Curved acoustic (!) piano

Del Vento

In case you haven't heard yet…

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-maene-vinoly-concert-grand-301585283.html

HZPiano

Hello,

That is a super beauty. Art Nouveau springs to mind.

As it happens, I have a (leisurely) visit to Maene in The Netherlands planned for tomorrow, but I do not expect this piano to be there unfortunately. Would be a wonderful coincidence and top day if it was.

The linked article also mentions their earlier straight-strung design. I played the concert-size variant almost two years ago. It was really nice, crisp and clear. Quite something. The photo shows that this new curved design is straight-strung as well.

Lovely, thanks for posting this!

Cheers and happy curves,

MacMacMac

Del Vento

prnewswire.comTHE MAENE-VIÑOLY CONCERT GRAND/PRNewswire/ -- On July 19, 2022, celebrated pianist Kirill Gerstein's performance at the Verbier Festival, which will be broadcast live on Medici.tv, will...

Where are the cup holders?

Drew-r

Del Vento

All kidding aside, this looks to be a serious venture and a practical innovation for those who have the means regardless of pricing.

Closeup views

Ergonomic Keyboard

As for the PianoArc Brock360, its been around long enough that i’m a bit surprised to have never heard about it nor seen it discussed, debated and dissected at PW.

Gen4

Faq

David B

Cool! I want one. Anything that puts less stress on the body is good. Especially for pianists that started later in life.

God Bless,
David

dore_m

Pianissimo

in the meantime we are waiting Keybird to mass produce their portable pianos.

n-player

Doesn't good technique address the pitfalls of a normal linear keybed?

I suppose the curved keybed could follow some arm positions more naturally but would require some tweaks to technique and may introduce new ergonomic issues.

For synth players, like @CyberGene the PianoArc might seem attractive. But the small radius (high curvature) seems high stress on the hands and arms, IMHO. I haven't tried these so only can speculate.

https://pianoarc.com/brock360/

![https://pianoarc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/IMG_2505-e1485880002850.jpg](https://)

dore_m

n-player PianoArc might seem attractive

Where's middle C?

Drew-r

dore_m

Which Middle C? I count 23 octaves. In the red zone there looks to be a display with crosshairs….that might be one of them.

To the OP, as previously mentioned in another thread, they have a pill / procedure to straighten out this curved….. thing.

PS. This just came to me. This might be analogous to “be the ball, Danny NANANaNanana” in golf, except, “ FORE!, be the Circle of 4ths & 5ths, Dore”

Ralphiano

I'll be right back. I have a donut craving.

MacMacMac

Fill in the circle with some canvas and you’ve a piano trampoline!

QuasiUnaFantasia

But how well does this Frisbee-wannabe fly?

dore_m

Drew-r Which Middle C? I count 23 octaves. In the red zone there looks to be a display with crosshairs….that might be one of them.

I read that it's 4x 76 key keyboards, so there are 4 middle C's. I guess the circular shape solves the problem of performing on rotating stages.

HZPiano

Drew-r Thank you for these great links, @Drew-r !

Cheers and happy Art Noveau,

dore_m

Since I'm currently working on modeling sympathetic resonance, I wonder how the resonances are different with the curved geometry. The strings aren't exactly parallel, but I suppose the sound energy that excites an open string should be the same (?).

I also wonder if a soundboard designed "artistically" by an architect will resonate differently than one that was designed by a sound engineer - as some grands have a wider tail to increase soundboard surface area.

HZPiano

dore_m I wonder how the resonances are different

Nature dictates that resonances will differ with variances in any design, action, playing style etc. factor.

As for the straight-strung design (parallel strings) the idea is to have them excite eachother less (than with the traditional crossing design), giving a purer, crisper tone. The concert size sample I played was indeed very nice in these regards.

Cheers and happy resonances,