Exploring Public Pianos Online: Top 4 Multiplayer Piano Websites
Ever wanted to share a piano with 20 other people across the world? (Yes, you can do that.) You may be surprised just how many websites offer a way to play the piano online with others. Let's compare a handful of the internet's public pianos.
4. Multiplayer Piano
Could there really be a better multiplayer piano than Multiplayer Piano itself? Multiplayer Piano has been around since 2012 - before many of its peers - and has changed quite a bit over the years. Initially, it simply offered a piano you can share with other users, but the website now offers many user-created 'rooms', synthesizer effects, an MP3 recorder, a message box and a handful of other nifty features.
Despite its persistent evolution over the years, this online piano has had its fair share of persistent issues, largely related to bots - automated programs playing music and using the chat box - and these days it's largely rejected by many of its former loyal users.
Here's what I think:
Pros:
Supports Various Inputs: As with most piano websites, you can connect your MIDI-capable piano, alongside your computer keyboard & mouse.
User Control: Can mute other users who might annoy you.
Custom Rooms: Can create & share your own private rooms with others.
Community Blog: Has an attached blog for users interesting in reading about piano - Although, I've noticed a suspicious amount of gambling-related imagery, alongside references to features that don't actually appear to exist on the website - which may detract from the overall experience for some users. In fact, just looking at at the 'Recent Articles' section today, I can see three casino-related articles, so it's clear there's an ulterior motive here.
Cons:
Dated Feel: Could be perceived as outdated compared to other websites.
Broken Features: The website doesn't save people's profiles anymore. This enables spammers to rejoin as a new user, even after you mute or kickban them.
Unmoderated: It can be difficult to contact somebody who can resolve issues on the website. Absence of moderation often invites trouble in the main lobby (E.G. repeated inappropriate messages, flooding the chat box, rapid piercing high-pitched notes)
Censorship: Messages that mention other piano websites are automatically censored. For example, some messages referencing community-made 'clones' of the website are replaced with this nonsense: "I love multiplayerpiano.com! (multiplayerpiano.com is official) I can't get enough of this game. Don't use Piano Clones, they are a clone! (.net .org are all clones and not official)."
It really feels like the 'Do You Really Want a Clone?' parody of Alice Deejay's song 'Better Off Alone'.
Ad Placement: Advertisements can overlay some user nicknames on smaller screens, preventing you from muting users.
Vulnerable to Attacks: Vulnerable to spam attacks from bots that have the ability to repeatedly crash the website. Sometimes, this can even lag your browser and make the website unusable.
Play Multiplayer PianoSo, this long-standing platform might be considered a mixed bag, but is certainly capable of providing a good experience - provided the bots don't strike during your visit. Let's see how our next online piano compares...
3. Multiplayer Piano (.net)
Multiplayer Piano (dot) net is a community-ran version of Multiplayer Piano (dot) com. It became more popular with long-time users of the original after it was sold to somebody else.
Pros:
Supports Various Inputs: Can connect your MIDI-capable piano. Can use your computer mouse & keyboard. Can use Virtual Piano's computer keyboad layout.
User Control: Can mute other users if you wish.
Custom Rooms: Can create & share your own private rooms with others.
Is moderated: Users can use a "ticket" system on the website's Discord server to report bad behaviour as per the website's rules.
Accounts: Can login with your Discord account, so your profile can stay the same even on different networks.
Clear Bot Policies: Unauthorized bots are banned automatically, preventing bot spam. Authorized bots are labelled. Users can choose to hide all bots.
Community: Has an attached community forum, Reddit page and Discord server.
Private Messages: Can privately message other users.
More Options: Has more sound options than Multiplayer Piano (dot) com, a more customizable chat (can be hidden, configured to display message timestamps, etc.), and many more quality of life updates. You can toggle key labels.
Cons:
Dated Feel: Could be seen as outdated compared to other websites.
Pianists may feel that the website is more bot-focused.
Many custom 'rooms' are hosted by bots instead of users.
Play Multiplayer Piano (.net)Overall, this community effort is certainly an improvement on the original, and is a testament to the power of a strong and dedicated community.
2. PianoRhythm
This one is somewhat of a website/desktop app hybrid, as it also offers downloads for an installer to run directly on your computer.
Pros:
Supports Various Inputs: Can connect your MIDI-capable piano. Can use your computer mouse & keyboard.
User Control: Can mute other users if you wish.
Custom Rooms: Can create & share your own private rooms with others. You can even set passwords on your rooms.
Is moderated: Users can report trouble-makers within the website.
Feature-rich: More than just an online piano, it's clear that a lot of work has been done to make this a polished and versatile experience. You can register for an account or join as a guest. Once you're logged in, you can even save other users to a friends list. You even can resize and reposition the chat window, or hide it entirely.
Supports Multiple Synths & Instruments: Users can choose to use other piano or synthesizer sounds, or even drums for others to hear.
Cons:
Complicated - Can be seen as too visually or functionally complicated by some users.
Tough on Lower-power Machines - By default, the website uses a 3D view of a grand piano, but this can be switched to a 2D view and tweaked within the sites settings. It's generally heavier on low-end machines than some of the other options mentioned here, and can take a fair while to load in comparison.
Play PianoRhythm1. Pianoverse
To me, Pianoverse strikes a balance between simplicity and offering all the features you might expect. This makes it a perfect choice for this number one spot.
Pros:
Supports Various Inputs: - Can connect your MIDI-capable piano. Can use your computer mouse & keyboard. Supports keyboard layouts from other websites like Multiplayer Piano and Virtual Piano.
User Control: Can mute other users if you wish.
Custom Rooms: Can create & share your own private rooms with others.
Is moderated: Users can report trouble to moderators within the website and on a Discord server.
Supports Multiple Sounds: Users can change the sound that piano makes.
User Interface: The visual design is clean, modern and uncluttered.
Community: Has official Discord and Reddit pages.
Cons:
Doesn't save some user mutes: While you can mute other users notes if you wish, this is undone if you rejoin the page.
Doesn't support accounts: Users can't login with an account like on some other websites. This might affect users who wish to have a consistent profile across different networks.
Overall, Pianoverse offers a sleak and easy way to share a piano online with others. While it has some minor drawbacks, these don't significantly affect the overall experience. Pianoverse neatly balances its focus between its piano and chat features, without feeling overwhelming or cluttered.
Play PianoverseAnd there you have it. Those are my top 4 multiplayer piano websites. Of course, those are just my thoughts and you may opt for something else. Which one's your favourite?