With the introduction of the Air Guitar Rocker, we pretty much bid the art of air rockin' adieu. No longer could we slam our belt buckles in an attempt to whammy a downright nasty Bb chord without feeling ashamed. Thanks to the AirPiano, however, imaginary musicians the world over may have one more chance to garner the respect of innocent bystanders. This instrument, which is truthfully more akin to a theremin than a bona fide piano, enables users to emit beautiful tones without ever touching the "keys." It's even smart enough to sustain a note if you hold your hand over a particular area for an extended time. We don't hand out unwarranted props, but we can't help but tip our hats to this one. Head past the break for a video of what we're gushing over.
Imagine four or five large ones together like that in a large pipe organ with another set for the feet. It would cut the cost of a concert or church hall organ dramatically.
Excellent idea except for the part where you could do that with any old digital piano and using airpianos is adding far too much complexity (and possibly cost) for no reason.
I'm usually inclined to agree with the guy, but this doesn't look like one of those gimmicky insert-hands-and-wiggle tone generators. "Hay, lookit me im-a makin' music!" I hate those, too.
This is an actual instrument - basically a polyphonic three-octave "keyboard" - as you have to put your hands in the right places to play it.
It looks like it's modulating for him, but that could be accomplished with pedals or something. It would become a kind of digital Autoharp at that point.
Hi, and thanks for publishing the article. This feedback is of course very important to me. I've been working hard on this device, and lost all sense of objectiveness... and if anyone thinks it´s fake, well it´s gonna be easy to prove... tomorrow anyway it´s showing on TV channel 3SAT 16:30 (Germany time). Other than that, i´m looking for investors and people who could help me bring it to the market. Cheers! Omer
Reminds me of the fingerboard, but seems like it would be much harder to control due to the lack of force-feedback. (I'm assuming here that it recognizes placement and movement of the fingers in three dimensions like the fingerboard.)
Wow that is totally awesome! Ich habe das sehr gern, und ich hoffe, dass ich kann einen bald kaufen! (I'm not really good in German, so I hope that's right!). You should take this product to market as soon as possible. It looks so interesting and fun! And I like that it doesn't sound like a cheesy piano when played, but rather more like an organ.
well as a musician, it also offends me to the core if you noticed the device is not on a chromatic scale. It looks as if it can work just on one key and for that reason anything you "play" on that instrument will sound relatively good. So basically, if you just wave your hand around that thing randomly it probably won't sound half band, whereas if you do that with a "real" instrument(like a piano) you wouldn't have the same result.
True, it does not work on a chromatic scale. It works on a diatonic scale. While it may not have the full range of notes, I do not think that this invalidates it as a musical instrument, and I don't think it really constitutes cheating. It's just a more simplistic instrument. He probably used the diatonic scale for space consideration, so he didn't have to create an even wider device that he'd have to stretch or move to reach all the notes.
I'm given to wonder what you thought of Jean-michel Jarre's laser harp...
OK, so perhaps my comments were a little exaggerated. I give props to the guy who created this and it is inventive. Perhaps I didn't really think much of the device since I'm not a fan of synthetic sounds and whatnot.
Mindfield, I'm not that familiar with the electronic music scene so I had never heard of this guy or his laser harp but I looked it up and saw a youtube video of jarre playing his laser harp. It certainly has its entertainment value - I'd love to play around with it - but that's just it. It's something for showmanship and again, I wouldn't consider it an actual instrument. I'm classically trained so maybe that's why.
John, I have a couple of songs up on iTunes so download them and start seeding and leeching. more power to ya
Your being classically trained undoubtedly has everything to do with your being "offended to the core."
Your training makes you reluctant to accept innovations in modern music that allow "ordinary" people (who haven't spent years studying in the conservatory, dahling) to express themselves musically.
I have studied jazz drumming and piano, but this doesn't offend me. I think this kind of thing is dope.
Many new, innovative methods of producing sounds and tones may not be "instruments" in the sense that Beethoven would recognize, but they are still valid and fascinating as the evolution of music.
You are crippled if you can't see this, and will spend your entire life looking backwards.
I'm not suggesting that either Jarre's laser harp or this device is anything other than novelty. They are just means to an end -- to play musical notes. They just happen to do it with flashy aplomb. At the end of the day though, anything can be a musical instrument. It isn't the instrument itself that defines musical ability. It's what the performer does with it, and if (s)he can do it with some showmanship, well, more power to them.
it seems that it is similar to the air synth (which I own) and air fx that came out from alesis a bit back that uses an IR beam to gauge distance pitch yaw and roll to modulate- I think that the air piano is kind of boring- but make this into a midi controller with assignable parameters, usb support and a display that shows the zones and I am sold- I would love to use the IR control to slice up beats and trigger samples live
Nah, I doubt its fake. It probably uses a combination of laser range finders and cameras to find distance for the hand and plays a tone when the hand is within certain ranges of distance. Makes perfect sense to me.
and to you people saying this isn't creating music: Why Isn't it? How is it any different from playing some strings, or tooting a horn? You self important bastards are the same people who have the audacity to say graffiti isn't art.
Actually, in the link to the original story, it says: "It's construction is relatively simple: an Arduino, several infrared sensors, and LEDs corresponding to the notes make up the device." Yeah and I agree. This is as much music as anything else, and it could be more creative than other forms of input; even children could express themselves with this. And also, I agree that graffiti is art. People who don't think so (and don't already live there) should go to L.A. Some of that graffiti is amazing (and how do they get it on the overpasses, with a huge ladder?).
it must be very difficult to get to a good level on this without some kind of physical feedback. guitarists , pianists , even people who play wind instruments have some physical reference for when they play and can get a feel for the instruments and eventually play using just this physical reference point.
this instrument however has no physical reference so you always need to watch it like a hawk so in essence you are making your job twice as difficult as it needs to be.
Sooooo fake. Perhaps the hand movements serve as a trigger to prerecorded music, but this is not producing original notes. There is no tonal continuity from hand placement.
so, whoever thinks this is fake, just let me know what would convince you that it is real. i invented it, and put a lot of effort in doing that... by the way it was already presented at the Hannover fair two months ago, and there is more information for better understanding at www.createdigitalmusic.com
I do not think it is a fake because form the technical view it totaly makes sense. I am just curious with your hand movements in the 19th second. I am not sure if I will be at home tomorrow to watch the show on 3sat, but i will make it for one of the other air times on zdf. Great work!
You idiots calling this fake are too dumb to figure this out so I'll spell it out for you: Height determines the octave, the higher his hand is, the higher the octave. But yeah, the Theremin is much cooler.
which, at first glance, probably use generally the same technology or concept of using IR to measure distance. The Roland 505 drum machine has something like it on it too... not too farfetched for those who are looking hard enough ;]
I'm usually inclined to agree with the guy, but this doesn't look like one of those gimmicky insert-hands-and-wiggle tone generators. "Hay, lookit me im-a makin' music!" I hate those, too.
This is an actual instrument - basically a polyphonic three-octave "keyboard" - as you have to put your hands in the right places to play it.
It looks like it's modulating for him, but that could be accomplished with pedals or something. It would become a kind of digital Autoharp at that point.
All through here I'm reading people dissing on the creator and player, calling them fake and saying they're not artists and musicians. I call BS on anyone who says they're not artists and musicians. It may not be classical, but at first people cursed the electric guitar and synthesizer saying they weren't true instruments and that the players were not musicians but now they are just as accepted as the cello and the grand piano (just in their own respective places, of course). I say well done to the inventor, this is a great piece of work, and excellent performance to the artist. I'm not a big fan of watching someone play music as I prefer to close my eyes and imagine what it might be like were it visible, but this time I found I could not turn my eyes away as it was quite mystifying. Well done! Beautiful! Simply beautiful!
thank you very much! i guess some don't get it that i haven't even had enough time to practice it much, and the important issue here is the concept's potential.
This "looks" fake to me (not saying it "is" fake) because it appears different notes come from him putting his hand in the same place several times. Almost like it's triggering a sequencer. If that's the case, you could have something that just senses when you wave your hand over it, and each time it plays a different note of a song because that's what you have programmed in it. This just seems like an interesting triggering device.
BTW, a theremin is extremely difficult to play music on (I have one sitting in my closet because it was so hard to use), and while the non-touch similarities between this device and the theramin are obvious, that's about the only thing a theremin has in common with this device.
I can't help but say this, but I think those who have much knowledge about playing music and using various instruments would not think much of this from a musical standpoint. It's cool as a piece of electronic hacking, but to me, looks more like a gimmick when it comes to being a musical instrument.
Hi Rob, pleased to meet you. I designed and built the AirPiano, and i would like to clear a few important facts, since i notice you didn't really understand how it works. The AirPiano is not triggering any predefined track. Above the AirPiano there is a matrix of virtual keys, which you can use just as you would use a MIDI controller box with buttons. "it appears different notes come from him putting his hand in the same place several times" - you better check the video again, the thing is there are in this prototype 3 layers in the air, so all in all 24 virtual keys. You can also check the second video on YouTube. Other than that, using the AirPiano Software you can assign any of these keys with MIDI notes and MIDI controller messages. Check out the more detailed review on www.createdigitalmusic.com .The AirPiano was also presented at the Hannover Fair two months ago, where thousands of people tried it with their own hands... so please don't say FAKE.
I think that this is one of the most innovative products seen in a long time. As a result of my disability I'm only able to use my right hand and this product looks easy to use with one hand. Although I believe this product is great from a usability standpoint I cannot see it in the main stream as people who use conventional pianos could find it hard to adjust their playing styles
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
posted Jun 28th 2008 2:42PM
have you ever tried playing a piano without touching the keys? It's dreadfully hard.
yeah, this guys got skillz.
where are the speakers?
not only are the speakers missing, but this isn't exactly an air piano...i'd call it an air pipe organ.
Hopefully this guy didn't get the naming rights to the device or else Apple might sue him for using the word "Air."
Great, now give me an AirPianoBench to sit on while playing this thing.
Imagine four or five large ones together like that in a large pipe organ with another set for the feet. It would cut the cost of a concert or church hall organ dramatically.
Excellent idea except for the part where you could do that with any old digital piano and using airpianos is adding far too much complexity (and possibly cost) for no reason.
I'm calling fake....
I'm a falling cake
the descending cake is a fib
This thing is almost offensive to me... I really do hate these things for letting people think they are actually MAKING music.
John Mayer is that you?
I'm usually inclined to agree with the guy, but this doesn't look like one of those gimmicky insert-hands-and-wiggle tone generators. "Hay, lookit me im-a makin' music!" I hate those, too.
This is an actual instrument - basically a polyphonic three-octave "keyboard" - as you have to put your hands in the right places to play it.
It looks like it's modulating for him, but that could be accomplished with pedals or something. It would become a kind of digital Autoharp at that point.
Hi, and thanks for publishing the article. This feedback is of course very important to me. I've been working hard on this device, and lost all sense of objectiveness... and if anyone thinks it´s fake, well it´s gonna be easy to prove... tomorrow anyway it´s showing on TV channel 3SAT 16:30 (Germany time). Other than that, i´m looking for investors and people who could help me bring it to the market. Cheers! Omer
Reminds me of the fingerboard, but seems like it would be much harder to control due to the lack of force-feedback. (I'm assuming here that it recognizes placement and movement of the fingers in three dimensions like the fingerboard.)
See:
http://www.hakenaudio.com/Continuum/html/overview/Intro.html
Wow that is totally awesome! Ich habe das sehr gern, und ich hoffe, dass ich kann einen bald kaufen! (I'm not really good in German, so I hope that's right!). You should take this product to market as soon as possible. It looks so interesting and fun! And I like that it doesn't sound like a cheesy piano when played, but rather more like an organ.
Haken Continuum + Jordan Rudess = win
FAKE LOL
IDIOT LOL
cool
theremins are cooler.
I bet a 5 year old can probably wave his hands in the air randomly and make a symphony to cry for.
Uhhhh..... I'll take that bet.
Yes, but can it play Axel F?
But can it play Doom?
Do tell. What part of "manually triggering notes to play a song" fails to live up to your standard of "making music?"
well as a musician, it also offends me to the core
if you noticed the device is not on a chromatic scale. It looks as if it can work just on one key and for that reason anything you "play" on that instrument will sound relatively good. So basically, if you just wave your hand around that thing randomly it probably won't sound half band, whereas if you do that with a "real" instrument(like a piano) you wouldn't have the same result.
True, it does not work on a chromatic scale. It works on a diatonic scale. While it may not have the full range of notes, I do not think that this invalidates it as a musical instrument, and I don't think it really constitutes cheating. It's just a more simplistic instrument. He probably used the diatonic scale for space consideration, so he didn't have to create an even wider device that he'd have to stretch or move to reach all the notes.
I'm given to wonder what you thought of Jean-michel Jarre's laser harp...
If you're a musician and 'offended to your core', could you please direct me to some of your music so I may begin seeding it, just to spite you?
OK, so perhaps my comments were a little exaggerated. I give props to the guy who created this and it is inventive. Perhaps I didn't really think much of the device since I'm not a fan of synthetic sounds and whatnot.
Mindfield, I'm not that familiar with the electronic music scene so I had never heard of this guy or his laser harp but I looked it up and saw a youtube video of jarre playing his laser harp. It certainly has its entertainment value - I'd love to play around with it - but that's just it. It's something for showmanship and again, I wouldn't consider it an actual instrument. I'm classically trained so maybe that's why.
John, I have a couple of songs up on iTunes so download them and start seeding and leeching. more power to ya
Your being classically trained undoubtedly has everything to do with your being "offended to the core."
Your training makes you reluctant to accept innovations in modern music that allow "ordinary" people (who haven't spent years studying in the conservatory, dahling) to express themselves musically.
I have studied jazz drumming and piano, but this doesn't offend me. I think this kind of thing is dope.
Many new, innovative methods of producing sounds and tones may not be "instruments" in the sense that Beethoven would recognize, but they are still valid and fascinating as the evolution of music.
You are crippled if you can't see this, and will spend your entire life looking backwards.
I'm not suggesting that either Jarre's laser harp or this device is anything other than novelty. They are just means to an end -- to play musical notes. They just happen to do it with flashy aplomb. At the end of the day though, anything can be a musical instrument. It isn't the instrument itself that defines musical ability. It's what the performer does with it, and if (s)he can do it with some showmanship, well, more power to them.
I'm confused. How does this work?
I guess it works similarly to a theremin, that is using radio waves to make the sound.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theremin
magic
it seems that it is similar to the air synth (which I own) and air fx that came out from alesis a bit back that uses an IR beam to gauge distance pitch yaw and roll to modulate- I think that the air piano is kind of boring- but make this into a midi controller with assignable parameters, usb support and a display that shows the zones and I am sold- I would love to use the IR control to slice up beats and trigger samples live
I cant wait for AirPiano Hero!
Nah, I doubt its fake. It probably uses a combination of laser range finders and cameras to find distance for the hand and plays a tone when the hand is within certain ranges of distance.
Makes perfect sense to me.
and to you people saying this isn't creating music: Why Isn't it? How is it any different from playing some strings, or tooting a horn? You self important bastards are the same people who have the audacity to say graffiti isn't art.
Actually, in the link to the original story, it says:
"It's construction is relatively simple: an Arduino, several infrared sensors, and LEDs corresponding to the notes make up the device."
Yeah and I agree. This is as much music as anything else, and it could be more creative than other forms of input; even children could express themselves with this. And also, I agree that graffiti is art. People who don't think so (and don't already live there) should go to L.A. Some of that graffiti is amazing (and how do they get it on the overpasses, with a huge ladder?).
that is a creepy, creepy avatar
umm ...how is a Bb chord nasty?
you want nasty, play a diminished chord.
The music is somewhat slow in the vid, but if it can register faster hand movements to play arpeggios and thrills I'll buy it.
ps if this sells i hope the next version comes with drum sounds.
great concept but ..
it must be very difficult to get to a good level on this without some kind of physical feedback.
guitarists , pianists , even people who play wind instruments have some physical reference for when they play and can get a feel for the instruments and eventually play using just this physical reference point.
this instrument however has no physical reference so you always need to watch it like a hawk so in essence you are making your job twice as difficult as it needs to be.
Serious fake, but good sync work.
all it needs is disco lights, a robot dwarf, and erin grey in skintight white spandex.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmxXIS2ot8w&feature=related
I'm calling shenanigans !
Hey I know what to gift to my uncle for Christmas.
Sooooo fake. Perhaps the hand movements serve as a trigger to prerecorded music, but this is not producing original notes. There is no tonal continuity from hand placement.
so, whoever thinks this is fake, just let me know what would convince you that it is real. i invented it, and put a lot of effort in doing that... by the way it was already presented at the Hannover fair two months ago, and there is more information for better understanding at www.createdigitalmusic.com
I do not think it is a fake because form the technical view it totaly makes sense. I am just curious with your hand movements in the 19th second. I am not sure if I will be at home tomorrow to watch the show on 3sat, but i will make it for one of the other air times on zdf. Great work!
You idiots calling this fake are too dumb to figure this out so I'll spell it out for you: Height determines the octave, the higher his hand is, the higher the octave. But yeah, the Theremin is much cooler.
B♭...
For anyone that thinks it's a fake, go look up the alesis air FX
Oh, nevermind, i'll just give you the link
http://djshopping.com/airfx2.html
and it's companion
http://djshopping.com/airsynth.html
which, at first glance, probably use generally the same technology or concept of using IR to measure distance. The Roland 505 drum machine has something like it on it too... not too farfetched for those who are looking hard enough ;]
I'm usually inclined to agree with the guy, but this doesn't look like one of those gimmicky insert-hands-and-wiggle tone generators. "Hay, lookit me im-a makin' music!" I hate those, too.
This is an actual instrument - basically a polyphonic three-octave "keyboard" - as you have to put your hands in the right places to play it.
It looks like it's modulating for him, but that could be accomplished with pedals or something. It would become a kind of digital Autoharp at that point.
> We don't hand out unwarranted props
Bullshit, this website should be called unwarrentedprops.com
I'd much rather play a continuum board than this.
It does look like fake to me - he's getting totally different notes from the exact same hand positions, for a start. How does that work?
All through here I'm reading people dissing on the creator and player, calling them fake and saying they're not artists and musicians. I call BS on anyone who says they're not artists and musicians. It may not be classical, but at first people cursed the electric guitar and synthesizer saying they weren't true instruments and that the players were not musicians but now they are just as accepted as the cello and the grand piano (just in their own respective places, of course). I say well done to the inventor, this is a great piece of work, and excellent performance to the artist. I'm not a big fan of watching someone play music as I prefer to close my eyes and imagine what it might be like were it visible, but this time I found I could not turn my eyes away as it was quite mystifying. Well done! Beautiful! Simply beautiful!
thank you very much! i guess some don't get it that i haven't even had enough time to practice it much, and the important issue here is the concept's potential.
This "looks" fake to me (not saying it "is" fake) because it appears different notes come from him putting his hand in the same place several times. Almost like it's triggering a sequencer. If that's the case, you could have something that just senses when you wave your hand over it, and each time it plays a different note of a song because that's what you have programmed in it. This just seems like an interesting triggering device.
BTW, a theremin is extremely difficult to play music on (I have one sitting in my closet because it was so hard to use), and while the non-touch similarities between this device and the theramin are obvious, that's about the only thing a theremin has in common with this device.
I can't help but say this, but I think those who have much knowledge about playing music and using various instruments would not think much of this from a musical standpoint.
It's cool as a piece of electronic hacking, but to me, looks more like a gimmick when it comes to being a musical instrument.
Hi Rob, pleased to meet you. I designed and built the AirPiano, and i would like to clear a few important facts, since i notice you didn't really understand how it works. The AirPiano is not triggering any predefined track. Above the AirPiano there is a matrix of virtual keys, which you can use just as you would use a MIDI controller box with buttons.
"it appears different notes come from him putting his hand in the same place several times" - you better check the video again, the thing is there are in this prototype 3 layers in the air, so all in all 24 virtual keys. You can also check the second video on YouTube. Other than that, using the AirPiano Software you can assign any of these keys with MIDI notes and MIDI controller messages. Check out the more detailed review on www.createdigitalmusic.com .The AirPiano was also presented at the Hannover Fair two months ago, where thousands of people tried it with their own hands... so please don't say FAKE.
I think that this is one of the most innovative products seen in a long time. As a result of my disability I'm only able to use my right hand and this product looks easy to use with one hand. Although I believe this product is great from a usability standpoint I cannot see it in the main stream as people who use conventional pianos could find it hard to adjust their playing styles
where does the air come out?
tomo