Roland 50th Anniversary Concept Piano
We’re usually 100% on board with concepts providing a tantalizing look at the future of consumer tech, though we’re not entirely sold on Roland’s ideas of how future electronic pianos will effectively fill a performance space with sound. The company’s 50th Anniversary Concept Model Piano is an absolute work of art, made from Japanese oak with a highly-contoured design that even features a large screen hidden in the lid for displaying sheet music and piano lessons.
Where it starts to lose us is the swarm of flying speaker drones that are supposed to complement the array of 14 speakers built into the piano itself that can be position to broadcast sound in any direction. We’ve yet to encounter a drone without that distinct and constant whine of electronic motors, which is the last thing we want to hear when trying to enjoy a pianist’s performance. -Andrew Liszewski
