ➚ PYANOOK releases new single: Do not worry..?
Ralf Schmid, piano | electronics | vocals
Tilman Fehse, vocals, synths, bass
The atmosphere of ‚Do Not Worry..?' is a parallel emotional universe that I keep dreaming myself into. The nightly recording was a unique sound bath, I couldn't stop playing the piece over and over again. And yet an uncertainty remains: is it a sentimental glorification of the past that I'm chasing after? Should I worry about the future or just trust?" - PYANOOK
released on EDEL / NEUE MEISTER
31 oct 2023 ➚ new video: HUMAN TOUCH | Trondheim Voices | O Modernt Chamber Orchestra | Festival Out Of The Box 2022
HUMAN TOUCH
Ralf Schmid, composition | piano | electronics | mi.mu gloves
Martina Taubenberger, idea | concept
Ceren Oran, choreography
Axel Tangerding, dramaturgic consulting
Asle Karstad, sound design
Tilman Fehse, beatmaker | digital operator
Rainer Ludwig, light
Horacio Alcala, video recording
filmed and recorded at the premiere, Werk7 | Munich (D)
05 oct 2023 ➚ new video: NOOK NOOK | Nils Petter Molvaer joins PYANOOK at Ulmer Zelt Festival
Ralf Schmid piano | electronics
Nils Petter Molvaer trumpet | electronics
Hakon Stene percussion
Tilman Fehse synths | beats | vocals
Pietro Cardarelli visuals | clouds
from the concert PYANOOK "Beyond the clouds"
Ulmer Zelt Festival 2023
16 july 23 ➚ PYANOOK opens VR infinity Dome at Classical Beat Festival on 26 july
26 july 23 | 20.00h VR Dome @ Classical Beat Festival, Priwall Lübeck-Travemünde
Ralf Schmid, piano | electronics
Håkon Stene, percussion | electronics
Tilman Fehse, synths | beats | vocals
Lena Frei, immersive visuals
07 july 23 ➚ new video: PYANOOK SOLO compilation recorded live
Ralf Schmid, piano | electronics
Tommy & Josh Jennings, video production
filmed in front of a live audience @ Lokhalle Freiburg
30 june 23 ➚ new video PYANOOK meets beats: WILD YEAST - live at Lokhalle Freiburg
Ralf Schmid, piano | electronics
Tilman Fehse, synths | beats | vocals
Mathis Schwörer-Boehning, synths | beats | vocals
Johannes Jäck, vocals | beatbox | percussion
Tommy & Josh Jennings, video production
22 may 23 ➚ PYANOOK feat. Nils Petter Molvaer on 09 june at Ulmer Zelt Festival!
PYANOOK "Beyond The Clouds"
feat. Nils Petter Molvaer, trumpet | electronics
Ulmer Zelt Festival
Ralf Schmid, piano | electronics
Nils Petter Molvaer, trumpet | electronics
Hakon Stene, percussion
Tilman Fehse, synths | beats | vocals
21 mar 23 ➚ Join PYANOOK's film shooting at Lokhalle Freiburg on 01/02 April
Sat 01.04. 20h PYANOOK solo
Sun 02.04. 20h PYANOOK meets beats
Ralf Schmid, piano | electronics
Tilman Fehse, synths | beats | bass | vocals
Mathis Schwörer-Boehning, synth | beats | vocals
Johannes Jäck, vocals | beatbox | percussion
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27 feb 23 ➚ Portrait in crescendo magazine
Read this wonderful portrait in Germany's largest magazine for classical music.
100 questions... 100 answers. Only available in German language.
25 feb 23 ➚ New Video: The MAKING of ZAS
When you stand on a mountaintop and look down, boundaries become invisible and the world merges into one big landscape.
And so it is with my album ZAS: it's about music as a whole, about unity and collaboration, about the big picture. The eleven tracks come from my innermost, they are uncompromising, with love for the detail, good sound and very personal.
I am so happy to have brought this music to life with great fellow musicians.
10 feb 23 ➚ ZAS is released!
Today is the release the of the full album! The 11 tracks feature collaborations with: Trondheim Voices, Joo Kraus, Håkon Stene, Morten Qvenild, Etienne Abelin, Johannes Jäck, Mathis Schwörer-Boehning
Get your Vinyl or CD with beautiful artwork by Dirk Rudolph and photos by Gregor Hohenberg.
ZAS is released by Neue Meister/EDEL and available online on all major music platforms.
27 jan 23 ➚ Last single before full album release: STILL AND STILL NOT
Still and Still Not is released today!
The studio version is recorded with Morten Qvenild at Ugla Lyd Studio, the video at Art Of Riga Festival, October 2020.
This song is a "signature track" from the Corona days. In weekly livestreams from my studio I developed new compositions in interaction with the audience and other musicians. Still and Still Not was the first in this series, it catapults me back to the time of the first lockdown, into a feeling of standstill and uncertainty but also of a new power that emerged from this extraordinary situation.
13 jan 23 ➚ New single: DIGITAL DERVISH
new release: Digital Dervish
Ralf Schmid piano | electronics
Håkon Stene percussion | breath
recorded at Musikkloftet Studios, Asker (NO) by Vidar Lunden
video by Iselin Engan
02 dec 22 ➚ GLOVE DANCE: the 2nd single
Here is my hommage to the magic mi.mu gloves!
The studio version is recorded with Morten Qvenild at Ugla Lyd Studio, the video at Rome Jazz Festival, November 2022.
06 nov 22 ➚ PYANOOK opens Rome Jazzfestival
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Trip to Italy!
PYANOOK will perform in Rome, Italy opening this year's Jazzfestival with a concert at Casa del Jazz on 06 November 2022.
https://romajazzfestival.it/programma/pyanook
11 nov 22 ➚ First single release of the new album: SOIL MUSIC
Soil Music is released today!
Here is a piece of music for and about the soil we stand and walk on, which nourishes us and whose cosmos with its living beings and their connections and possibilities fascinates me more and more in the last years. Healthy soil can heal our environment, this hymn is meant to contribute to that.
Stay tuned for more single releases of my new album ZAS!
10 nov 22 ➚ New Album coming up
PYANOOK will release his new album "ZAS" on 10 February 2023 at EDEL/Neue Meister
Recorded in Oslo, Trondheim and Freiburg.
The album features guests as Hakon Stene, Trondheim Voices, Joo Kraus, Etienne Abelin and many more
22 july 22 ➚ ‘The Human Touch' premiere in July 22.
‘The Human Touch' has its premiere in July 22.
PYANOOK's newest work, 'The Human Touch', a 70-minute composition commissioned by Festival Out Of The Box will be premiered on 23 july 22 at Werk 7, Munich.
The line-up is PYANOOK, the Trondheim Voices (Norway) and the O Modernt Chamber Orchestra of Sweden.
The production will be performed 4 times on 23/24 july.
27 april 22 ➚ Keynote at jazzahead!
Soulful Technology is the title of Ralf's keynote at this year's jazzahead!
jazzahead!, one of the leading international music trade fairs launches their new program "Innovation in Music & Crossover Markets" with Ralf as key speaker.
Join him in Bremen on 29 April, 1.15pm
20 mar 22 ➚ International Piano Day: PYANOOK in Innsbruck
PYANOOK in Innsbruck on 29 march 22
PYANOOK comes to Innsbruck, Haus der Musik for a hybrid concert (live with limited audience and livestream) on 29 march 2022, 8pm.
29 march is International Piano Day.
20 aug 21 ➚ PYANOOK returns to Norway.
Two concerts at Kammerfest Fredrikstad with percussion wizard Håkon Stene and award-winning vocal group Trio Mediaeval.
Ralf Schmid, piano | electronics Håkon Stene, percussion Anna Maria Friman, voc Linn Andrea Fuglseth, voc Jorunn Lovise Husan, voc
04 sept 2021 www.kammerfest.no
20 july 21 ➚ PYANOOK at Classical Beat Festival.
PYANOOK at Classical Beat Festival.
Orchestral Adventures at the Baltic Sea with trumpetist Joo Kraus, conductor Bernd Ruf and the Classical Beat Festival Orchestra.
27 juli 2021 Grand Hotel Atlantic, Travemünde
www.classicalbeat.de
08 june 21 ➚ PYANOOK opens AI Center Zurich.
The Center for Artifial Intelligence at Zurich's ZHAW engineering university opens with a international online ceremony on 29 june 2021.
PYANOOK will perform and talk about his latest developments.
02 may 21 ➚ PYANOOK x Rainer Trüby x Quintin Copper.
Blue Hour Concert #01
Ralf Schmid invites DJ legend Rainer Trüby and newcomer Quintin Copper to Humboldtsaal Freiburg.
19 may 2021 www.infreiburgzuhause.de **livestream**
28 may 21 ➚ PYANOOK live in Switzerland.
First live concert in 2021 (!) at Schlossmediale Werdenberg (CH) with percussion wizard Håkon Stene.
The duo will perform their repertoire of last year's celebrated Midsummer Music concert.
28 may 2021 Ralf Schmid, piano | electronics Håkon Stene, percussion www.schlossmediale.ch
20 oct 21 ➚ PYANOOK at Art of Riga, Latvia.
Returning to the Baltic, PYANOOK will perform a solo set at Art of Riga Jazz Festival.
23 oct 2020 Latvian Radio Studios, Riga (LT)
14 sep 21 ➚ PYANOOK releases single with Joo Kraus.
New single release ahead: PYANOOK and Joo Kraus will release their CollabTrack „Keeping the distance“ on Neue Meister beginning of October 2020.
Ralf Schmid, piano | electronics Joo Kraus, trp | vocals | beats