AirTurn Inc. is partnering with the Cunningham Piano Company to create one of the coolest "all-in-one" acoustic pianos for the musician on a budget, the Cunningham Composer:
Featuring a touchscreen monitor built flush with the body of the piano and powered by a Mac Mini, the Cunningham Composer will enable the player to record MIDI directly into programs such as Garage Band and Sibelius. Every Cunningham Composer will also come loaded with full versions of MusicReader, and the left pedal will use AirTurn technology to turn digital pages. Oh, did I say, touchscreen?
You can draw right on the screen with your finger - how cool is that??
Here's a closeup of the Mac Mini housing on the underside of the keyboard. This is still a prototype design, so the computer might be painted black to blend better with the look of the piano. I've also suggested that they add a slide out keyboard holder under the middle of the keybed to make it easier to type out the names of your latest compositions ;)
With the Cunningham Composer, the piano IS the complete sheet music library and the composition workstation all in one. Imagine having all your music available at the touch of a finger, or being able to teach a lesson by annotating the score in full color and then emailing the lesson to your student! Or perhaps recording the lesson in MIDI, enabling the pianist to hear what they played afterwards, and even seeing the notes appear with each touch of the keys!
The beauty of the system will be that musicians won't have to worry about which computer to get, or what MIDI interface box or any of the other sundry setup and compatibility issues that can be daunting to those new to digital music technologies, all while keeping the full expressive capabilities of a high quality acoustic piano. Stay tuned for some video footage and more news about the Cunningham Composer as it prepares for a full launch!
Wednesday, 05 August 2009 09:34 | 
Written by Administrator | 
