Pianist Lang Lang Plays iPad For Concert Encore (VIDEO)

Piano master Lang Lang performed a surprising, offbeat encore at a concert in San Francisco: the pianist played Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee" on the iPad.

Lang Lang used the iPad app Magic Piano, from Smule, to "play" his tablet.

Ge Wang, the co-founder of Smule, told the Wall Street Journal, "I've never seen the freestyle Magic Piano played like he [Lang Lang] did." Wang added that he believes the Chinese pianist "totally digs Magic Piano and the iPad."

See Lang Lang's performance for yourself in the video below, then, for a different sort of sound, check out the world's first-ever iPad DJ.

WATCH:

Comments

[SolarPowerGuy]

12:54 PM on 04/26/2010

Fake fake FAKE.

There is no proper keyboard interface on that iPad. The notes that sound span several octaves, and yet the pianist is playing with just one hand. At best, he is controlling the tempo of the music and the delivery of notes with his hand gestures.

This isn't the first incident of "lip syncing" in a classical-music setting, and I suppose it won't be the last. But I sure hope that it doesn't become a trend.

Here's a link to a related incident: http://wiki.killuglyradio.com/wiki/While_You_Were_Out

[Smirk]

02:26 AM on 04/25/2010

That is awesome, and a great break for the makers of that app.

[Lefty Pockets]

03:28 AM on 04/24/2010

How much did Apple pay him?

[nanderson65]

07:36 PM on 04/23/2010

You can't do that on a smartphone/netbook/kindle/iPad killer... fill in the blanks.
wow.

[Eris23]

12:08 PM on 04/26/2010

I've been playing the piano on my computer for over 15 years. Not quite sure what you mean.

[Mydian01]

06:13 PM on 04/23/2010

oh you beautiful iPad you.. is there anything you CANT do?

[garymc8]

12:38 PM on 04/23/2010

I have often thought the software developers and users will turn this technology into anything and everything they can think of.

[lightist]

12:27 PM on 04/23/2010

Yeah, but can he do Jimi Hendrix with one hand while wanking with the other?

[raven119]

03:37 PM on 04/23/2010

not something I'd like to see or hear, thank you.

[Krek]

12:23 PM on 04/23/2010

No news on the two hours of virtuoso piano playing before the flipper impression?

[Sacchinftw]

12:19 PM on 04/23/2010

Nice to see the iPad finally be used to its utmost potential...

[GoDogGo]

12:03 PM on 04/23/2010

Wow, the cynicism is pretty thick today!

In the rush to dismiss this brand, folks are missing the bigger picture: These kinds of machines -- simple, relatively inexpensive tablets -- are about to become highly creative devices. Regardless of who makes them (yes, there will be excellent non-Apple tablets), multi-touch tablets with their myriad app possibilities lend themselves to artistic functions of all kind.

It seems silly to dismiss an entire genre of devices just because this one is a brand you don't like.

[Morgantheaxe]

03:10 PM on 04/23/2010

Yeh since the announcement of the Ipad it's been raining haters looking to gain some credibility by hoping it fails. It's kinda sad and cynical of them but hey it's a free country.

[Rian Fowler]

11:19 PM on 04/23/2010

My main argument against tablets is that they have hideous ergonomics. An iPhone is something I can hold in one hand and use. A computer doesn't force me to look down my hands to interact with it. You need a pretty big manpurse to carry around a tablet as a grocery list or as something to casually read while going out for lunch.

How about this: skip the tablet and turn my phone into a full fledged wireless computer. Something I can interact with in a hand held manner when I'm away from my computer (Kin, Nexus One, iPhone, etc) but when I get to my desk, I can just set it down on a magnetic charger and have it wirelessly connect to my monitor and keyboard (bluetooth, wireless HDMI) and allow me to interact with it in a traditional way. I'd never miss a beat- I could carry my phone around with me as my token to the cloud.

When I got home, if my friend sent me a link to an awesome video, I could set my phone down by my TV and have it stream the video in HD over my wifi right into my TV. I could even pick up a wireless keyboard and respond to my friend on my TV.

Forget tablets- they're annoying and pretty much useless. :) I want a cloud token.

[ProudLuddite]

11:14 PM on 04/23/2010

I don't care who makes it. These machines are by their very corporate nature anit-creative. They are horrible devices and I refuse to ever use one.

[GoDogGo]

12:22 AM on 04/24/2010

You're tempting the ridiculous comment of the day award: By your definition, a computer is "anti-creative" because it's made by a corporation. Which is no different than a guitar. Or a piano. Or cameras, paint brushes, microphones, etc... Who do you think makes all the creative tools we use to create music, art and film?!

A tablet is just a different machine. A different tool for a creative task. Your refusal to use one is akin to a builder who refuses to use a hammer because it's "corporate."

[The Cause Endures]

11:46 AM on 04/23/2010

Fake!

[netzwerg]

11:31 AM on 04/23/2010

I don't want to play down Lang Lang's amazing skills, but that iPad stunt was obviously fake. There are probably not more than 1 or 1,5 octaves on the iPad screen, but he plays several octaves.

[Morgantheaxe]

03:14 PM on 04/23/2010

Gotta ask.....you know this how? Not being a flamer but seems that most people flaming the Ipad dont own one.

[Eris23]

12:16 PM on 04/26/2010

Can't see the video from here. However, especially with electronic music performances, the backing tracks usually aren't played by anyone. Rather, the person can or will play a melody over them while the machines provide the rest. Apparently Magic Piano uses backing tracks.

On a side note, it looks as if Lang Lang is involved in this project from their webpage.

"Inspired by world renowned pianist Lang Lang, Magic Piano was conceived and designed exclusively for the iPad.

Impress your friends with how quickly you've mastered "Flight of the Bumblebee" and "Für Elise", or just amuse yourself playing "Heart and Soul"."

http://magicpiano.smule.com/

So, an interested party does product placement to demo something hyped as a feature for everyone.

[pcpc]

11:07 AM on 04/23/2010

iPad fans: one more reason to touch yourselves.

[StansDad]

01:19 PM on 04/23/2010

haters gonna hate

[mamababa]

02:46 PM on 04/23/2010

'Ha-ter, ha-ter, Mas-tur ba-ter'

[profgeorge]

12:00 AM on 04/27/2010

funny...that made me laff! :)

[booker52]

10:58 AM on 04/23/2010

Cool!

[jsgaetano]

10:38 AM on 04/23/2010

Wow, the multi-touch on that is pretty impressive.

Worked with a few computers this week, I'm noticing an annoying trend in netbooks- they make a touchpad with "virtual" buttons on the trackpad... but it doesn't use multitouch, so you can't even hold one hand on the "button" and move the cursor with the other.

[nanderson65]

07:38 PM on 04/23/2010

I know... I hate that thing.