This is essentially a piano bent around into a circle. You sit in the hole in the middle, on a stool, and the keyboard is all around you.
Why?
For one thing, the curved keyboard makes it easier for small hands to stretch octaves (since the endpoints are closer together). It also looks cool, and makes you feel important to be in the middle of it (like a DJ or organist).
It would be fun and virtuostic to play treble parts with the right hand and bass parts with the left hand without looking at either.
The pianist would constantly be spinning around on his stool to look at different parts of the keyboard. This means that, in concert halls, there are no lousy seats where the audience has to look at the pianist's back. Everyone in the audience will see the pianist some of the time.
In fact, a whole system of circular concert halls could be built to accommodate circular pianos, harpsichords, and organs.
The fancier pianos would have gaps in the frame every 60 degrees or so (where the frame turns at an angle to correspond with the more sharply curved keyboard). These gaps can be used by the pianist to store additional percussion instruments, coffee, magazines, or other concert supplies.-- phundug, Jan 28 2005 Tubular bells http://tubular.net/...ularBells2003.shtml [normzone, Jan 28 2005] The other kind of circle (this one is just a prop) http://www.propmake...om/Images/piano.jpg [robinism, Jan 29 2005] (?) The other kind of circle (and only 12 notes) http://www.explorat...ts/f/find_note.html [robinism, Jan 29 2005] Max Rebo http://www.starwars.../maxrebo/index.htmlplays a Red Ball Jett keyboard [jaksplat, Feb 27 2009] Curved piano keyboard, man http://users.skynet...OURNL53/journ53.htmA curved piano keyboard from days gone by... [cloudface, Feb 28 2010] not exactly, but still neat: http://matrixsynth....tores-keyboard.html [FlyingToaster, Apr 08 2010] JM Jarre's LAG Circulaire http://cgi.ebay.com...m&item=220674602349on e-Bay [FlyingToaster, Oct 01 2010] But there's only 88 keys in the compass and that seems well too few to accomodate a full 360°layout.-- bristolz, Jan 28 2005 What's next, circular banjos?-- robinism, Jan 28 2005 [robinism], how about tubular bells?
I want the other version.....the piano is cylindrical, the keys are on the outside diameter and you have two footpedals to control the rotation with.-- normzone, Jan 28 2005 davros?-- benfrost, Jan 28 2005 How are you going to hang the keyboard lid on hinges?-- FarmerJohn, Jan 28 2005 It's not really that intuitive.-- WcW, Feb 27 2009 baked: Jean Michel Jarre uses a semicircular-keyboard controller, a "LAG Circulaire"-- FlyingToaster, Feb 27 2009 I thought that as you rotated round to the right, the pitch continuously increased - and continuously decreased to the left. : <thinks> : could make for some interesting virtuoso performances as the base and treble separate...-- VaquitaTim, Mar 01 2010 so along with a page-turner, you would also have a chair-turner.-- FlyingToaster, Mar 01 2010 It's weird that the word "turn" means something quite different for pages than for chairs. A page flipper is what you really need, save the page turning for Victor Borge :)-- phundug, Apr 05 2010 yahbut each page is actually turned 180 degrees.-- FlyingToaster, Apr 05 2010 Fit the outside with teeth and you can make piano gears, allowing you to turn the piano while you remain stationary. Would probably make live orchestra more interesting.-- Postscript, Apr 05 2010 The square version of this has been baked by rock keyboardists on stage since the 1970s.-- BunsenHoneydew, Apr 07 2010 random, halfbakery