NAMM 2020: Roland introduces a grand piano for the modern age

With all the updates from companies worldwide showcasing their best for NAMM 2020, it’s easy to get lost in the mix. However, some companies have been showing up in serious style with a bang. Most notably from Roland, who just announced a new grand piano that looks like something dreamed up in Back to the Future II. The GPX-F1 delivers a completely modernized take on grand pianos, and makes the year 2020 seem decades ahead of the time we’re in.

The Roland GPX-F1, or as it has been known otherwise, “Facet,” brings us a modernized take on the classic grand piano look. While its design and initial concept by Jong Chan Kim was first brought to the world’s attention in 2015, the team has been hard at work over the past few years, and is finally ready to showcase it at the NAMM 2020 conference. It’s easy to tell at first glance that a the bulk of work has been put into the piano’s design, with a geometric, and futuristic look that’s hard to glance away from. However, there’s a lot more to this piano than its visuals.

The Facet’s speakers are housed in the base of the unit, and the design has been precisely measured to amplify the piano’s sound as vastly as possible. Resonators located at the top frame of the piano help project its sound even more, and add an immense amount of depth. Finally, the GPX-F1 is completed with a multi-functional touch screen, tablet-like display that runs Android tech to let users play along with sheet music from a variety of downloadable music apps alongside an Alexa assistant to help along the way.

While Roland has announced that it has no current plans for commercial release of the GPS-F1, we are certainly excited to try it out at NAMM 2020, and let you know where it currently stands. Additionally, it serves as an exciting precedent for what the future of music industry tech may look like moving forward.