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]

[General LazySpoon @ Jun 28th 2008 6:59PM]

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 ;]

[macserv @ Jun 28th 2008 8:14PM]

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.

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

I'm calling shenanigans !

[Simon Wright @ Jun 28th 2008 11:15PM]

> We don't hand out unwarranted props

Bullshit, this website should be called unwarrentedprops.com

[pyro @ Jun 29th 2008 4:23AM]

I'd much rather play a continuum board than this.

[Rory @ Jun 29th 2008 5:46AM]

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?

[Phoenix @ Jun 29th 2008 6:22AM]

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!

[Omer Yosha @ Jun 29th 2008 7:12AM]

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.

[Rob @ Jun 29th 2008 10:11AM]

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.

[Omer Yosha @ Jun 29th 2008 2:30PM]

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.

[Tom Rogers @ Jun 29th 2008 3:09PM]

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

[tomokazu.osada @ Jul 2nd 2008 6:22AM]

where does the air come out?

tomo

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

cool