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Yamaha's smart pianos work with Alexa and teach you how to play
Of the many things we expected to see at IFA 2017, cutting-edge instruments weren't one of them. But Yamaha is using its time in Berlin to showcase the Clavinova all-electric smart pianos, which use an iOS device and LEDs above each key to teach you how to play. With the Smart Pianist application, which will also be available on Android next year, you can learn how to play tracks in real-time thanks to blue and red lights that will come on every time you're supposed to hit a key. (Red LEDs are placed above white keys, blue above the black ones.) Not only that, but if you can read music, there's a chord chart being displayed on the iPad in real-time for whatever song you're playing.
Line 6 throws more MIDI love at iDevices, intros Mobile Keys keyboard controllers
Line 6 hasn't been a stranger to uniting musician's iDevices and MIDI controllers with its MIDI-Mobilizers, but now it's unleashing a duo of keyboard-style controllers of its own here at CES. Its Mobile Keys can connect straight to your iPhone's 30-pin port, and even over USB if you feel like recording some loops straight from your computer. The controller features velocity sensitive keys, two 1/4-inch jacks for sustain pedals and the like, and it'll interface with any apps that support CoreMIDI. Thankfully, the controllers are bus-powered, so you won't need batteries -- we'd imagine, however, that the convenience might be at the expense of your iDevice's normal run-time. If you're recording bug is piqued, you'll be able to pick it up with either 25 or 49 keys in the "early 2012, respectively priced at $150 and $200. Full details in the press release after the break.
First Look: Pianist Pro for the iPad
MooCowMusic, the developer of the iPhone app Pianist, is bringing Pianist Pro (US $9.99 upon release) to the iPad. As Mike Grothaus pointed out in his post on Air Harp, there are lots of musical apps for the iPhone but the screen is too small to make full use of them. There won't be a complete description of this app until the rollout on April 3rd, but what you can see now is really quite impressive. The keys, in landscape mode, look big enough to actually play and it seems like it has as many features as some electric keyboards. It includes features like dual keyboards for the right and left hands, soft and sustain pedals/keys, multiple instrument types, a drum track accompaniment, and what looks like a lot of other useful features. I'm sure we're already tired of hearing this oft-used phrase, but in this case size matters. You should be able to slide your fingers along the virtual ivories on the iPad's launch day.
