Hauschka: From Prepared Pianos to Oscar-Winning Soundtracks

Hauschka is the pseudonym of Volker Bertelmann, a truly exceptional artist who has forged his own path. Raised in Northern Germany, his interest in electronic sounds began when he was a teenager. His technical abilities landed him roles in various bands and he even toured with the German indie hip-hop group God's Favorite Dog as an opening act for Die Fantastischen Vier in the early nineties. When major success didn't materialize, he entered a phase of musical exploration, which ended with a return to the piano, specifically the "prepared piano." This technique, popularized by John Cage, involves augmenting the piano strings with everyday objects to expand its range of sounds.

This thread of his musical output developed into a winning formula beginning with his 2005 Hauschka album Substantial. This was followed by widely-acclaimed live concerts and over a dozen further albums, the latest being Philanthropy, released last year. Collaborations with exceptional artists such as Hildur Guðnadóttir and Hilary Hahn have solidified his artistic achievements, as has his work as a composer for international film productions. While he narrowly missed winning the Oscar for the soundtrack to "Lion" co-written with Dustin O'Halloran in 2017, he reached this milestone six years later on his own. In 2023, he won the coveted Academy Award for best soundtrack with the World War I drama All Quiet on the Western Front. In our interview, Volker Bertelmann offers deep insights into his working methods as a solo artist and film music composer and also provides an exclusive Drum Rack with prepared piano sounds for download.

Download Hauschka’s free Prepared Piano Drum Rack

*Requires Live 11 or higher

Hi Volker, please tell us how you first got involved with electronic music, and what sparked your interest in exploring the concept of the "prepared piano"?

My very first piece of equipment was a Moog Prodigy, which I bought with my confirmation money when I was 13 years old. What fascinated me most was the ability to create sounds through synthesis, manipulate sound with envelopes, as well as the surprises when tweaking knobs whose functions I didn't fully understand.

Back then, I didn't have money for larger synthesizers. But I frequently visited the Synthesizer Studio in Bonn, where they had all the synthesizers one could wish for, like the PPG Wave or Sequential Circuits Prophet 5. Even though I couldn't afford any of them, I was sometimes allowed to try them out.

In my first band’s practice space, along with the Prodigy, we had a borrowed Korg MS20, a Farfisa Stringman, and another keyboard. It all looked a bit like Keith Emerson's setup because back then, it was thought that a keyboardist needed towers of keyboards. In general, I wasn't someone who spent forever tweaking knobs; instead, I looked for synths that were easy to operate. The Roland Juno 60, for example, is a great synthesizer that is easy to use but can produce amazing sounds relatively quickly.

Crucially, envelopes were what let me understand that sounds are defined by how long they decay, whether they are dampened, or filtered. At some point, I realized that you could do something similar with a piano by using materials that affect the sound's decay or attack phase. Influencing the sustain time was initially difficult since a piano has a fixed decay duration. However, with E-Bows, I eventually managed to create standing waves on the piano strings. Eventually, this became an endless field of exploration, which brought me incredible joy – similar to working with a synthesizer. I became fascinated by what can be done with such a large instrument, especially when you consider the fact that a grand piano essentially contains a reverb plate.

How did your alias "Hauschka" come about and how did your live presentation of the prepared piano concept evolve?

While recording a Musik AM album in Wales, I often sat down and played the piano during breaks. The producer, Adam Fuest, liked my pieces and suggested I consider making a piano album. A few months later, I recorded my first Hauschka LP, Substantial, with him. However, after the release, I didn't perform any concerts; I was afraid no one would be interested. It wasn't until my second album that I accepted an offer to be a support act. I soon realized that renting a grand piano for the concerts would be more than my fee at the time. So, I played my previously recorded prepared piano sounds via Minidisc and supplemented them with jams on an electric piano.

When I finally had an upright piano or grand piano available at two concerts, I noticed that there was a completely different level of interaction and energy between me and the audience. After that, I decided to only play in locations where there was already a piano on hand. I also realized that I should consider my albums as standalone mediums rather than trying to replicate them live. 

Piano concerts were different because improvising allowed me to engage with the space and play a different piano each night. Sometimes there was an upright piano, sometimes a small grand, a short grand, a concert grand, or a D grand. I couldn't always prepare them the way I wanted due to time constraints and because they all had different sound qualities. I quickly realized that a kind of soundcheck was necessary to test the instrument and the objects I had with me to see what sounded good. It's like creating a modular system and letting the audience witness how you use it during the performance. It was great to see that it worked and that there was a direct response from the audience.

What are you using these days together with your prepared piano in live performances?

I have two pedalboards set up exactly the same way. This is because I like to jam with my live board and make all kinds of changes to the settings. To avoid any unpleasant surprises during a live performance, I made a copy of the board. In addition to the pedals, there is a small Mackie mixer that has been modified so I can mix all the pedals together via sends. There's also a Boss Loop Station, which provides the MIDI clock. So when I record a loop live, it sets the tempo and "feeds" all the other devices, which then run in sync. Normally, my Push 3 sends the tempo to the Loop Station, but once I record something there and switch the song, the loop changes tempo to match the next song. This is great in a live situation to ensure smooth transitions between songs. The elements need to be synchronized for a moment to hand off one song to the next.

I started using Push 3 because I used synthesizers and beats for some tracks on my last album, Philanthropy. However, I didn't want to have a computer on stage, so I opted for a lightweight and compact device that offers sync functions and audio outputs. My live engineer splits the loops into individual channels using an RME sound card, so he can mix the signals like a band. I have 14 microphones on the piano, two of which feed the pedalboard. These include small Countryman microphones that cover specific areas, like a hi-hat that I "build" with the piano. Because they are so precise and well-controlled, the whole setup can be mixed not just like a piano, but also like a drum kit, and it sounds really good. Of course, 14 open microphones in front of a large PA can be quite challenging in terms of feedback! But with my Helpinstill pickup in the piano, we can get the sound to be as powerful as a techno track on large open-air stages.

What role does Ableton Live play in your performances?

I use Live for songs with fixed arrangements through scenes. However, playing everything in sequence would be too boring for me. That's why I often move clips around while playing the piano – it allows me to create more dynamics. It's important to me that my piano playing is at the forefront and the performance doesn’t feel like playback. That's why I use the sounds from Live a little differently in each concert.

What’s your approach in the studio? Specifically, the difference between making music as Hauschka and scoring films under your real name?

The music is similar, but the approach is completely different. As a solo artist, I sometimes have an instrumental idea or a visual or other specific theme. Or it happens that I rediscover "leftovers" from something else and think, "That sounds great; I'd like to record that again." I assemble batches of music that I like, even if I don't yet know how I will use it.

In scoring, I get the film and above all, my music has to fit the theme. Then, more and more opinions from various people come into play, gradually influencing my work. The art of it lies in having initial sparks of inspiration that you believe in, while also being ready to let them go if necessary.

You won an Oscar for your soundtrack for All Quiet on the Western Front. Have you been able to enjoy more artistic freedom since receiving the prize? 

You don't have to answer as many questions, and people trust you with more complex tasks. Anyone would probably agree to score a Hollywood film if given the opportunity. However, you must be aware that you could be fired after just two weeks. Learning the entire process and understanding where everything is supposed to lead require a lot of training. If your music doesn't fit the director's vision, you can't just say, "This is what I came up with, and you'll have to deal with it." The job is to offer your best for the film while incorporating and processing others' opinions without losing your own approach as much as possible. And sometimes this isn't possible. Doing things differently than usual can also lead to discovering new approaches and ideas for your own music. For example, I probably would never have used certain instruments like a trumpet. However, scoring has brought this instrument closer to me. I'm happy that I can learn from different approaches.

Sonically, All Quiet on the Western Front is characterized by the sounds of war and battle. How did you create space for your music there?

The more films you work on, the better you understand the process that takes place after composing. No matter how great your composition is, you have to understand how it mixes with after-effects, sound design, and dialogue. If it doesn't work, only the instrument that stands out sonically amongst everything else will remain from your composition. This includes knowing, for example, that important melodies don't work simultaneously with key passages in the dialogue. You have to identify where the film offers space for melodies and how they fit into the flow. That's how the central three-note motif was created for the film. I realized that something short and concise could always be used when there was a lull in the fighting.

In general, it's necessary to record a lot to have various instruments ready for different scenarios and to be prepared for all contingencies. For the war scenes, we had a brass ensemble and a string orchestra in use. We also recorded sounds like anvils and metal plates. In the end, you often find that what stands out against everything else is something you hadn't initially considered.

How did the three-note motif from All Quiet on the Western Front come about?

A day after I watched the film for the first time, I recorded the idea and sent it to the director. The next day, I received his feedback: "This is amazing!" I hadn’t experienced something like that before. Usually, the response is more like, "Yeah, this could be a little different," which means you have to go back to work on it. That's why I like to think of my work like a craftsman would – sanding down a piece of wood as well as he can and then looking at it again with some distance. In most cases, it won't be perfect the first time around, but it will have a certain substance, with contours emerging that I really like. Then it might need another round of work before everything is perfect. 

Do the synths from your collection, like the Roland Jupiter-4, get used regularly, or is just looking at them enough to inspire you creatively?

They are available in the studio and are used regularly. However, the most expensive synthesizer doesn't always provide the best sounds. For example, I use many of the SOMA devices like the Lyra-8, Cosmos, or Pulsar. They are all on a shelf, and when I take them out and plug them in, they help open up my creative process. For me, it's more important to first develop a musical idea. I often start at the piano, but I also have a Nyckelharpa, a medieval Swedish string instrument played with wooden keys. This allows me to realize a violin idea without having mastered the corresponding technique. It brings me joy, just like drawing a sound from my contrabass harmonica that reminds me of my harmonium. I just really enjoy searching for things and tinkering with these small, nerdy sound generators.

Finally, what instruments would you like to have with you if you were shipwrecked on a desert island?

One of them would probably be the Teenage Engineering OP-1 because it offers almost everything you can imagine. Then probably the Mood by Chase Bliss as an effects device and a Moog Minimoog. I would also try to save the backpack with my laptop, so I have my sounds and my little Akai MPK Mini available. The piano should actually come along too, but it would probably have sunk with the ship! 

Follow Hauschka on his website

Text and Interview: Elmar von Cramon

Photos: Debi Del Grande and Nina Ditscheid