Milan's Salone di Mobile always has a bunch of concept gadgets designed by tech companies, and this is one of Yamaha's efforts. It's a keyboard-in-a-folder, and is the perfect tool for busy musicians and composers. Travellers stuck in the same train carriage as someone carrying this should thank their lucky stars that Yamaha didn't make a version for drummers. [Yamaha Global Gateway via Yanko]
Yamaha Keyboard-Notebook Combo Concept For On-the-Go Ivory-Ticklers
6:30 AM on Wed Apr 30 2008
By Addy Dugdale
3,797 views
17 comments












Comments
Yeah but the pro versions weigh a TON.
Stupid weighted keys...
Hmm.... Get rid of the paper, put it in a piano black plastic case, and put it in Rock Band 2/GH4
notebook? keyboard? I dont see any inputs, and there is no monitor or cd drive. Is this the MacBook Air Killer?
Heaven't they been making mini portable keyboards since like the mid '80s? All they really have done here was attach it to a notepad. WOW! What a cool concept! I can't believe I didn't think of that!
...I'm sure this one is a lot nicer than the things we used to play with as kids, but come on, this isn't really revolutionary.
Now that's something I'd love to have if I had any musical talent.
I'll stick with my piano key necktie thanks.
(How long until Thinkgeek puts out a playable necktie?)
I think it's pretty neat, actually. Compose and take notes about said composition on one device.
@raleel: That's right: Notes, and err, notes....
If it had a flash memory port for storing MIDI sequence data, then yes...very cool.
What would be sweet is if the notepad was "electronic" manuscript paper, and you could write notes (the musical score kind of notes) on it and the keyboard would play those notes.
Notice the binding design. Great detail there.
I've had to compose music on a few flights. If you use Logic Pro, hitting the cap lock key turns your computer's qwerty keyboard into a piano-esque keyboard with velocity sensitivity on Z through M, notes on A through L + Q to P. Octaves are controlled by the numbered keys. Or, you could just use a mouse/trackpad to enter the notes.
This thing? Seems strange that the keyboard is closer than the paper. I could see the base of the palm or wrist hitting unwanted notes while writing. This whole concept might be as annoying as someone making a cell phone call next to you on a flight for hours on end. I'll start bringing a kazoo on long flights if this becomes a reality...
they could have made this incredibly cooler than they did.
I'm not a composer, but I think there are better ways to compose stuff on the go... like softwares on a notebook.
I am a composer, but it would be more useful to me if companies would develop a foldable keyboard that has solid keys. Those rollup ones are a joke and can lead to RSI very quickly.
that piano software on the iphone pwns this
oh wow : just noticed the binding on the paper. It's tab for keys!
VERY cool!
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