Sitting Down With The Roland V-Piano
The words “synthesized piano” conjure forth the feeble, lifeless sounds of a plinky Casio keyboard, the sort of sound that would cause a concert pianist to lie on the floor, hands over their ears, screaming in agony.
So, what if I told you that Roland’s new, £5000, V-Piano does away with the traditional, sample-based reproduction of Piano sound and expression, and favours, instead, the most complex and complete ground-up synthesis of a piano ever conceived?
I had a play with the V-Piano today, without care or thought for the process used to generate the absolutely jaw-droppingly beautiful sound which it produced. Rob Farley, idly leafing through the brochure, then told me that what I was hearing was entirely synthesized. I didn’t believe him at first, but it’s strangely true.
One word: Wow
The V-Piano painstakingly re-creates every characteristic of the Piano sound, producing something that utterly destroys anything I’ve heard before. To think that a method based entirely on synthesis could eclipse a sample-based reproduction of a Piano is incredible. The catch is that for your £4419, plus closing on £1000 for suitable monitors and £500 on a stand you’ll only ever be able to produce a Piano sound from this monster. But trust me when I say, it’ll be a beautiful one.