Music

The irresistibly beautiful Whaletone Piano

The irresistibly beautiful Whaletone Piano
Robert Majkut's Whaletone piano
Robert Majkut's Whaletone piano
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Robert Majkut's Whaletone piano
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Robert Majkut's Whaletone piano
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The word "grand" just doesn't seem to cut it when describing this piano. The Whaletone's beautiful design evokes its sea-going namesake slowly emerging from the water and combines this with the technology of a high-end professional stage instrument in a way that's likely to appeal to both music and design connoisseurs.

The amazing instrument was exhibited in April, during Design Week in Milan, where it was seen by over 150,000 visitors. In some respects rather conservative, Whaletone shows there's a way to rethink classic design without changing it into a postmodern, unintelligible blob.

At its heart is a flagship Roland stage piano with built-in list of 500 sounds. Specifically, it uses Roland's SuperNATURAL Piano sound engine to generate the authentic sound of a string piano. There's also a PHA III Ivory Feel keyboard and some optional features such as a CD player, software to add sound modules, an LED display and an internal sound processor.

The person responsible for creating Whaletone is a notable Polish designer Robert Majkut, who specializes in luxurious interiors. Among these is the most expensive cinema interior in Beijing, China and closer to home, the cinema located in the Zlote Tarasy mall, in Warsaw.

There is a variety of ways to customize Whaletone including colors, gloss, material selection or individual adornments ... there's even a striking bright pink option.

The piano's price tag is not yet announced, but orders are being taken on Whaletone's website.

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15 comments
15 comments
Nicholas Searle
What a disgrace to find that this ISN\'T REALLY A PIANO
It\'s a keyboard cover. Go and get yourself a Stashway Foldable, or better yet, a proper piano of the future like the majestic Stuart piano.
Don\'t waste my time Europe
N
Adrien
so, uh, how do you move the thing?
First thing the piano movers normally do is remove the lyre/pedals and legs.
yodecat
Irresistibly beautiful? Hardly. And what\'s up with the fin?
socalboomer
@Nicholas - absolutely agree. It\'s just a keyboard, not a piano. Synthesize all you want, there is something organic and beautiful about real strings being hammered by real hammers pressed by real keys. . .
HappyPhil
Very interesting. To find out what it sounded like and what amp and speakers were used, I clicked on your link to the Whaletone site.
The components were top of the line and should sound good when it\'s played by a pianist. The recording they used for demonstrating the sound was a series of random notes while holding down the sustain pedal. Somewhat annoying, but interesting to hear the C bass note programed to sound like it was out of tune.
These will likely become the piano of choice for luxury yachts, in that they wouldn\'t suffer from the sea air like a real piano.
I look forward to hearing a pianist play one of these artfully designed instruments.
dcmaidens
Wow that is incredibly beautiful, it flows so nice, and the touch of chrome here and there is so elegant. This looks like a million dollar piano... but this is where the problem lies. Nicholas was quick to point out the major problem -- it\'s a very beautiful SYNTHESIZER.
Really?? Who on earth needs a synth that looks that beautiful, and secondly who wastes their time to make one look so nice? I hazard to guess this thing is going to cost as much or more than a baby grand piano. If this was a true Grand Piano that looked that amazing, I\'d be tempted to re-mortgage my house to get one. What a shame!
In reality this is nothing more than a beautifully remodeled tuner car, where thousands of dollars went into making it look nice, but not a dime went into making it fast.
BZD
Not beautiful and not a piano.
This is a piano and it is beautiful: http://www.phpianos.dk/ (It was designed in 1931 and looks radical even today)
Michael Zarli
I liked it more when it was called the Pegasus Piano by Luigi Colani and it was an actual piano...
dcmaidens
Sorry BZD we are at Polar Opposites when it comes to taste, I think the piano you like is hideous... but to each their own.
dcmaidens
At least the one you like BZD, is a piano
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