The time has come and the classic grand piano got a makeover with a futuristic twist. Hungarian pianist Gergely Bogányi redesigned one grand piano that looks like it could be on a spaceship. His Batpiano (resembles on Batmobile) is result of ten years, 8,000 hours of work and almost £1 million investment. On a promotional website, he says the design took shape over a decade of working with “a devoted, genuinely talented team of designers, engineers, piano craftsmen and music technicians.”
The new design has replaced most of the traditional wood with carbon fibre, and puts the piano on two legs instead of three in order let “sound to reach the audience with higher efficiency and more clarity.” And, according to the Bogányi piano’s site, the curved shape “creates a supporting effect, thereby conducting the sound, from below the piano, towards the audience.”
Batpiano also got a new composite soundboard that the strings vibrate against. The new soundboard is more resistant to atmospheric conditions like heat, humidity, cold, etc. — which means it needs less maintenance and holds its tune longer.
Coming from a musical family, Gergely Bogányi is one of the youngest ever pianists to have won the Kossuth Prize, becoming one of the leading pianists of his generation.