The latest project from music education company Loog Guitars isn't a three-stringed Gibson classic to go with its pint-sized Fender Strat or Tele electrics, but a 37-key portable piano for kids of all ages.
"We spent years figuring out what a Loog Piano should be," said company CEO, Rafael Atijas. "We wanted the design to be very simple, and we wanted it to sound great. An important decision we made is that the sound engine’s full muscle is devoted to the piano sound. Tone, note attack, decay and air in between notes have been sampled and modeled so that the Loog Piano sounds just like the real thing."
As with many of its learning guitars, Loog is crowdfunding the Piano on Kickstarter. It measures 18.92 x 7.5 x 2.71 in (480.8 x 190.5 x 68.9 mm), weighs in at 4.7 lb (2.15 kg), and features responsibly-sourced wooden panels with a three-octave keyboard to the front featuring velocity-sensitive keys.
The portable music learning platform comes packing a 3-hour per-charge battery, and sports a bright red "sonically transparent" fabric top to hide the speakers and electronics, with a large volume knob to the right. There's also a 3.5-mm headphone jack for private practice.
It will ship with a bunch of lo-fi flash cards to help youngsters get to grips with piano basics without having to follow prompts on a smartphone screen, though the Piano is also compatible with the Loog companion mobile app for game-like exercises designed to make learning fun.
One thing which may limit its appeal is the lack of non-piano sounds or effects in the digital modeling engine, something that could have parents eyeing competing solutions – though the Loog Piano is a relatively inexpensive gamble.
The Kickstarter is live now, with limited number of early bird pledges at US$229, after which backers will need to stump up at least $249. If all goes to plan with the already funded campaign, shipping is estimated to start from March 2024. The video below has more.
Source: Loog Guitars