Project SEKAI Piano Unveiled
The newest collaboration project from Project SEKAI Colorful Stage! feat. Hatsune Miku has been announced, and it will likely turns some heads from fans of the mobile rhythm game, and music lovers in general!
From Yamaha Corporation comes the Project SEKAI Piano! And if you think it’s just a regular piano with the Project SEKAI title screen visual pasted on it, then think again, and read on to see what makes it so special!
About the Project SEKAI Piano
To understand the premise behind the new piano, let’s first look at another well known Yamaha product that attracted the attention of VOCALOID fans: the VOCALOID Keyboard VKB-100. It’s literally a singing keyboard that plays a VOCALOID voice bank of your choice to pre-set song lyrics. All you need to do is play the song on the keyboard, and listen to the voice bank sing what you play!
The Project SEKAI Piano similarly comes loaded the voices of Hatsune Miku and Hoshino Ichika (voiced by Noguchi Ruriko) that will sing the lyrics of 千本桜 / Senbonzakura as you play the mega popular song by 黒うさP / KurousaP!
But then, you may be wondering, what makes it the Project SEKAI piano instead just a glorified a VOCALOID Keyboard with ProSEKA decal? The answer to that lies in how you play it.
The piano is modeled after Yamaha’s Clavinova (CSP-150) piano, equipped with streaming lights displayed above the keys, indicating which keys you need to press next to play the song you want. For the Project SEKAI Piano, think of those lights as the falling notes seen in the game that you must tap on as they reach the bottom of the screen, except here, they will be falling on the piano keys. So even if you don’t know how to play the piano or read sheet music, you can put your rhythm game skills to use by following the falling lights and pressing the keys as the lights reach them! It’s like playing Project SEKAI on a real piano!
And as mentioned above, Miku and Ichika will literally sing the Senbonzakura lyrics for each note that you play! The Project SEKAI Piano uses Yamaha’s AI technology so that even if you miss a note or play off tempo, Miku and Ichika will reportedly adjust their singing to match how you play. This sounds like a far cry from the VOCALOID Keyboard which would sing even incorrect notes that you play, or even sing an entire song incorrectly if you miss a note or accidentally play an extra one, causing the wrong lyrics to be lined up with the wrong notes.
To demonstrate all of the above features, famed VOCALOID pianist まらしぃ / marasy was invited to test out the Project SEKAI Piano himself for 30 minutes, starting on Advanced level (just like the game, you can select difficulty levels) and then showing the Beginner level. He states at the end that as a Project SEKAI fan and a piano player, the Project SEKAI Piano brings him great happiness in more ways than one!
And just for fun, marasy also posted a video on his Twitter account of him playing his own song, 青く駆けろ！/ Aoku Kakero! on the Project SEKAI Piano, demonstrating that, yes, it can function as a regular piano as well!
Project SEKAI Piano Trial Sessions
But marasy isn’t the only one. Soon, the general public will be able to try the Project SEKAI Piano out for themselves in a series of trial sessions held in nine locations throughout Japan! The motto for this new project from Yamaha is “To support all who face forward with music (前を向くすべての人を、音楽で応援するために).” And what better property to collaborate with than Project SEKAI, a game all about virtual singers supporting real-world dreamers through the power of music?
Table of Trial Locations, Sign-up Dates, and Trial Dates
Reserving dates to try out the Project SEKAI Piano is required at each location. Here is where and when these trial sessions will be held, as well as when sign-up for each location will begin! (All dates and times are JST)
| Location | Sign-up Start Dates | Trial Date Range |
| Yamaha Music Shop Osaka Namba Business hours: 11:00 ~ 18:30 Closed on Tuesdays | March 25 (Thursday) at 12:00 for Phase 1 March 28 (Sunday) at 12:00 for Phase 2 | Pase 1: March 26 (Fri) to March 28 (Sun) Phase 2: April 1 (Thur) to April 4 (Sun) |
| Yamaha Music Shop Yokohama Business hours: 11:00 ~ 18:30 Closed on Tuesdays | April 5 (Monday) at 12:00 | April 9 (Fri) to April 18 (Sun) |
| Yamaha Shop Ginza Business hours: 11:00 ~ 18:30 Closed on Tuesdays | April 19 (Mon) at 12:00 | April 23 (Fri) to May 5 (Wed) |
| Yamaha Music Shop Sendai Business hours: 11:00 ~ 18:30 Closed on Tuesdays | April 20 (Tues) at 12:00 | April 23 (Fri) to May 5 (Wed) |
| Yamaha Music Shop Nagoya Business hours: 11:00 ~ 18:30 Closed on Tuesdays | April 21 (Wed) at 12:00 | April 24 (Sat) to May 5 (Wed) |
| Yamaha Music Shop Ikebukuro Business hours: 11:00 ~ 18:30 Closed on Wednesdays | May 10 (Mon) at 12:00 | May 14 (Fri) to May 23 (Sun) |
| Yamaha Music Shop Hiroshima Business hours: 11:00 ~ 18:30 Closed on Tuesdays | May 11 (Tues) at 12:00 | May 14 (Fri) to May 30 (Sun) |
| At the Yamaha booth for an event held in Tokyo (details TBA) | No reservation needed; First come, first served ※Numbered tickets may be handed out at times of congestion | May 29 (Sat) to May 30 (Sun) |
| Yamaha Music Shop Fukuoka Business hours: 11:00 ~ 18:30 Closed on Tuesdays | May 31 (Mon) at 12:00 | June 4 (Fri) to June 13 (Sun) |
| Yamaha Music Shop Sapporo Business hours: 11:00 ~ 18:30 Closed on Tuesdays | June 14 (Mon) at 12:00 | June 18 (Fri) to June 27 (Sun) |
How to Sign Up
Step 1: Register for EventRegist
See here for how to create an EventRegist account: https://support.eventregist.com/en/knowledge/new-signup
Step 2: Make a Reservation
Once you have created your EventRegist account, check the above table for your desired location and visit date, and find it on this page after the sign-up period begins:
https://eventregist.com/p/pjsekai_piano
Step 3: Get Your Ticket and Go!
After your reservation is complete, visit this page to see how to get your ticket: https://support.eventregist.com/en/knowledge/admittance-to-the-event
Then bring both the ticket and some form of ID with you to the trial session venue, and enjoy trying out the Project SEKAI Piano!
Difficulty Levels
Although no music experience is necessary to enjoy the Project SEKAI Piano, those who would like to take a look at and practice the sheet music for each difficulty level of Senbonzakura can print them out here for a small fee (payable by credit card or at a convenience store in Japan):
https://www.print-gakufu.com/scene/detail/2145/?ref=202103_pjsekai
Super Beginner
- Content: music accompaniment only
- Music score will be for people who have never played the piano before. The streaming lights will be easy to follow and perform to
- Download the score here for ￥132 ~ ￥150 JPY
Beginner
- Content: melody and music accompaniment
- Music score will be for people who can play the piano, but wish to try out the Project SEKAI Piano without practicing beforehand. Also for those who are good at rhythm games. Even if you play with only the melody, you can still get a feel for the AI features
- Download the score here for ￥352 ~ ￥400 JPY
Intermediate
- Content: melody and music accompaniment
- Playing with both melody and music accompaniment will be necessary for getting the full AI feature experience. Although the score will list the full chorus version, only the one-chorus version will be playable for the trial
- Download the score here for ￥473 ~ ￥540 JPY
Advanced
- Content: melody and music accompaniment
- Playing with both melody and music accompaniment will be necessary for getting the full AI feature experience. Although the score will list the full chorus version, only the one-chorus version will be playable for the trial
- Download the score here for ￥473 ~ ￥540 JPY
The newest Project SEKAI collaboration – and also the newest VOCALOD-related instrument from Yamaha – is quite an impressive product indeed! When or if it will someday go on sale for the general public to purchase and own is not yet known, but you can bet that we’ll be on the lookout for and look forward to such a day!
Links
Project SEKAI Piano official page
Project SEKAI Colorful Stage! feat. Hatsune Miku
- Project SEKAI Colorful Stage! feat. Hatsune Miku official site
- Project SEKAI Colorful Stage! feat. Hatsune Miku official Twitter
- Initial game announcement and “rumors”
- Official outfit designs
- “Daily Life at Project SEKAI” Comics
Livestream Highlights
- First livestream from October 23, 2019
- Miku Day livestream from the March 9, 2020
- Pre-registration livestream from July 22, 2020
- Virtual Live livestream from August 24, 2020
- Pre-release livestream from September 26, 2020
- Release celebration livestream from October 2, 2020
- Wondershow Channel #3 livestream from December 23, 2020
- Wondershow Channel #4 livestream from January 25, 2021
- Wondershow Channel #5 livestream from February 22, 2021
Project Message
Colorful Broadcast
Character Profiles
Virtual Singers
・Hatsune Miku
・Kagamine Rin
・Kagamine Len
・Megurine Luka
・MEIKO
・KAITO
Leo/need
・Hoshino Ichika
・Tenma Saki
・Mochizuki Honami
・Hinomori Shiho
MORE MORE JUMP!
・Hanasato Minori
・Kiritani Haruka
・Momoi Airi
・Hinomori Shizuku
Vivid BAD SQUAD
・Azusawa Kohane
・Shiraishi An
・Shinonome Akito
・Aoyagi Toya
Wonderlands x Showtime
・Tenma Tsukasa
・Otori Emu
・Kusanagi Nene
・Kamishiro Rui
25-ji, Night Code de.
・Yoisaki Kanade
・Asahina Mafuyu
・Shinonome Ena
・Akiyama Mizuki
