The idea being that repetition builds muscle memory, and you'll improve faster.

You'll need to email for pricing, but it does look like the included software works with any MIDI file. Less certain is if there's an evil teacher mode that turns up the voltage when you misbehave. [Concert Hands via The Raw Feed via DVICE]

In case the antique aesthetic and outdated honorific didn't give it away, this is a very old piece of hardware. Or rather, a very old collection of hardware: Filled edge to edge with handcrafted woodworking tools, this ornate box is a toolchest, lovingly assembled and carried by Mr. Studley when he was working as a piano repair man, of all things, around the turn of the 20th century.

Virtually every tool in this box has a plasticized, anodized, or even electronic modern counterpart, each one superior in some way to its predecessor, whether by cost, durability, convenience or concept, but uniformly less charming. I mean, look at this. This is a man's livelihood, perfectly assembled, cleaned and organized, in a proud, beautiful wooden box. All I've got is this broken down MacBook, and a shoulder bag. [Phoenix Masonry via MAKE]

The Audi Design Team collaborated with piano maker Bosendorfer to construct this grand piano, which was commissioned to celebrate Audi's centennial.

Here is their philosophy:

Generous surface areas ensure formal clarity; there are no decorative applications, the edges and lines are sharply drawn, the joints logically positioned. All these are important aspects of the Audi design.

And coincidentally, none are important aspects of piano design. But that's not the point, I suppose. The piano—brushed aluminum pedals, hood-prop-esque stand, wraparound body and all—will be debuted at the July 16th Audi Forum in Ingolstadt, Germany, and is (probably symbolically) priced at around $140,000. $140,000. [Autoevolution via Newlaunches]

So Yamaha went to work on AvantGrand, an ingenious digital piano that uses strategically-placed resonators to pound the pianist with sound and vibrations, just like the real thing! In fact, the Yamaha CFIIIS concert grand was used to create the digital samples for this piano, and that is the real thing.

Even the pedals were tweaked to more closely resemble the mechanical feel of a traditional string and hammer piano.

Yamaha spokeswoman Alicia Keys demo'd the tech at the NAMM convention in LA on Saturday, and came away loving her vibrating piano, which she said was like a friend but better because it couldn't talk (seriously).

You, too, can vibrate to Mozart or Beethoven or covered pop hits from Keys when the AvantGrand arrives in July for $20,000. [OC Register via DVICE]

Old-style player pianos, which rely on rolls of dimpled paper tablature to cue a piano to play music, have been helping their owners cheat for the better part of two centuries. For 108 years or that, QRS Technologies was a leading manufacturer of the song rolls, the production of which has ceased as of this week.

Analog player pianos had a certain charm. You could watch them deliberately plunk out just about any tune like some kind of outsize music box, and the bare mechanics of the whole affair were as honest as they were tacky. QRS has apparently moved, with some success, to digital player pianos, which rely on servos and disks over braille and gears. The most profound difference, though, is one of identity: Where analog player pianos were a fascinating predecessor to MIDI synthesizers, digital pianos are MIDI synthesizers, something which Bob Berkman, the company's music director, seems to grasps, sadly:

“We’re still doing what we always did, which is to provide software for pianos that play themselves. It’s just the technology that has changed. But I would be lying to say [the halting of production] doesn’t sadden me.”

[Buffalo News]

Longtime buyer, first-time seller "Compianos" says that the piano he used for the mod is an "upright grand"—I have always considered those two styles to be mutually exclusive. Besides that, we have some doubt as to the 6.8 GHz processor which he says runs Windows XP Media Center Edition with 1GB RAM and a 500 GB hard drive. And there is an air of desperation in his alternative payment suggestion: "I will consider a trade of an automobile + cash." He does, however, make a very reasoned appeal to "wives":

"Afraid you cannot afford it? Think again. Look at all the toys (cars/boats/RVs) your husband owns, pick one (with a clear title) and make me an offer. He'll understand, especially when he sees it. Don't you deserve it?"

• Disklavier 2.0 - $10,000 to $80,000 - Grand piano's brand new software streams digital player-piano songs over the internet, for a live piano via net radio. PDA remote operates over Wi-Fi.
• EZ-200 Keyboard - $150 - Learning keyboard for kids. Like many, it has light up keys to show you where to put your fingers. But this one will wait for you: it eases the tempo of the song down automatically to match your playing.
• Modus H01 - $12,500 - Sexy "velvet rouge" reimagining of the traditional piano. It's electronic, but with a natural feel. It contains a 40-watt sound system, and also comes in "amber glow" and "deep brunette."
• Clavinova CVP400 - $TBA - Do-it-yourself Barry Manilow workstation: sing into the mic while you play, and it automatically mixes voice and piano into a WAV that you can save on USB thumbdrive.

With reporting by Jennifer Hooker

Wow! Take a look at the video and more pics, after the jump.

This has got to be the most gorgeous piano in existence. – Charlie White

Product Page [Fazioli, via Yanko Design]

The Cat Piano [We-make-money]

But how they sound? Get this: B sendorfer speakers were the subject of a unique demo in New York last year, where piano music was played through the speakers and then replayed instantaneously by Juilliard students playing B sendorfer pianos live. It was hard for even golden-eared attendees to tell the difference.

B sendorfer VC7 and AC7 Loudspeakers [CoolHunting]