Jo Hamilton performing 'Alive, alive' using an AirPiano can be watched  It is also taken from the short film 'A New Instrument'.

Scottish born 38 year old folk musician Jo Hamilton has a unique sound, thanks to the strange new keyboard she's been learning to play which both The Guardian and Airpiano publicise that she will be playing in Edinburgh at TEDGlobal.

The airpiano is an MIDI and OSC controller that allows the user to trigger invisible keys and faders in midair.
Touch-Free Interface
The airpiano is the first musical interface to introduce an intuitive and simple touch-free interaction.

Many touch-free interfaces require users to stare at a display. The user’s hand gestures in 3D space then control elements on the screen. However, musicians and performers need to be able to play their instruments in a more free and intuitive way.

The airpiano’s keys and faders are therefore not on the screen, but exactly there above the airpiano surface. The performer knows the position of each controller in the air, so no display is needed. Just like with a multitouch interface, the user triggers a virtual button exactly where it is, and the interaction becomes much more natural.


The airpiano is often compared with the Theremin or aetherphone  The Theremin is a wonderful instrument which is quite difficult to play. One reason for this is that it provides only continuous control.

The airpiano has a matrix of 24 discrete keys, 8 faders, which makes it very simple to trigger MIDI and OSC messages.  Airpiano software makes the device so versatile that there is no real reason for this comparison. These are completely different instruments.

What can you do with an airpiano that you can’t do with other controllers?
 Airpiano.de strongly believes that the airpiano introduces a new user experience, a magical and cool performance tool and an experimental instrument to explore.

The airpiano software allows setting up the device in numerous ways and since there are no “rules” of how to play an airpiano, new creative ideas and playing techniques will come to life.

Jo Hamilton, notes the Guardian, doesn't always refer to her unusual musical instrument by its official, patented name.

It's a machine that takes some explaining, so Hamilton – who in 2009 became one of the first people in the world to get her hands on a prototype – has stuck to first impressions.

"I'm not a particularly tech-minded girl. I've always thought of it as a grid of buttons that hover, invisibly, above this… plank. When you put your hands into one of the virtual spaces, a sound is triggered."

At her first live gig with the new instrument, in April last year, someone in the crowd asked how it worked.

"Magic," said Hamilton.