If you saw the recent Time magazine with the cover story on "The Most Amazing Inventions of 2005," you might have seen featured there the Hand Roll Piano, manufactured by Yamano Music. It weighs 2 lb, has 61 keys, and can be rolled up like a blanket. It can be played for up to 15 hours on 4 AA batteries. It also comes with a set of 128 tones, 100 rhythms, and 20 demo songs.

Here's what it looks like:

[img]http://www.yamano-music.com/docs/hard/hard/handroll/english/arenge1[/img]

It lists at $160. But this one isn't going on my letter to Santa this year. I was thinking it might be handly for taking on vacations or going places where you don't have a piano. But then I figured that playing it would be highly frustrating, if not counterproductive, considering that the keys are perfectly flat and don't move. Have any of you seen or played it in person?

Monica:
Could someone be trying very hard to reach the 1000 club at record pace on what may be a boring Sunday?!
By the way, how is that Mason and Hamlin doing? What kind of music are you playing on it?

It would be cool if someone could incorporate that piano into clothing, somehow...

It's doing great, thanks for asking. I think I will experiment with some tapestries and rugs; on some pieces I hear a few resonances that I think may be caused by all the hardwood and walls nearby. I play mostly (hold on for a sec, gotta get my flame suit on) new age music on it, David Lanz, George Winston, and starting some Jim Brickman that super*hunky set me onto. Also some new age-style Christmas music.

Try this link :

http://newjc.en.alibaba.com/product/50059760/50303024/Electronic_Keyboards/Portable_Roll_Piano.html

I have no affiliations whatsoever.

Wim

And yet another link :

http://www.hecsaninc.com/hand_roll_piano.html

Same comment.

Wim

Monica
I have seen it and it is a novelty, not a serious instrument. I would say if you were stranded on a desert island with no food, drink, or shelter...just the roll-up piano....then you might play it!

Whatever happend to the piano key necktie, or even the usefull roll of TP!

Monica, just yesterday I had the mighty mason regulated (again) and voiced. A BIG, BIG difference. The tech lowered the pitch as my piano was way to bright in a bare walled room with hardwood floors.

The sound is now a beutifull mellow tone and not fatiguing any more. Also, the action is very smooth now as before it was'nt. Very worth the $$$, but a really good tech is hit or miss. I had a tech work on my piano 2-mos ago and this new guy was SO much better.!

Monica, I played this. It's a toy, not a musical instrument. And you're right, it's almost impossible to actually play on. Very funny "touch", you can barely play chords. Really, strike it from your Xmas list!
Tim

I have played on somethinglike it and I agree with ryan, it is a toy.

But it is a cool concept, ain't it??

For one thing, it would open up a whole new world of opportunities by asking "Can I play a song for [on] you?"

So what was Time magazine thinking? How can something that is (a) seriously deficient as a piano, AND (b) not even a new invention, thanks to the evidence supplied by Wim, get listed as one of their "amazing inventions of 2005"? Sheesh.

I have one from the Sharper Image. Less than a toy as it is no fun.

I have the Sharper Image one. I travel a lot and without it I would not be able to get any practice. I use if for this purpose only, even if I use it just to mime hand movements while practicing. As it doesn't have the feel of raised ebony keys, I sometimes actually end up learning/memorizing a tune better since I can't rely on key feel. In this regard, I consider it to be very useful.

Monica,

Hello! Sorry to have to ask but either in my old age or ignorance I have no idea what 'new age' music is.

Please could you enlighten me and perhaps guide me in the direction where I may hear some of the said music.

I do not want to look like a fool in front of my younger relatives so I need to be up for it. That usually causes some indignation (but great fun for me)from the teens to see Grandpa acting as though he is still 16.

Alan

The post by Monica reminds me of the scene from the 1988 movie "Big" where Tom Hanks and Robert Loggia play chopsticks by dancing on the giant keyboard in the FAO Schwarz Toy Store. The little roll up thing, as a fun toy, looks pretty lame by comparison.

I've seen that roll-up piano advertised in a couple novelty-style catalogues. I do really like creative inventions and it is a cool concept - a piano in a bag! I assumed it would be hard to play on but a concept has to start somewhere, maybe there would eventually be some compact "travel" piano that was a little more satisfactory. It's nice to know creative inventors are thinking about such things. Makes me curious of the history behind the concept at least.

Anyway, just wondering . . . do you think one could at least work out a tune for a composition? Or practice ear-training, sight-singing, I'd take it over nothing in some far, remote land . . .

Oh, I'm sure you've heard it but just not labelled as such. It's primarily instrumental music written in the past few decades, both acoustic and electronic. George Winston, David Lanz, Jim Brickman, Liz Story are some of the better known new age solo pianists. Vicki Logan and Jon Schmidt are not as well known but I just love their music. Yanni, Mike Oldfield, Enigma, Vangelis, Jean Michel Jarre, Tangerine Dream are some of the more popular/better new age artists who do more than piano (though some might argue against throwing Tangerine Dream into new age). Celtic artists like Clannad, Enya, Loreena McKennitt also generally get thrown into new age.

You'll normally find new age music in stores in its own section, often by the jazz. If you subscribe to Rhapsody or any on-line music service you will find entire radio stations devoted to it. I like new age music because it tends to be more melody-driven, relaxing, and simpler than classical music. With classical music, I find that I need to be able to devote my attention fully to it while listening to appreciate it. New age I can have playing all day at work in the background.

Thanks, Monica. I will try and have a listen when the opportunity arises.

Alan

Please don't forget the "manheim steamroller" fresh aire series! ver good stuff.

could try this website too http://www.handinthebox.com/products/848880.html seems not like not bad.

[quote=Monica K. I play mostly (hold on for a sec, gotta get my flame suit on) new age music on it, David Lanz, George Winston, and starting some Jim Brickman that super*hunky set me onto. Also some new age-style Christmas music. [/quote]

Monica, I like those same composers... so I guess I should probably get a flame suit too! Do you know Liz Story's music? She's my favorite New Age pianist. Most of her sheet music is out of print, but I have bought her folios over the years and have them PDF'd. Email me if you would like to try a few of her pieces. I'll be happy to share anything that is no longer in print.

This thread is from November 2005.............