Designed in collaboration with the Japanese furnishings producer Karimokuthe Roland 50th Anniversary Idea Piano is a examine of “what if?” – a boldly designed and meticulously assembled Japanese Nara oak composition, layered right into a single kind, containing a 360-degree system with 14 audio system and an excellent wilder proposal: drones for encompass sound.
Roland ties the 50th anniversary piano idea to a surprisingly completely different descendant, the model’s sharp crystal obsidian 2020 GPX-F1 Side Grand Piano. Whereas that design shares an exploratory spirit, it additionally featured rectilinear strains with an nearly jewel-like look. Alternatively, the 50th anniversary piano idea takes on a heat natural rounded form, one accentuated by its Japanese Nara oak wooden sourced from Hokkaido.
The musical instrument model tapped the skills of Japanese furnishings maker Karimoku to create an elliptical design with layers of machine-cut wooden items which are joined collectively to kind the physique – a methodical try to make use of historical strategies as soon as used to to construct wood Buddhist statues with contemporaries. 3D printing methods. The undertaking itself was impressed by the forerunner of classical ambient music, Erik Satie’s idea of “Furnishings Music”, or music that turns into like furnishings in an area. One can see how the instrument’s relationship to unfavourable area evokes Satie’s music’s use of silence to emphasise sparse sound.
![Detailed photo of the center display of the piano tablet and above the keys.](https://design-milk.com/images/2023/01/Roland_50th_Anniversary_Concept_Piano-2-810x998.jpg)
A contact panel pill is constructed into the middle cowl. Revealed solely when opened, the show permits the keyboardist entry to Bluetooth connectivity, web entry, video conferencing, piano lesson apps and streaming tutorials.
An analogous union of previous and future operates inside. A 360-degree “speaker ball” sits contained in the 50th anniversary piano idea, comprising an array of 14 audio system able to emitting sound in any path, “seven to the correct and 7 to the left”, leading to an immersive three-dimensional sound. .
The staff wished the sound to really fall from the air across the participant. The answer? A pair of drone audio system hovering above the piano.
And if the design itself wasn’t daring sufficient, Roland envisioned the inclusion of drone audio system that may fly over the piano to create the flying equal of the Dolby Atmos expertise (a purely conceptual proposition at this level, noting that drones are a really audible presence in Operation). Roland is making an attempt to deal with a few points they face when including flying drones to an exercise the place ambient sound cannot present the expertise: latency and the whirring sound of the drone’s followers. They’re investigating incorporating expertise that adjusts the drone’s positioning to optimize perceived sound, bringing the drone nearer “when the sound is gentle after which transferring away when the sound is loud.”
The Roland 50th Anniversary Idea Piano is greatest acquired because the equal of an automotive idea car: an exploratory journey used to push the boundaries of what may later be included into extra fairly real looking (and manufacturable) merchandise. However as an object in itself, the 88-key piano keyboard is a shocking instance of the place craftsmanship and musical expertise have hit all the correct notes in unison.