User Guide

5
it can be used to simultaneously play sounds other
than the sound of the instrument being played, or
record that performance information for later
playback.
The PianoBar extracts the information about your
piano playing by means of a Scanner Bar which
rests above the keys of the piano and out of the
way of the player’s fingers. Yet it requires no
technician to install it, it’s portable, and IT SETS UP IN
JUST A FEW MINUTES…. When you are done you
can leave it installed or remove it.
With the Piano Bar, you can:
- Play sounds when you depress a key on the
piano – combine and layer sounds with the
acoustic piano sound for rich new timbres. This is a
great way to explore sounds and add new spice to
your piano performances.
- Capture your piano playing in a computer, in a
MIDI sequencer or notation software. This is a great
way to increase productivity while composing
music at the piano.
- Play MIDI music files into the PianoBar for
education or entertainment. LEDs above the keys
can be enabled to light up showing the notes
being played.
- Whatever else your imagination can dream up!
How does it do it?
How does the PianoBar extract MIDI data from
the keyboard and pedals? If you study the
mechanics of a piano key and its action, you will
find that the loudness of a tone produced by
playing a key is closely related to the VELOCITY of
the key being pressed. Therefore, by looking
simply at the motion of the keys, you can get a
highly accurate representation of the notes and
loudness of the notes that are played. The Scanner
Bar uses patented Infrared Scanning technology to
measure the movement of the keys and transmit
that information to the Control Module, where it is
converted to MIDI.