Live Looping with the Yamaha Enspire Disklavier

In this video, we demonstrate live looping with a Yamaha Enspire Disklavier. What is looping? It is a technique used by musicians to record small snippets of music, then play them back continuously (the "loop"), while recording new layers of music on top of the previous ones, resulting in rich layers of music that enable one musician to sound like an ensemble of multiple players. In this instance, we are using the Yamaha Enspire Disklavier, the world's most advanced recording and reproducing piano, to make one pianist sound like four performers. As far as we can tell, this is the first time anyone has ever attempted to create live loops in real time with this instrument. The basic techniques for looping involve recording, playback, and overdubbing (recording new tracks that play continuously over the older tracks). We demonstrate those techniques, in addition to pausing all the tracks so that alternate material can be played in different keys, then playing them again for a rich coda. The key to making this work effectively in a live setting is using a hands-free multi-pedal device like the 4-pedal AirTurn Quad. What do you think of this ground-breaking technique? Let us know in the comments below!