Did you know that pianos were one of the first musical instruments families bought for their homes in the early part of the 20th century? And while they’ve gotten smaller and more compact and even ended up as digital representations on touch screens, their shape has remained largely the same.

But Japanese instrument maker Roland recently showed a new take on the instrument with its unique GPX-F1 “Facet” electronic grand piano. Making a big splash at CES 2020, and then again at the 2020 NAMM Show, the futuristic design incorporates a geometric shape that also appears to be floating above the base.

The concept was initially birthed from Roland’s Digital Piano Design Awards in 2015. Korean industrial designer Jong Chan Kim won the grand prize with his creation and Roland tasked a team of engineers to bring his vision to life. Kim was inspired by polyhedrons occurring in nature, leading to the name “Facet” from crystalline structures.

Drawing upon themes of design, connectivity and evolution, the angular build projects the ideal sound experience for both the player and audience, while incorporating the company’s PureAcoustic Piano Modeling technology and multi-speaker Acoustic Projection System. The base consists of powerful flat-panel speakers that flow through the outer frame, with resonators along the top board to improve the depth of the sound.

The piano also incorporates a large Android screen enabled with Amazon’s Alexa to help pianists compose and create arrangements with ease.

No matter how they are designed, people still want to play pianos. And today in 2020, learning to play is easier than you might think. 6X Emmy Winner Scott “The Piano Guy” Houston is just waiting to show you a few cool things. So what’s stopping you? Come on, the kids are grown, career is done and it’s YOUR time now. It’s YOUR turn to play!

Your Turn to Learn!
https://hypebeast.com/2020/1/roland-facet-grand-piano-ces-2020