Roland A88mkII and Synthogy Ivory Piano Profile Demo

At the April 2023 NAMM show, Synthogy and Roland collaborated to showcase the first public demonstration MIDI 2.0 technology.
This NAMM show they are raising the bar and showcasing a demonstration of the new Piano Profile.

This Profile will make creating performances on one piano and playing them back on another more accurate.

Roland Product Specialist Scott Tibbs will perform.

Scott has amassed a large body of music with numerous recording artists such as Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige, Howard Jones, Bruce Springsteen, Nelly, Lil’ Wayne, Jamie Fox, Robin Thicke, Bette Midler, Destiny’s Child, Jazmine Sullivan, Amerie, Jamie Foxx, Teddy Riley, Omar Hakim, Billy Cobham, and more.

Background

The piano is arguably the most important musical instrument in Western music traditions. It is essential to all styles of music from classical to jazz to pop, so when the MIDI Association started to develop Profiles, a Piano Profile was at the top of the list. 

This piano Profile is focused on Acoustic Pianos with mechanical key mechanisms driven by MIDI, Digital Acoustic Piano Tone Generators (both hardware and software), and physical MIDI keyboards that send MIDI messages and the most common of all – Digital Pianos which incorporate both Digital Acoustic Piano Tone Generators and physical MIDI keyboard. The Profile does not address electro-mechanical  pianos or the extended features of digital ensemble pianos.

Goals

The goal is a Piano Profile that defines the MIDI Messages and bi-directional MIDI-CI communication necessary to allow the performance of an acoustic piano piece on one device that supports the Piano Profile to be accurately rendered on any other device which also supports the Profile.

The Piano Profile defines the MIDI Messages and bi-directional MIDI-CI communication necessary to allow the performance of an acoustic piano piece on one device that supports the Piano Profile to be accurately rendered on any other device which also supports the Profile.  

The Profile provides support for remote (over the internet) performance.  

The Piano Profile details what information needs to be included in a Standard MIDI File (SMF2) and the mechanisms needed to accurately reproduce a piano performance from a file. 

The Piano Profile addresses the following use cases: 

• Piano + tone generator (the most typical MIDI 1.0 use case)
• Online live broadcasting of piano performances
• Online lessons with a teacher and student
• MIDI Streaming of recorded piano performances
• Music production (use of the Piano Profile with DAWs)
• SMF Online sales