When someone mailed me a link to this performance, I assumed it was going to be one of those setups where two pianists play jolly tunes together in a bar. How wrong I was.

These two pianists (Alvise Sinivia and Léo Jassef from the Conservatoire National de Paris) are trying to kill each other in Streetfighter. Tunefully.

These pianos have been transformed by Eric and Cyril of Foobarflies (let me know your full names, Eric and Cyril, so I can add them here! they’re Eric Redon and Cyril Chapellier, says Giorgio in the comments; thanks, Giorgio!) into Playstation controllers, using piezo triggers, a Pi, some Arduinos, and some custom Python firmware. The installation was set up for the reopening of Paris’ Maison de la Radio, now a cultural space open to the public.

Eric and Cyril have made a comprehensive writeup available (and if, like me, you’re terribly excited by the insides of pianos, you’ll love this one). This is one of my favourite projects in ages – thanks Foobarflies!