Steinway has announced what it is calling its “most significant product innovation in over 70 years” – a player piano that can be controlled by an app to produce entirely accurate live performances.
Spirio is available exclusively on select Steinway grand pianos and even comes with an iPad. It can reproduce pedaling, subtle phrasing, soft trills, and other nuanced playing techniques. Damper and keyshift pedaling are replicated, following the pianist’s depressions and releases smoothly and precisely over the entire range of motion.
Spirio is the product of the firm’s partnership with Live Performance’s Wayne Stahnke, building upon his work as an innovator in the field of modern player pianos. The system’s playback results from the combination of numerous patented developments, including closed-loop proportional pedaling, immunity to varying line voltage, sophisticated thermal compensation, and proprietary high-resolution drive techniques.
The manufacturer is recording an entirely new catalogue of music for the system, featuring the roster of over 1,700 Steinway artists performing a wide range of genres, from classical to jazz, standards to contemporary. All pieces in the catalogue are recorded, edited and released in high-resolution, using a proprietary data format that captures the finest details from each artist’s performance. All will be provided to Spirio owners at no additional charge.
Michael Sweeney, CEO of Steinway, said: ”Since the founding of Steinway & Sons over 160 years ago, innovation and craftsmanship have served as the core tenets of the company. In today’s marketplace, brands like ours must continue to innovate in order to remain relevant to the world around us, but that doesn’t mean that quality and craftsmanship can suffer.” Sweeney added, “After years of exploration, Steinway & Sons has created in the Steinway Spirio, a high-resolution player piano that is rich with emotion and depth. Even the Steinway artists that have recorded on the instrument agree that the Steinway Spirio captures the true essence, nuance, and soulfulness of a live performance, allowing us to bring artists and their audiences closer than ever before.”
The system is integrated with the piano at the firm’s New York and Hamburg factories during manufacturing. Completely hidden from view, its components do not affect the touch, sound or outward appearance of the piano in any way. Its modular design isolates the core player system from rapidly-changing user interface technologies.
To control the system Steinway provides a complimentary iPad to wirelessly connect with each Spirio.
As new music files become available, they are automatically added to the in-app listings. An integrated volume control permits fine adjustment of the piano’s playback intensity from concert-level dynamics to subdued, background-level playing.
“Steinway Spirio connects the listener and the artist as only the world’s finest piano can,” said Darren Marshall, Chief Marketing Officer for Steinway. “Steinway Spirio technology has been engineered to meet our highest standards while creating a truly unique listening experience for all music enthusiasts, regardless of their own piano playing skills.”
The Spirio system will be available in three existing piano models: Model B (Music Room Grand, available worldwide), Model M (Medium Grand, available in select US and Canadian markets), and Model O (Living Room Grand, available in select European and Asian markets). Pricing is available upon request through local dealers.
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