Audi has decided to close out the summer season with something unexpected. Forget the roaring visuals of cars racing down highways. Instead, the brand has turned the sound of its RS engines into something you can actually read, play, and hear again, on a piano.
Working with BBH London, Audi launched Engine Symphony, a campaign that transforms the acceleration and timbre of its RS models into musical scores.
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Every rev, every shift, every texture of sound was captured and meticulously transcribed by composer Ben Parry and music supervisor Hywel Evans. The result isn’t just a clever metaphor,it’s real sheet music. Notes that could be performed in a concert hall.
That authenticity was key. The team tested the scores on piano to make sure the engine “melodies” weren’t just visual gimmicks but playable compositions. Even subtleties like the Shepard tone, the auditory illusion that seems to rise forever, found their way into the partitions.
Instead of dropping these into traditional automotive channels, Audi placed the work on outdoor and digital displays near concert halls in the UK. It’s a tactical move that frames the car not as a machine of brute force, but as an instrument of precision and beauty.
As BBH’s creative director Felipe Guimaraes put it: “The roar of a sports engine is music to an enthusiast’s ears.”
It’s a refreshing take in a category where brands often lean heavily on clichés of speed and power. Audi flips the script, reminding audiences that engineering isn’t only technical—it can also be cultural, emotional, and artistic.
The message lands with a quiet elegance: sometimes the most powerful way to celebrate performance isn’t to show it, but to listen.
