More about Electronics play key role in new piano development

Cordogan's recently hosted an afternoon featuring manufacturer demonstrations on the latest in piano technology. Sales managers from Yamaha, QRS and PianoDisc showcased their brand's newest piano accessories to almost two-dozen in attendance.

The focus of the dealers' presentations was on the ability to play compact discs or DVDs and have a piano play the music live. Slender black boxes attach to the undersides of the player pianos and act as media centers accepting discs as well as USB storage drives and memory cards.

"You can listen to beautiful piano music. It is unique and different," said Terry Dolan of QRS Music Technologies and Story & Clark Pianos. More

Ipod for your Piano

Turn a Piano into a "Player Piano" with an iPod Dock (from Wired)

One problem not currently sweeping the nation is what to do with unwanted pianos. Since the instruments are beautiful and denote class, they're a popular lifestyle accessory, so to speak, among people with excess money and/or space. The thing is, pianos don't play themselves... unless you pick up something like what PianoDisc offers.

If you lack the time or inclination to learn how to play your piano (and don't give me this nonsense about "no musical talent" -- anyone can learn to play an instrument), perhaps one of PianoDisc's iQ iPod docks will fit the bill. Drop in an iPod, press play, and observe as motors inside your piano attempt to play an approximation of the song being played by your iPod, rendering Muzak versions of all your favorites. Basically, that expensive, expressive instrument in your living room becomes a strange sort of iPod speaker... talk about wasted potential (though I admit that the iQ would make a decent party trick).

Since this product is for people who own pianos but don't know how to play them, it's hardly surprising that its demographic contains a fair share of the famous. The PianoDisc website hints at the barely-concealed identities of a few celebrity PianoDisc owners: