Bosendorfer Audi Design Grand Centenary Piano

Audi Design Studio Team has teamed up with Australian keyboard builder, Bosendorfer to create a stunning Grand Piano in celebration of Audi's 100th year in the automobile industry.

The Grand Piano features the lid wing which extends without a breaking down to the base, while the curve of the treble side is not interrupted by a joint line. The keyboard has no wings at the ends and the cast frame is in striking gray color.

The Bosendorfer Audi Design Grand Piano will debut on July 16^th in the Audi Forum Ingolstadt to celebrate the German automaker's centenary. The price of this stunning Grand Piano is approximately €100,000 or close to $140,000.

Via: carscoop

Music Bank Signs Deal With CrystalRoc to Supply Bejeweled Guitars, Drums and Mics

Music Bank, the largest backline rental resource in Europe has announced a deal with CrystalRoc (the world's most exclusive musical instruments) to supply its clientèle with an exclusive range of ultra-high-end, ultra-designer equipment.

CrystalRoc uses Swarovski crystals to create unique musical instruments beloved of A-list
musicians including Leona Lewis, Pussycat Dolls, Kylie Minogue, Mötley Crüe, The Feeling, and
Girls Aloud. They shot to notoriety when Rihanna sung with a CrystalRoc Sennheiser mic (24
carat gold and covered in Swarovski crystals) at the American Music Awards.

CrystalRoc founder and designer Morten Schjolin said, “Luxurious things are not luxurious because they are expensive, but because they are unique and created with a passion for the exceptional. The CrystalRoc collection is exactly that.” The new, exclusive range features a custom Gibson Les Paul guitar, a full DW Drums drum kit, a 50th Anniversary Gibson Flying V guitar (encrusted with Jet Hematite crystals) and a set of Sennheiser mics.

Via: musicbank press release

Blackbird Guitars Launches Super OM guitar

Blackbird Guitars of San Francisco has been making use of carbon fiber for their guitars because of its strength. Recently, Blackbird Guitars launched their first full-size acoustic, new high-modulus carbon fiber Super OM guitar.

It features an offset sound hole and the same rich sound. What blows me away, however, is the Stereo Sound Port – a strategically located hole on the guitar head itself that adds more dimension to the sound produced by the Super OM.

Super-OM includes Micarta fretboard and bridge, 21 frets, 1-3/4″ nut and Gotoh tuning machines. The guitar weighs in at 3.5lbs. Blackbird Super OM guitar is the acoustic guitar of the future! Price: $1,900-$2,040.

Via: Acquiremag

Luis & Clark Cello Made Entirely Out of Carbon Fiber

World renowned Cellist Yo-Yo Ma took the stage at President Obama’s Inauguration with the instrument that many music enthusiasts took by surprise. Massachusetts-based company, Luis and Clark, the cello is unaffected by temperature and humidity, which can crack or split the delicate antique instruments that professionals usually use. Mr. Ma plans to play his Luis and Clark cello if the weather warrants, said his manager, Mary Pat Buerkle. His other cello, a 1733 Montagnana from Venice, is worth more than $2 million. Mr. Ma will be playing a score by John Williams with Itzhak Perlman on violin, Gabriela Montero on piano and Anthony McGill on clarinet. Mr. Perlman could not be reached for comment.

Worth $7,139, the Luis and Clark creation has been made entirely out of carbon fiber. The shape of the Luis & Clark cello makes it easier to play. It is played closer to the body so the bow arm does not have to be so high at the point of the A string, thus reducing one of the causes of the "sore shoulder syndrome." There is no sharp edge from the cello neck rubbing against the musician's chest, making this cello more comfortable to play. This instrument uses very little ebony, reducing demand of this endangered tree species.

Yamaha Launches the Revolutionary AvantGrand Piano

Yamaha Keyboard Division has announced the launching of the AvantGrand Piano. With its highly advanced sound reproduction and sampling technology, the AvantGrand is the first piano ever crafted to truly capture the sound, touch, action and physical resonance of a concert-quality grand piano without the tuning, cost or footprint of a comparable stringed instrument.

The new AvantGrand uses three strategically placed resonators to recreate the tactile vibrations created by the Yamaha CFIIIS concert grand used to record the AvantGrand's digital samples. They even paid close attention to the pedal action, carefully duplicating the spring, friction, and inertia of a real concert grand.

Alicia Keys launched the AvantGrand with a performance at the NAMM convention in LA, causing her to exclaim that "it's almost like a friend. But it's even better than a friend, because it doesn't talk to you."

The Yamaha AvantGrand piano is slated to ship in July 2009 and will cost around $20,000.
For more information on the Yamaha AvantGrand Piano, visit www.yamaha.com

Via: Yamaha press release

Vandersteen $300,000 Audio Stereo

$300,000 worth of high-end audio looks like this.

Richard Vandersteen makers of the best amount speakers in the audio arena. During the launching of its new model seven of the flagship $45,000, it decided to withdraw all the stops. Using a system vinyl-based established around the clear audio turntable of report/ratio $150,000, healthy left several audio criticisms at end high anonymities with their jaws firmly on the floor. The seven models is considerably more expensive than Vandersteen 'model bread-and-to ridge S. the seven models will be sold for $45,000 per pairs. Loudspeakers of Vandersteen are manufactured in Hanford, California, USA.

The Model Seven

Gibson Dark Fire Electric Guitar in Limited Edition

Gibson has launched its much awaited new Dark Fire guitar, labeled as a "Marriage between Chameleon Tone Technology and Second-Generation Robot Guitar Technology". It features chambered mahogany body that makes the guitar lighter that any other Gibson. The Gibson Dark Fire Guitar gives you a number of tonal possibilities to let you change the tone of the Dark Fire to match your environment. It comes with some more interesting features like the pickup combination or the stunning cool finish — the P90h in the neck position and a Burstbucker 3 in the bridge position. Both are capped with new carbon fiber-like pickup covers, impeccably designed to match the Dark Fire's advanced fade.

The power head tuners, the tuning brain, the battery functions, and even the unprecedented sonic capabilities of a fully digital guitar and Chameleon Tone Technology. Everything is here to give you a new, stunning level of tonal and functional freedom that allows you the uninhibited release of your creative potential. This stunning guitar is priced at $3,500

Via: guitarsite /gibsondarkfire