Whipsaw, the award-winning creatively driven, full-scale global product and experience design company specializing in product design, digital design, research, strategy, and engineering, is proud to announce an acoustic piano of the future – Ravenchord. Dan Harden, CEO, Founder and Principal Designer, designed the instrument with the idea that all experiences are richer when multisensory. Ravenchord is a liberated piano with frontward projection, offering a purer tone and full visibility of the form, innerworkings, and performer. Harden’s reimagined design is his proud contribution to the music industry and is part of his creative initiative, the Whipsaw Design Lab (WDL).
Ravenchord’s front-facing configuration transforms the piano into a fresh, emotive, logical being. Like an electric keyboard, players can use Ravenchord as an extension of their disposition. In its construction, strings are arranged based on pitch and organized to sprawl in a spiral-like shape around the front of the instrument—bearing resemblance to a bird wing. As the pianist plays, audiences can see the hammers, dampers, and other inner workings move in real-time, exposing the magic of the piano’s sound in a graceful configuration.
“The whole idea of actualizing a cultural pursuit has been a joy for me because it doesn’t involve solving a problem for a project or a current everyday dilemma,” says Harden. “To create something of beauty is immensely empowering, and I cannot think of a better product category than music in order to express that.”
Ravenchord’s key deck remains at the standard 30″ height and plays with the confines of traditional acoustic, hardwood housing at 84″ long, 18″ deep, and sits at around 500 pounds. Additionally, the gloss-black, legless, diecast steel string frame is compact, making Ravenchord lighter and more convenient to fit in the home. Its elegant aesthetic and contoured form enhance the lineage of piano’s past.
As part of Whipsaw, the design lab acts as a creative space for Whipsaw’s designers to be inventive and expand their horizons without constraints. It is design autonomy at its purest. Ravenchord attests to WDL’s power to change the conventions of everyday design and cultivate inspiration to reach new heights.
