• It solves an age-old problem
At piano recitals, audiences flock to a small corner of the hall so that they can see the pianist’s hands:
• It beats the alternatives
Halls sometimes project the hands on a large screen, but if the screen is far from the piano, the audience’s gaze must go back and forth between looking at the piano to see the pianist and the source of the sound, and then to the screen to see the hands, making for a disjointed experience.
Large in-house video systems often introduce a noticeable delay between hearing the music and seeing the image of the hands performing the music
A built-in permanent screen is generally located above the middle of the stage often requiring that the piano be moved off to the side. The live musician should always, and without exception, be center stage.
The MoyerCam™ solves all of these problems. Screen and piano inhabit the same space. In fact, when the audience looks at the screen, they are looking at the source of the sound. The electronics are high-tech and streamlined, making for a synchronized image. The size of the screen is appropriate — it doesn’t swamp the essence of a live performance.
• It is practical
- Inexpensive: An in-house video system would cost many times more than the MoyerCam™.
- Portable: The whole setup weighs less than 15 pounds and fits in 2 small bags. The screen is a paper-thin sheet of plastic and rolls onto a tube. Great for traveling pianists.
- Easy to set up: Set-up and take down takes about 7 minutes each. Good for institutions where the MoyerCam™ could be used on multiple pianos.
- High Quality: The camera and projector are manufactured by major companies, known for quality, durability, availability of service and parts.
• It has been field-tested
The MoyerCam™ has been in development since September, 2012. It has been tweaked through over 600 piano performances. Here are some characteristics that make it practical in the real world:
- Unobtrusive: Every effort has been made to make the mechanics of the MoyerCam™ as invisible as possible, using the smallest possible equipment, hiding cables to the fullest extent possible.
- Quiet: Many projectors were tested, and this one has been chosen for inaudibility; also weight, size, brightness, color, sturdiness, customer service.
- Quick: We tested many camera-projector combinations and found this one to have the lowest latency (delay) –a critical component for this kind of application.
- Safe for the piano: Nothing touches the piano except the plastic sheet which sticks to the lid simply through static cling and an extended stick which raises the lid slightly higher than a normal stick. The projector is close enough to the piano so that it won’t get in the way of other players, the audience, etc. but not so close that heat from the projector could adversely affect the instrument.
- Acoustics. While other screen materials were tested, this particular material was chosen because it does not affect the sound quality of the piano.