Pianist creates album using father’s heartbeat

Pianist and producer Fer Isella is set to release his most personal project to date next week. My Father’s Heart, which is released next week (25 October), marks Isella’s debut release under his newly formed independent label The Piano Label and is set to feature recordings of his father’s heartbeat in a ‘musical eulogy’.

Having moved from his native Argentina to Spain, strict rules around international travel during the Covid Pandemic meant Isella was unable to return to his homeland when his father, folk singer-songwriter César Isella, was admitted to intensive care in Buenos Aires in 2020. Before his departure, while his father was in hospital, Isella had recorded his father’s heartbeat, not knowing how significant the recording would become.

Isella said: ‘I turned to music to get through the most painful moment of my life: the death of my father, amid the global chaos of the pandemic. I transformed death into life. I wanted to preserve something of my father, and it seemed to me that since he was also a musician, using the sound of his heart was the most poetic way. I was able to transform a part of his life into music as a way to be with him and remember him.’

Taking an emotion-led approach to this personal project, Isella used improvisation – a practice in which he had found solace during this tumultuous period – to form the foundation of the album alongside the sound of his father’s pulse.

Isella said: ‘It was only after my father's passing that I fully grasped the therapeutic potential of this musical exploration. The true epiphany came when I incorporated the recorded heartbeats into my compositions. Transforming a deeply personal, biological rhythm into music became a powerful catalyst for processing my grief. The album became a musical eulogy – a way to bid farewell to my father while celebrating the indelible imprint he left on my life and art. The entire process revealed itself as a profound journey through grief, a musical pathway to understanding and accepting my father's passing. Each composition became a step in my healing journey, with the music serving as both the chisel and the revealing agent of my innermost feelings.’

The heartbeat, recorded on an iPhone in the hospital, underwent extensive sound engineering to transform it into a ‘musically viable element’ it to be used in the album. ‘I focused on extracting and enhancing the full spectrum of frequencies present in the heartbeat recording, ranging from the deep, resonant bass tones to the sharper, more percussive beats,’ explained Isella’ ‘I treated the lower frequencies like a kick drum in electronic music, providing a solid rhythmic foundation. The higher frequencies, reminiscent of a whip-like sound, added a distinctive texture to the composition.’

Isella also manipulated the speed of the recording to create a ‘dreamlike, suspended quality that complemented the steady rhythm of the heartbeat.’ Isella describes the resulting sound as: ‘a unique fusion of classical piano concerto and electronic dance music (EDM) elements, creating a trance-like, meditative experience.’

My Father’s Heart will be available on all major streaming platforms from 25 October.