My cat Ralph is perhaps the world’s greatest
living jazz pianist. I mean, his technique’s a little unconventional,
but isn’t that true of all the greats? Oscar Peterson, Thelonious Monk, Art Tatum,
granted none of them played the piano with their head, but Ralph’s a very passionate
little dude. The trouble is, well, piano keys are designed
around the width of a human finger, meaning they’re far too small for a clumsy cat paw. Ralph keeps accidentally hitting the wrong
notes, and then gets endlessly frustrated with himself. So I’m gonna build him his very own piano,
one that’s specifically designed for cat. If you enjoy this video, please consider subscribing. How can you not subscribe for that adorable
face? I thought I’d first start with a piano mat,
like the one Tom Hanks plays in the movie ‘Big’. It’s designed for kids to play with their
feet, or kids trapped in adult bodies in Tom Hanks’ case. Allow my invisible friend to demonstrate. [Ralph & Tom Theme Song on Piano] Anyway, Ralph was curious but cautious. He eventually stepped a paw onto the mat,
but was startled by the wakeup noise. I think he’s scared himself. Bella was easily persuaded with treats, but
I should point out that she’s very fussy with textures, and I could tell she hated
both the sound and feel of the crinkly plastic. She sat down immediately next to it instead. Emboldened by his sister’s presence and
the promise of treats, Ralph was a bit more adventurous, this time stepping more than
just a paw onto the piano. But their suspicion ultimately gave way to
aversion. Despite leaving it in place for a day or two,
the cats avoided it the whole time. So it was on to Plan B, bananas. Bear with me on this one. This is something called a Makey Makey, and
it’s essentially just a very basic circuit board, marketed as an educational tool for
kids. It allows you to turn everyday objects into
piano keys, amongst other things. So if I get 5 bananas, attach them to the
circuit board with crocodile clips and ground myself, I have a banana piano. Pretty bananas. It’s great fun, but it’s very basic with
limited notes, the piano app sounds terrible, and it’s definitely more of an educational
tool than a creative one. But what if I took the idea to its logical
extreme? What if I wire up some cat-sized piano keys,
and then use Logic Pro’s better sounding instruments and musical typing to make something
way bigger and better? I think this calls for a montage. And just like that, it was finished. So the wooden base is lined with foil, and
then each individual key is lined with foil and wired up, so that when the two bits of
foil touch, the note is triggered. Now I’ve put these sponges on either end
so it doesn’t touch most of the time, but with the weight of a chonky cat butt in the
middle, the note plays. How cool is this? So the piano works, but the million dollar
question is, will Ralph actually use it? Nope. Of course not. He rolled around lazily on the floor right
next to it, as if taunting me with his fluffy frolics. Yeah he’s definitely taunting me right now. But Bella on the other hand, why Bella loved
it. She was a little apprehensive at first skirting
around the edges, but with that very first paw-step, Bella realised she’d found a new
favourite place to sit. The only trouble was, well once she’d plonked
her butt down on a key, she wasn’t moving for anyone. To Bella, I hadn’t built a piano, but instead
an incredibly comfortable sitting spot. But if I could just get a shot of her sitting
on each key individually, then with a little creative editing, I might be able to make
something work. And so one by one, I bribed her onto each
key with treats, after which she’d patiently sit down and wait for the next one, giving
me the perfect photo opportunity. It took a while, but Bella is an old lady
after all, and soon I had everything I needed. So with that, I proudly present to you Bella’s
first ever composition, the Donut Dance. [The Donut Dance] Wait a sec, let’s try a second piano an
octave higher. [The Donut Dance] Now let’s try something faster! Ok, we don’t want Bella to explode, let’s
go for something slow and thoughtful. So there we have it, the giant cat piano. And legend has it, Bella is still sitting
on it to this day. As for Ralph, well he hasn’t been discouraged. In the words of all time great Thelonious
Monk, “The piano ain’t got no wrong notes”. I guess that’s jazz, and it’s only for
cool cats like Ralph to understand.
