FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS: During a recent concert on her Eras tour, Taylor Swift experienced a startling moment when her piano seemingly started to play on its own. The pop superstar, visibly shocked, exclaimed to the crowd, "I didn't play that!" As the piano continued to produce sounds, Taylor covered her face in horror and questioned if others could hear it too, asking the fans, "Oh my god, do you hear that? Is that happening for you guys too?"
Piano technician Joe Wieneck, who is associated with the New York Piano Academy, has offered some theories on what might have caused the piano malfunction at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. While it was challenging to identify the exact type of instrument, Joe speculated that it could be a hybrid piano or keyboard with playback functionality.
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"It's possible it had like a case that makes it look like a piano, but it's a hybrid piano or a keyboard that has some sort of playback unit," Wieneck told Daily Mail. "My best guess is there was some misfiring or malfunction of that playback on that keyboard." As for how that playback system worked, the expert said, "Like those old player pianos from early 20th century, it can play off a recording or like a roll. But modern pianos obviously have electronics and computerized ways to control the piano or keyboard to play itself without somebody pressing the keys. Inside... there's another way to activate... the whole mechanism that creates a string to sound, to vibrate."
'Water built up under the keys'
Wieneck also considered the possibility of water damage affecting the piano's electronics due to Taylor's previous performance in the rain for three-and-a-half hours at the same venue. Taylor herself acknowledged the water damage. "[The water] has clearly broken my keyboard because [the keyboard] was literally underwater, so this is broken," she told her fans, adding, "I didn't know how any of the instruments were working last night. So this is broken, I'm just gonna get the guitar. It's gonna be fine."
Wieneck agreed that it could be a potential cause if the instrument was a hybrid piano and was impacted by the torrential rain. Having said that, a source close to Taylor's tour denied the presence of a playback feature in the keyboard and claimed that water damage might have been the issue. He said, "There was water that built up under the key(s), due to the rain the night before, which made the contact sensor malfunction. The keyboard used is not programmable for playback."
