AirPiano single-handedly redeems air instruments from irrelevancy

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.

[Via Hack-A-Day]

[RandomGuy @ Jun 28th 2008 2:48PM]

have you ever tried playing a piano without touching the keys? It's dreadfully hard.

[MrFairladyz @ Jun 28th 2008 4:18PM]

yeah, this guys got skillz.

where are the speakers?

[chris @ Jun 28th 2008 8:05PM]

not only are the speakers missing, but this isn't exactly an air piano...i'd call it an air pipe organ.

[bohsocks @ Jun 28th 2008 9:06PM]

Hopefully this guy didn't get the naming rights to the device or else Apple might sue him for using the word "Air."

[Raymond Luc @ Jun 28th 2008 2:51PM]

Great, now give me an AirPianoBench to sit on while playing this thing.

[Rick @ Jun 28th 2008 2:56PM]

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.

[DJ @ Jun 28th 2008 10:49PM]

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.

[Jonathan Keim @ Jun 28th 2008 2:57PM]

I'm calling fake....

[Mam00th @ Jun 28th 2008 4:22PM]

I'm a falling cake

[phanbouy @ Jun 28th 2008 9:32PM]

the descending cake is a fib

[BlueSRTAndy @ Jun 28th 2008 3:05PM]

This thing is almost offensive to me... I really do hate these things for letting people think they are actually MAKING music.

[tojfs7931 @ Jun 28th 2008 4:33PM]

John Mayer is that you?

[macserv @ Jun 28th 2008 8:15PM]

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.

[Omer Yosha @ Jun 28th 2008 3:17PM]

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

[KRM @ Jun 28th 2008 4:10PM]

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

[Californian @ Jun 28th 2008 5:57PM]

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.

[vileta2 @ Jun 28th 2008 7:35PM]

Haken Continuum + Jordan Rudess = win

[solu @ Jun 28th 2008 3:22PM]

FAKE LOL

[Coral @ Jun 29th 2008 11:52AM]

IDIOT LOL

[natsuissa @ Jul 9th 2008 11:10AM]

cool

[dnono @ Jun 28th 2008 3:29PM]

theremins are cooler.

[Sanh @ Jun 28th 2008 3:41PM]

I bet a 5 year old can probably wave his hands in the air randomly and make a symphony to cry for.

[bohsocks @ Jun 28th 2008 9:07PM]

Uhhhh..... I'll take that bet.

[inteller @ Jun 28th 2008 3:44PM]

Yes, but can it play Axel F?

[pupkick @ Jun 28th 2008 7:46PM]

But can it play Doom?

[Mindfield @ Jun 28th 2008 3:51PM]

Do tell. What part of "manually triggering notes to play a song" fails to live up to your standard of "making music?"

[Sy @ Jun 28th 2008 7:10PM]

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.

[Mindfield @ Jun 28th 2008 7:26PM]

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...

[John @ Jun 28th 2008 8:24PM]

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?

[Sy @ Jun 29th 2008 2:00AM]

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

[hitsthings @ Jun 29th 2008 5:49PM]

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.

[Mindfield @ Jun 29th 2008 7:37PM]

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.

[iH8Engadget @ Jun 28th 2008 3:52PM]

I'm confused. How does this work?

[chustar @ Jun 28th 2008 6:11PM]

I guess it works similarly to a theremin, that is using radio waves to make the sound.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theremin

[sinjinn @ Jun 28th 2008 4:56PM]

magic

[entropyman @ Jul 2nd 2008 1:17AM]

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

[thedesolate1 @ Jun 28th 2008 4:20PM]

I cant wait for AirPiano Hero!

[Br0 @ Jun 28th 2008 4:25PM]

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.

[Californian @ Jun 28th 2008 6:06PM]

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?).

[phanbouy @ Jun 28th 2008 9:33PM]

that is a creepy, creepy avatar

[allislost @ Jun 28th 2008 4:26PM]

umm ...how is a Bb chord nasty?

you want nasty, play a diminished chord.

[allislost @ Jun 28th 2008 4:37PM]

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.

[sinjinn @ Jun 28th 2008 4:54PM]

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.

[Xepol @ Jun 28th 2008 4:55PM]

Serious fake, but good sync work.

[swamidog @ Jun 28th 2008 5:07PM]

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

[Gnomeaudio @ Jun 28th 2008 8:43PM]

I'm calling shenanigans !

[56Killer @ Jun 28th 2008 5:23PM]

Hey I know what to gift to my uncle for Christmas.

[Lester Lowenstein @ Jun 28th 2008 5:34PM]

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.

[Omer Yosha @ Jun 28th 2008 5:42PM]

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

[PJD @ Jun 28th 2008 6:30PM]

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!