Posted on Wednesday, June 28, 2023
Thanks to the generosity of a donor, the Texas Southern University Department of Music has acquired a Steinway piano complete with SPIRIO Technology. The piano was purchased by the donor only four years ago and has a replacement value of $122,000.00. The donor had the opportunity to sell the piano at its appraised value but decided that she would rather it serve Texas Southern University students.
SPIRIO is the world’s finest high-resolution player piano technology and is capable of high-resolution acoustic recording, editing and playback. The piano is a magnificent grand piano, often referred to as the “perfect piano.”
“It’s a wonderfully balanced and versatile instrument,” said Jason Oby, D.M.A., professor of voice and department chairperson. “SPIRIO brings the unparalleled craftsmanship of the Steinway coupled with cutting-edge technology and the peerless musicality of Steinway artists, any of whom are available at the touch of the interactive iPad.”
SPIRIO’S high resolution playback system uses proprietary software to measure hammer velocity (up to 1020 dynamic levels at a rate of up to 800 samples per second) and proportional pedaling — for both the damper pedal and soft pedal (up to 256 pedal positions at a rate of up to 100 samples per second). SPIRIO is also capable of live-performance recording, editing and playback — all in high resolution.
The institutional benefits for TSU’s usage of this technology are many, including designation for marketing as a school using cutting-edge technology. No other HBCU in the nation presently has SPIRIO technology.
Due to security and care concerns, the piano is currently being kept in one of the private teaching studios in the Rollins/Stewart Music Building. However, the eventual plan is to place the piano in a space wherein it can be used in general music classes, which are taken by students throughout the university, as well as courses in the music core such as music history. In this way, students will be able to fully use the full capabilities of the state-of-the-art SPIRIO technology.
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